Loss to Iowa drops Gophers to 11th in polls

The Gophers finally made too many mistakes and it cost them Saturday in a 23-19 loss at Iowa.

The loss dropped the Gophers to 11th in the AP and coaches polls after they were ranked number seven the week before.

With the ball back and a chance to go win the game despite the mistakes, back-to-back sacks on Tanner Morgan then two incompletions by true freshman Cole Kramer after Morgan left with an apparant injury left Minnesota wondering, "what could have been". 

The game for Minnesota was filled with mistakes.  Penalties, dropped passes, missed tackles and even a penalty called on Fleck for running on the field all hurt the Gophers chances to stay with a very hard to beat Iowa club at home. 

At one point, the Gophers drove to the Iowa 14 yard line, but senior receiver Tyler Johnson dropped a fourth-down pass that would have been good for a first down.

After the play, Iowa was called for a late hit on Johnson and P.J. Fleck came onto the field in offsetting penalties, but according to Big Ten officials coordinator Bill Carollo said the play was over and Fleck’s action, which came after the play, did not have a bearing on Minnesota keeping the ball.

Fleck, in his postgame comments, defended his actions saying he wanted to check on his player.   Fleck told reporters, "The play was over. I don't understad that call in that situation.  But that's how they felt and I have to accept that."

In the first half, Iowa stormed out to a 13-0 lead, and scored TDs on their first three possessions of the game.  After finally stiffening some on defense, the Gophers got a field goal before half, then a TD just after half to make it close. 

"We put ourselves in a really big hole," Fleck said. "But we were gutsy.  Morgan is tough, so smart, such a winner.  As bad as we played, we had a chance to go win against a really good football team."

In the end, the Gophers couldn't get it done dropping their first game in over a year.