The Hawkeye football team improved to 5-3 on the season with an Oct. 28 win over Minnesota, 17-10, in Kinnick. Iowa will keep the Floyd of Rosedale trophy for the third-straight year.

By Sean Bock

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Things got off to a good start in Kinnick. Iowa elected to receive the opening kickoff, then proceeded to score on the first possession, an 80-yard, five-play drive.

Other than thethe exciting opening drive, it was a typical Big Ten game in October.

The Hawkeyes seemingly controlled the tempo on both sides of the ball, leading to their victory over the Gophers, which improved them to 5-3 (2-3 Big Ten) on the season.

“We are thrilled to get the victory tonight,” head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “Anytime you play in this series, it tends to be a hard-fought, competitive game, and this one was no different. It was really outstanding for our guys to bring the trophy back in our locker room and hoist it. It’s nice to know we’ll have possession of it for another year.”

Iowa opened the game with a five-play touchdown drive that ended up to be the only points scored in the first half for either team.

The Hawkeyes made it a priority to establish the passing game on the first possession, and the first two plays from scrimmage resulted in 20-yard gains setting up scoring opportunities in the red zone.

Quarterback Nate Stanley was 15-of-27 for 190 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Stanley threw a 45-yard rainbow pass to tight end Noah Fant early in the third quarter to make it a 14-0 ball game, giving Iowa a little bit of momentum for the first time since the opening drive.

“You give yourself a little bit more room for error on a throw like that,” Stanley said. “Especially with the struggles that we had earlier in the year, it’s something that we worked on in practice, and it transferred over to the game.”

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Running back James Butler made his return to the turf after injuring his elbow in mid-September against North Texas. Rushing for only 28 yards on 11 carries, Butler’s numbers weren’t eye-popping, but his presence was enough to give Akrum Wadley some much-needed rest on various sequences.

“James is just a first-class guy,” Ferentz said. “We’ve talked about injuries. That’s a tough deal. For James to make it back, he was determined. There was some skepticism on our part only because of the brace. But he was convinced he could do it.”

The Hawkeyes held a 14-0 lead until Minnesota running back Kobe McCrary punched his way into the end zone to make it 14-7 with 14:37 left in the game.

The Gophers made it interesting by tapping in three more points on a field goal with a little under six minutes left in the fourth to make it 17-10, but the Iowa defense came up clutch, stopping Minnesota on fourth down and sealing the win.

“You have got to stay focused,” safety Jake Gervase said. “It’s not easy. I want to be out there every play, mentally, but the coaches have a game plan, and if you’re in that week, you have to be up and execute.”

The Iowa defense limited Gopher scoring opportunities as they forced red zone turnovers on back-to-back possessions in the second quarter.

“Every play ends up being critical,” Ferentz said. “For the guys to gut it up the way they did, we gave up a few plays that I’d like to see us defend a little better.”