That’s three-straight setbacks for the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who fell to the Buckeyes, 28-14, on Saturday night. They’ll have another chance to stop the bleeding when they travel to Kinnick Stadium and square off with another formidable foe—the Iowa Hawkeyes this weekend for their Week 11 showdown. Can the Gophers get the upset?
Read on below for a complete breakdown of this college football match and while you’re at it, you can check out our other Week 11 preview of Sooners vs. Bears .
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Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Iowa Hawkeyes Preview
Betting on the Minnesota Gophers (4-5, 1-4 Big Ten)
The struggle was real in the first three quarters of the Minnesota Golden Gophers’ game opposite the top-ranked Buckeyes Saturday night, managing to only rack up 110 yards of total offense and was still scoreless. Eventually, that basically doomed them as they were handed their third-straight defeat, 28-14.
[sc:NCAA240banner ]It was worth noting though, that the Gophers managed to make thing interesting at the end. They were able to trim down to 21-14 during the fourth period thanks to QB Mitch Leidners’ two touchdown passes to his wide receivers in K.J. Maye and Rashad Still.
Moving onto their next matchup for Week 11, they won’t be catching any break at all with a date against another undefeated team in the form of the No. 10 Iowa Hawkeyes this coming Saturday.
Leidner is going to need as much help as he can from his offensive unit in this one especially since the Hawkeyes are among the best defensive teams in the Big Ten with only 300.9 total yards allowed per game this season. If Minnesota wishes to keep it close at the least, it needs to get its rushing and passing game going. That said, the pressure will be on Rodney Smith and Maye to have big-time performances.
Smith only had nine yards on six rushes against the Buckeyes but is still having a remarkable rookie season with a team-best of 550 yards and a touchdown under his name. He’s also showcased his dual-threat abilities, hauling in 14 catches for 115 yards. Maye, meanwhile, is fresh off his best game of the year with 10 receptions for 116 yards and a touchdown in the same matchup.
But ultimately, defense is going to be the key for the Gophers’ to win this one. Iowa’s offense has been extra-deadly on the ground, averaging 205.0 yards per game through nine games, and is accumulating 32.8 points per game this year.
Minnesota is 4-6 SU and 5-5 ATS in its previous 10 road games.
The Iowa Hawkeyes are still unstoppable. They proved that after getting past the Hoosiers, 35-27, to improve their record to 9-0 overall and 4-0 in their conference. That win was a little special as the Hawkeyes matched their best start in franchise history.
Playing a key role to their win was the pair of Akrum Wadley and LeShun Daniels Jr., who led the Hawkeyes’ ground attack. The two combined for 198 yards on 35 rushes with three touchdowns. Then there was also Matt VandeBerg providing the spark in their passing game with 68 yards on five catches.
Of course, QB C.J. Beathard cannot be left unnoticed, as he had a pretty solid output himself in engineering the offense for his team. He finished with a completion rate of 61.3 percent for a total of 233 yards and a touchdown with zero interceptions.
Now, the Hawkeyes’ will look to keep rolling when they head back home and lock horns with the Minnesota Gophers at Kinnick Stadium. For them to come out on top again, the best strategy to use would be capitalizing on their ground game versus Minnesota’s defense that’s yielding 152.89 rushing yards per game this season.
Other than the fact Wadley will be aiming to build on his performance against Indiana, the Hawkeyes’ can also lean on Jordan Canzeri, who is expected to return from an ankle injury by this weekend, for more offensive fire power and ultimately make life tough for the opposing defense. Canzeri leads the team with 698 rushing yards with nine scores across nine games.
Iowa is 7-3 SU and 5-5 ATS in its last 10 home games.
