Once again, coach Kirk Ferentz and his Hawkeyes took Floyd of Rosedale back to Iowa. This time, they took the Gophers' hopes for a Big Ten West Division title with them.
On a windy, 17-degree Saturday at Huntington Bank Stadium, Iowa's Drew Stevens kicked a 21-yard field goal with 28 seconds left in the fourth quarter, lifting the Hawkeyes to a 13-10 victory, their eighth consecutive over the Gophers in the battle for the bronze hog.
The loss by the Gophers in front of an announced crowd of 45,816 spoiled a big game by running back Mohamed Ibrahim, who rushed 39 times for a career-high 263 yards and a touchdown, extending his streak of 100-yard games to 19.
The Gophers drove to the Iowa 9- and 33-yard lines in the fourth quarter, but Iowa's All-America linebacker Jack Campbell first forced an Ibrahim fumble to end a 16-play march, then intercepted a pass by Athan Kaliakmanis and returned it 30 yards to the Minnesota 45, setting up the winning field goal.
"We had our opportunities and didn't take advantage of them,'' Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said. "Iowa did.''
With the win, Iowa (7-4, 5-3 Big Ten) remained in a first-place tie with Purdue in the West, with the Hawkeyes needing only a home victory over Nebraska on Friday to earn a repeat berth in the Big Ten Championship Game. The loss ended the Gophers' chances to win the division.
The Gophers (7-4, 4-4) had their chances. Along with the two fourth-quarter turnovers, Matthew Trickett missed a 34-yard field-goal attempt that would have tied the score 10-10 late in the first half. Minnesota's defense also surrendered a 58-yard gain on Iowa's first play from scrimmage and a 33-yard gain that led to the chip-shot winner.
The key sequences came in the fourth quarter, and both went the Hawkeyes' way.
With the score tied 10-10, the Gophers took over at their 3-yard line. They methodically moved down the field as Ibrahim rushed for 28 yards on his first three carries and Kaliakmanis converted a key third-and-3 with a 19-yard run to the Iowa 43. Ibrahim gained 2 yards on fourth-and-1 from the 34. Facing third-and-4 from the 13, Ibrahim, on his 14th carry of the 16-play drive, broke outside and cut back, but Campbell knocked the ball loose, and Deonte Craig recovered at the 9 with 5:07 to play.
"I was like a yard short from the first down,'' Ibrahim said. "I wanted to fall forward, and it popped out.''
Said Fleck: "He absolutely played phenomenal. One play will never define how he plays in a game, ever. We wouldn't be anywhere near a program like we are right now if it wasn't for Mohamed Ibrahim.''
The Gophers defense quickly forced a three-and-out, and Minnesota's offense started at its 45 with 4:11 to play. Ibrahim's 19-yard run moved it to the Iowa 36. On third-and-7 from the 33, Kaliakmanis tried to hit Le'Meke Brockington on a slant. Hawkeyes safety Riley Moss, however, jarred the ball away, and Campbell grabbed it in midair and returned it 30 yards to Minnesota's 45 with 2:06 to play.
"Did he make one critical mistake tonight?'' Fleck said of Kaliakmanis, a freshman who went 7-for-15 for 87 yards. "Yes, he did. It's not his fault that we lost. It's not Mohamed's fault that we lost. … We lose as a team.''
The Hawkeyes didn't waste time getting into field goal range, as Petras immediately hit tight end Luke Lachey for a 33-yard gain to the Gophers 12. Four plays later, Stevens kicked the winner.
The Petras-to-Lachey connection was similar to the big play that the Hawkeyes used the start the game, a 45-yard tight end screen to Sam LaPotra on their first play. That led to Stevens' 38-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead, and the Hawkeyes made it 10-0 on Petras' 1-yard sneak.
"They gashed us pretty good,'' Gophers linebacker Cody Lindenberg said of the opening play.
Ibrahim's 5-yard TD run cut the lead to 10-7, and it appeared the Gophers would go into halftime at least tied after an 11-play drive reached the Iowa 16. But Kaliakmanis threw incomplete to Brockington on third-and-1, and Fleck opted for a field-goal attempt, which Trickett pushed wide right.
The Gophers lost despite outgaining the Hawkeyes 399-280 and outrushing them 312-59. Iowa's defense was allowing an average of 88.6 rushing yards per game. Ibrahim by himself was 3 yards short of tripling that.
"No one play beats you,'' Fleck said, "but if you do it over and over and over, you get beat by having those plays."
