[jayenomics]

Gophers Fight Hard, but Hawkeyes Win Squeaker

With a minute and a half left, and down eight points to the visiting Hawkeyes, Philip Nelson and the Minnesota offense did not worry. Instead they came out and did what they needed to do, and that was move the ball down the field. Three plays and 75 yards later the Golden Gophers were in the end zone, and a two point conversion away from tying the game and potentially forcing overtime.

It was not meant to be. Philip Nelson would throw the slant to Isaac Fruechte, but it was knocked away, ending any chance of the comeback. "It was a tough game" said coach Koch after his first loss, "but we fought hard and nearly pulled it out. It gives us good confidence moving forward for the rest of the season."

Iowa controlled for almost the entire game, but Minnesota stayed within striking distance throughout, taking their only lead of the game late in the third quarter on a Chris Hawthorne field goal. That would be short lived, as Rudock would hit Tevaun Smith for a 59 yard touchdown, and a lead they would not surrender.

The task of bowl eligibility will get no easier next week, as Minnesota heads into the Big House to take on 4-0, #10 Michigan on Saturday afternoon. "It'll be a good test to see where we are." said Koch.

Jake Rudock did just enough to hand Minnesota their first loss, and keep their own undefeated season going.

Iowa Hawkeyes at Minnesota Golden Gophers
Sep 28, 2013	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Iowa Hawkeyes (4-0 (0-0))	7	7	0	14	28
Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-0 (0-0))	0	14	3	9	26

Team Stats Comparison
	IOWA	MINN
Total Offense	340	333
Rushing Yards	131	90
Passing Yards	209	243
First Downs	15	17
Punt Return Yards	0	10
Kick Return Yards	116	134
Total Yards	456	477
Turnovers	0	1
3rd Down Converstion	5-8	9-15
4th Down Conversion	0-0	1-1
2-Point Conversion	0-0	0-1
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	3-3-0	5-3-1
Penalties	0-0	0-0
Posession Time	18:01	14:49

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		IOWA	MINN
1:12	(IOWA) Bullock 3 Yard Run	7	0
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		IOWA	MINN
3:13	(MINN) Harbison 3 Yard Pass from Nelson	7	7
0:58	(IOWA) Rudock 14 Yard Run	14	7
0:04	(MINN) Fruechte 17 Yard Pass from Nelson	14	14
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		IOWA	MINN
2:29	(MINN) Hawthorne 33 Yard Field Goal	14	17
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		IOWA	MINN
6:23	(IOWA) Smith 59 Yard Pass from Rudock	21	17
4:28	(MINN) Hawthorne 40 Yard Field Goal	21	20
1;32	(IOWA) Weisman 1 Yard Run	28	20
1:07	(MINN) Maye 18 Yard Pass from Nelson	28	26

Iowa Hawkeyes PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Jake Rudock 16/22 209 1 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Mark Weisman 15 101 6.7 1 Damon Bullock 5 26 5.2 1 Jake Rudock 4 4 1.0 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD CJ Fiedorowicz 5 50 10.0 0 Mark Weisman 4 33 8.2 0 Tevaun Smith 3 83 27.6 1 Macon Plewa 2 16 8.0 0 Damon Bullock 1 20 20.0 0 Ray Hamilton 1 7 7.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Connor Boffeli 1 1 Ray Hamilton 1 0 Ryan Ward 1 0 Andrew Donnal 1 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Nico Law 5 0 0 0 Tanner Miller 4 0 0 0 Darian Cooper 4 1 0 0 Maurice Fleming 3 0 1 0 Dominic Alvis 2 1 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Mike Meyer 0/1 4/4 4 0 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Connor Kornbrath 2 97 48.5 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Kevonte Martin Manley 2 58 29.0 0 Damond Powell 2 54 27.0 0 Damon Bullock 1 4 4.0 0

Minnesota Golden Gophers PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Philip Nelson 18/34 243 3 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Donnell Kirkwood Jr. 19 72 3.7 0 Philip Nelson 5 -10 -2.0 0 Rodrick Williams 2 28 14.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Donnell Kirkwood Jr. 5 51 10.2 0 Isaac Fruechte 5 48 9.6 1 KJ Maye 3 58 19.3 1 Drew Goodger 2 29 14.5 0 Andre McDonald 1 40 40.0 0 Derrick Engel 1 14 14.0 0 Jamel Harbison 1 3 3.0 1 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Jon Christenson 0 1 Ed Olson Jr. 0 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD DeVondre Campbell 6 0 0 0 Aaron Hill 5 0 0 0 Derrick Wells 5 0 0 0 Theiren Cockran 4 0 0 0 Cameron Botticelli 2 1 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Chris Hawthorne 2/2 2/2 8 40 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Christian Eldred 2 86 43.0 1 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Marcus Jones 5 134 26.8 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Marcus Jones 1 10 10.0 0