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Iowa Football: Why Beating Minnesota Matters

By Patrick Mooney

CHAMPAIGN, IL - NOVEMBER 15: Head coach Kirk Ferentz of the Iowa Hawkeyes is seen on the sidelines during the game against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Memorial Stadium on November 15, 2014 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - NOVEMBER 15: Head coach Kirk Ferentz of the Iowa Hawkeyes is seen on the sidelines during the game against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Memorial Stadium on November 15, 2014 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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The 2017 Iowa football season took a major blow last week. The 17-10 overtime loss on the road against Northwestern dropped Iowa to 4-3 overall, 1-3 in the Big Ten. With Ohio State and Wisconsin still looming on the schedule, many fans are left wondering: what’s the point?

Winning the Big Ten West was going to be an uphill battle, considering Iowa drew Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan State as crossover opponents, while a more talented and accomplished Wisconsin team had only one game scheduled against a ranked team. However, with two senior All-American candidates and a cast of young, intriguing talent, there was plenty of reason to be excited and hopeful for the season.

A Big Ten West title wasn’t necessary for 2017 to be a successful year, but it’s difficult to look at what figures to be a five or six loss regular season and not be disappointed, considering where Iowa was just two seasons ago.There aren’t a lot of silver linings, It takes quite a bit of squinting to find one, but beating Minnesota would be one of them.

Despite the long, complicated rivalry between the schools,  wins over the Gophers have become less impressive recently, given their .456 win percentage over the last ten seasons. Beating them has become an expectation, not an accomplishment.

So why should a home win against Minnesota, a 4-3 team that lost to Purdue and barely hung on against Illinois at home, matter this time around?

The answer is simple and unsurprising: Gophers’ first year head coach P.J. Fleck.

The Hawkeyes will try to keep the Floyd of Rosedale in Iowa City (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
The Hawkeyes will try to keep the Floyd of Rosedale in Iowa City (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

With the three most storied and successful programs in the Big Ten playing in the East division, schools like Iowa and Minnesota have legitimate contention opportunities in the West. Given the unstable state of Nebraska (Iowa has won three of their last four meetings with the Huskers), the Big Ten West is really just Wisconsin at the top, followed by everyone else. Wisconsin has built a great program, but they are no Ohio State, they can be had.

That’s why losing to Northwestern the last two seasons is such a bitter pill to swallow, and falling victim to the same pattern to Minnesota could send Iowa spiraling into mediocrity, the same mediocrity we’ve been blessed with seven games into this season.

Whether or not you find Fleck and his #rowtheboat mantra obnoxious or over the top, his message and attitude resonates with players and recruits, the same recruits that Kirk Ferentz is trying to bring to Iowa.

According to Rivals, Minnesota’s 2018 recruiting class is ranked 35 spots ahead of Iowa’s, 247 sports had Minnesota ranked 19 spots higher and they were 28 spots higher on Scout. While Iowa will always be able to use strengh and conditioning coach Chris Doyle’s track record of developing unheralded players into NFL draft picks to keep fans from jumping off the ledge,recruiting certainly helps.

Minnesota has played Iowa really tough the last three seasons, and the addition of Fleck injects so much more hope into their program than they would otherwise have. They are already seeing improvements in recruiting , and they are going to play with a “never say die” attitude that will always and forever be annoying and frustrating.

The best way for Iowa to stifle Fleck’s recruiting efforts? Beat him on Saturday.

PJ Fleck has the Gophers headed in the right direction (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
PJ Fleck has the Gophers headed in the right direction (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

Yes Minnesota has and will recruit better, but even with Fleck they are unlikely to grab many players that’ll have immediate, significant impact. Recruits take time to develop, it’s common sense.

It’s also common sense to think that if Iowa can put a beatdown on Fleck and the Gophers the next three seasons, recruits might take a deeper look at the Hawkeyes before  grabbing their oar’s and jumping aboard Fleck’s boat.

With Nathan Stanley developing, a pair of exciting freshman tackles currently working out the kinks, five of their top six receiving weapons returning and seven starters coming back on defense, Iowa’s future brings hope. The departures of Wadley and Jewell will sting, but having a running back by committee approach has worked for Iowa before and the last two times Iowa went into a season with doubts about their middle linebacker, James Morris and Josey Jewell happened.

The last two season haven’t been fruitless, but they’ve been frustrating. Frustrating seasons lead to searches for sliver linings. Beating Minnesota prevents them from leapfrogging you in the Big Ten hierarchy for both the short and long term. That’s something to play for.