For the first time in the 21st century, Minnesota football won a game at Kinnick Stadium, defeating the Hawkeyes, 12-10, in a contest that lacked offense, but was ultimately decided by penalties and referee review.
“It was a peculiar game in the fact that we had six replays today,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said in his postgame press conference. “I can’t remember a game maybe where we had that many. It’s interesting, the last play is a little bit tough.”
That last play Ferentz referenced occurred with less than two minutes to go in the game when Iowa appeared to have won the game on a punt return by Cooper DeJean, but the play was called back after an official review, as DeJean made an invalid fair catch signal, ruling the ball dead at the spot of recovery and not allowing for a return.
“He just made a great play, one of the best ones I’ve ever seen,” Ferentz said of DeJean. “That part is the hardest part. An unbelievable effort gets taken off the board.”
Left to win the game on its own accord, the Hawkeye offense faltered, epitomizing its struggles throughout the contest with the Gophers, producing three turnovers and 12 net yards in the second half.
“You can’t win football games turning the ball over three times,” Ferentz said. “Two of those were directly tied to six points that they got, so that’s first and foremost, that’ll never change. And the opportunities we did have, we weren’t able to capitalize on, so that’s certainly unfortunate.”
Heading into a game with swirling 20-mile-per-hour winds, the Hawkeyes showed no hesitance to keep the ball in the air on their opening drive. On the first play from scrimmage, Iowa lined up in an I formation, only to have quarterback Deacon Hill throw an 18-yard pass to receiver Diante Vines along the right sideline. On its opening drive, Iowa opted to throw the ball more than hand it off, as Hill threw for 64 yards, nearly more than twice his total from last week.
The highlight of the drive came on third-and-14, Hill, rather than checking the ball down to running back Jaziun Patterson, opted to scramble out of the pocket and hit a leaping Vines for a 36-yard gain to put to the Hawkeyes in the red zone. Yet once inside the 20-yard line, Iowa gained just five yards on two rushes and an incompletion, forcing kicker Drew Stevens onto the field for a 23-yard field goal and an early Hawkeye lead.
After this monetary offensive burst, both squads struggled to move the ball down the field, as Minnesota and Iowa combined for 4 three-and-outs before the Gophers managed a 10 yards on their third drive of the game. On that drive, the Gophers’ longest play was a 13-yard gain as a result of a defensive pass interference call on Hawkeye corner Jermari Harris. Stalling out the 31-yard line, Minnesota used two back-to-back timeouts and opted to kick a 43-yard field goal to knot the contest at three apiece.
After the opening quarter, the Hawkeye “D” held the Gophers to 33 total yards, all on the ground, for an average of just 2.4 yards per play and 0-for-3 and third down attempts.
“I think we have a tremendous effort out there today,” Hawkeye defensive end Joe Evans said of the defense. “There’s definitely going to be a lot of things to fix on the tape but I’m proud of every single one of the guys on the team for the amount of effort they gave today.”
The first turnover of the game struck with 12 minutes to go in the second quarter, as Minnesota linebacker Devon Williams stripped the ball from Hill for a turnover to put the Gophers at the Hawkeyes’ 32-yard line. Such momentum didn’t last for long, as Iowa allowed just seven yards on the drive. Gopher kicker Dragan Kesich missed wide right on a 49-yard field-goal attempt.
Following the miss, Iowa drove the ball 19 yards on six plays and elected to punt the ball on fourth-and-one for the second time in the contest. Hawkeye Tory Taylor made good on that decision, booting the ball 51 yards before Iowa corner Cooper DeJean downed the ball at the Gopher one-yard line.
On third-and-six, Hawkeye defensive tackle Logan Lee nearly had a safety, but Minnesota QB Athan Kaliakmanis evaded pressure and managed a completion short of the marker, forcing the Gophers to punt for the fourth time.
Starting with the ball on the Minnesota 46-yard line, the Hawkeyes gained 32 yards on three Gopher penalties. With the ball at the one-yard line, the Hawkeyes failed to find the end zone on two straight stuffed rushing attempts.
Iowa ran for just 11 net yards on 28 attempts, good enough for an average of 0.4 yards per carry. According to Hill, the Gopher defense “outnumbered” the Hawkeyes in the run scheme by stacking the box with safeties. Hill said his team knew of this strategy heading into the contest.
On that second try in the red zone, Minnesota was flagged for an unnecessary roughness penalty, granting Iowa the benefit of a first down when it could’ve been facing yet another fourth-and-one.
Hill took full advantage of this gift and plunged through a scrum of bodies across the goal line for the first touchdown of the day.
At halftime, Iowa outgained Minnesota, 115-65, while yielding just eight passing yards and three first downs from the Gophers.
To start the second half, Minnesota flipped its offensive script, throwing for 40 yards on a 13-play drive, 64-yard drive that nearly was all for naught, as Hawkeye safety Quinn Schulte almost caught a tipped pass for an interception on third down. After that near-turnover, Kesich nailed a 43-yarder to bring the Gophers within four.
After both teams traded punts, Iowa’s defense faced its first red zone threat of the afternoon after Minnesota safety Tyler Nubin forced a fumble from Hill to set the Gophers up at the Iowa 11-yard line.
“Those are inexcusable,” Hill said of his fumbles. “Turning the ball over, whether the guy is hitting me or not, I got to hold onto the ball. So, that one’s on me, no one else.”
Yet once again, the Hawkeye “D” held stout, as linebacker Kyler Fisher sacked Kaliakmanis for a loss of two as Minnesota gained one net yard in three plays. Kesich hit yet another field goal to give the Gophers six unanswered points.
Minnesota’s run continued later on in the fourth quarter, as the Gophers took the lead with their fourth field goal of the day, set up a 39-yard completion to wide-open Gopher receiver Daniel Jackson. In response the Hawkeyes put up another three-and-out on offense, complete with a Hill sack, near-interception, and a holding penalty on Gennings Dunker.
The Hawkeye offense got the ball back again following another Gopher three-and-out, but this time, only managed two first downs and 27 yards before punting once again.
After forcing another three-and-out to Minnesota, DeJean made magic happen again on the punt return, but such magic was only a mirage. DeJean, scooping up the ball along the sideline, escaped multiple tacklers and spun to the middle of the field, where he dashed to the opposite sideline and into the end zone for the go-ahead score.
However, the play was called back after further review as he signaled an invalid fair catch by waving his left hand in the air as the ball was in flight, thus downing the ball where it landed.
According to Ferentz, the officials initially reviewed the review to make sure DeJean did not step out of bounds, and not to determine if a fair catch was called. The head coach said before each game, the officiating crew would talk to the respective coach staff about fair catch signals, and that the standard procedure for a fair catch is the returner’s hand being waved above the head.
Per a statement from Big Ten referee Tim O’Dey, DeJean made a waving motion with his left hand, which constituted an invalid fair catch signal. Such an invalid fair catch signal means the ball is ruled dead at the spot of recovery.
“That is a reviewable element of the game,” O’Dey said of the fair catch signal. “We let the play run out and when to review, review shows with indisputable evidence that there is a waving motion with the left hand. And that is when these rules were applied.”
When given this explanation at his press conference, Ferentz said DeJean was only waving his arm as a natural result of him running. According to DeJean, he never intended to signal a fair catch and was instead trying to keep his balance.
After plenty of boos and thrown objects from Hawkeye fans, the Iowa offense mustered its last three plays of the game: a sack for a loss of seven yards, an incompletion, and an interception. Hill finished the day 10-of-28 passing for 116 yards and an interception, registering a passer rating of 63.4. When asked about the chances of making a change under center, Ferentz said Hill is still the starter ahead of backup Joe Labas, citing both practice and in-game performance.
“But typically there’s a clear one and clear two,” Ferentz said. “I’m not saying that in a demeaning way to the guy that’s two. But that’s what it is and you kind of go from there.”
Regardless of the struggles at QB, the head coach isn’t placing the loss solely on Hill, but rather calling out to the entire team on the need to recover and bounce back heading into the bye week and then an away duel at Northwestern on Nov. 4 in Chicago at Wrigley Field.
“You have a bad day, which we certainly did today, you’ve got to get back up on your feet and go to work because if you surrender, it’s definitely over,” Ferentz said. “And that’s not one player and that’s everybody. We all have to do that and find a way tomorrow to go back to work.”
