IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa football team was defeated by Minnesota, 12-10, on Saturday evening on Duke Slater Field at Kinnick Stadium.
Deacon Hill was 10-for-28 on passing attempts for 116 yards. Iowa had four rushers combine for 11 yards on 28 attempts and Hill added a rushing touchdown.
Diante Vines had a team high 62-yards on three receptions.
The Gophers outgained the Hawkeyes 239-127 yards and forced three Iowa turnovers.
QUOTING KIRK FERENTZ
“I thought both teams really played hard, competed hard. What you expected from a Big Ten game certainly at this point in this season. Clearly, a lot of things we need to do better. Top of the list is ball security. You can’t win football games turning the ball over three times, and two of those directly tied to six point they got. That is first and foremost that will never change. The opportunities we had we weren’t able to capitalize, and that is unfortunate.
Proud of our guys, I thought that I thought the guys played hard, I thought they had a good week of practice, thought the effort was good and they competed hard. Guys that are partially injured, that type of thing, found a way to get out on the field and compete. Appreciative of that. It’s a tough thing, anytime you take one on the chin it’s hard. Back on our feet tomorrow, go back to work and in this circumstance, we have an extra week to figure things out and see if we can’t find a little better remedy. Really no different than we did a month ago, that is where we are at right now.”
PHOTOS
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Hawkeyes opened the game on offense and drove the ball 70-yards on 11 plays to set up a 23-yard field goal by Drew Stevens.
- Minnesota responded with a 43-yard field goal to cap a nine play 45-yard drive with 17 seconds left in the first quarter.
- Iowa used a quarterback sneak as Deacon Hill found the endzone to cap a six play 46-yard drive with 49 seconds remaining in the first half.
- On the first drive of the second half the Gophers used 13-plays over 6:01 to drive 64 yards and set up a 44-yard field goal.
- Minnesota cut the Iowa lead to one with a 28-yard field goal with 2:25 remaining in the third quarter.
- The Gophers added another field goal with 8:33 remaining in the game to take a two-point lead that they would hold for the remainder of the contest.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- QB Deacon Hill completed 10-of-28 passes for 116 yards in his third career start.
- Hill had a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter — the first rushing touchdown of his career.
- WR Diante Vines finished with three receptions for a career high 62 yards in the game. He had two catches, including a career-long 36-yarder on Iowa’s opening drive, which led to a field goal.
- WR Nico Ragaini had four catches for 28 yards, moving him into eighth place on Iowa’s all-time receptions list (139 catches, 1,465 yards).
- LB Jay Higgins had a game high 14 tackles his sixth game with 10+ tackles this season (seventh of his career). Higgins has registered 101.5 tackles this season.
- DL Joe Evans had one sack and six total tackles in the game. Evans has a team-best 3.5 sacks this season and 22 sacks for his career, moving him into a tie for ninth place in program history with Leroy Smith (1988-91).
- Evans has 3.5 career sacks against Minnesota.
- P Tory Taylor had nine punts for 444 yards for a 43.9 yard average and a long of 57. Five of his nine punts were downed inside the 20 and four went over 50 yards.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
- Iowa opened the game with an 11 play, 70-yard scoring drive that resulted in a 23-yard Drew Stevens field goal. It is the fourth time this season the offense has scored on its opening drive.
- Iowa’s defense has kept back-to-back teams out of the end zone and eight teams without a touchdown since the start of the 2022 season.
- The unit has allowed one touchdown or less in six of the first eight games of 2023 and 15 of the last 21 games.
- Iowa has allowed 14 or fewer points in 14 of its last 21 games.
- The Hawkeye defense allowed 239 yards of total offense. It is the 22nd consecutive game the unit has allowed 400 or fewer yards, the longest active streak nationally.
- The Hawkeyes have played in front of eight consecutive sellouts to open the 2023 season.
- Minnesota won the toss and deferred to the second half. The Hawkeye have played 309 games under head coach Kirk Ferentz. Iowa has opened the game on offense 226 times (145-81). The Hawkeyes have opened the game on defense 83 times (47-36).
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes are on a bye during Week 9. Iowa returns to action Nov. 4, facing Northwestern at Wrigley Field in Chicago.