The Floyd of Rosedale has been in Iowa City for nine of the last ten years (should have been all ten years because it wasn't a fair catch). The bronze pig is up for grabs against a Golden Gophers team that defeated Nebraska by 18 points last week.
The Hawkeyes have a lot of good momentum going over the last couple of weeks, and although things haven't been perfect, wins are wins in anyone's book. The team definitely has the talent to defeat Minnesota, but they need to do a few things right. Here are the keys to victory for this rivalry game.
The passing game needs to be active
It is no surpriseto Iowa fans that, once again, the weakest part of their offense has been the passing game.
While Mark Gronowski has been a much better QB than the ones Iowa fans have seen over the past five years, he has still struggled passing the ball this season. With only 800 yards passing with 3 TDs to 4 INTs, this passing offense has been absent pretty much all season.
The one area that Minnesota has excelled at this season is its rushing defense. They are statistically a top-25 rushing defense, allowing only 112.2 rushing yards per game this season.
Running the ball all game long will not work against this team. If we can see better performance from Gronowski when passing the ball, the offense should be able to put up some points.
The defense has to force turnovers
While Minnesota's offense might not be getting many yards, its most significant strength is that it does not turn the ball over often.
Their QB, Drake Lindsey, has only three interceptions this season, and their offense has lost only one fumble. This is a smart football team, but the Hawkeye defense needs to make them uncomfortable.
The defense averages 1.5 takeaways per game, ranking 48th in college football. They have found a way to get a solid starting field position for the offense, and that will be major for this game.
If the defense can not only continue to make life hard for opponents at the line of scrimmage but also dominate the turnover battle, this could be the deciding factor in this game.
Continue to not have to use the punt team
The Hawkeyes' motto for many seasons was "punting is winning." The offensive possessions would be quick, and the punt team would come out and pin the opponents deep, hoping the defense would get a stop and give the offense good field position.
For several seasons, Iowa punted the ball more than anyone in the country, but that has changed this season.
Iowa punted 94 times in 2023, 83 times in 2022, 82 times in 2021 ... all ranking top 2 in the FBS in that dubious stat.
— Chad Leistikow🆑 (@ChadLeistikow) October 23, 2025
Iowa has punted only 21 times so far in 2025 (3.0 per game, tied for 101st nationally).
This has been an absolute breath of fresh air for Hawkeye fans, and this trend needs to continue to have success for the remainder of the season.
The offense needs to keep doing its job to score points or get the ball into range for Drew Stevens. If we see very little of the punt team in this game, we can be assured that Iowa will win.
Final predictions
There is no doubt about it: Kinnick Stadium will be rocking for the blackout game against their longstanding rival.
The room for error is slightly larger than in some other games this season, but in a rivalry game, they will still want to be as perfect as possible. If they can play another solid game, the Floyd of Rosedale should stay in Iowa City.
Final score prediction: Iowa 24, Minnesota 10