The Wolverine Now

OCT. 2, 2013 Golden No Is Sullied In Blowout Loss To Iowa More The Gophers' Early Confidence A By Michael Spath fter starting 4-0 for just the third time since Glen Mason was fired — the Gophers had begun a year 4-0 five times in Mason's 10 seasons from 1997-2006 — Minnesota entered its Big Ten opener against Iowa believing the matchup represented a seminal moment for the program in head coach Jerry Kill's third season in Minneapolis. Instead, the Maroon and Gold were dealt a 23-7 loss in which they mustered only 165 yards of offense, including 30 rushing yards on 27 carries (1.1 yards per attempt). Minnesota would possess the football for a mere 23:59, crossing midfield only twice on 10 offensive series. "From a fan perspective, it definitely was a kick in the gut," GopherIllustrated.com's Matt O'Connell said. "People were thinking this program has turned itself around, especially the way they had dominated on the ground against San Jose State a week earlier. "That's what Coach Kill and offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover have wanted to build their identity on since they arrived — the ground game — and after four weeks, averaging [282.3 yards per game] it looked like they had the makings of being a really good running team, but against Iowa they got nothing on the ground. "So what a lot of fans and even the players and coaches thought was going to be Jerry Kill, who has compiled a record of 13-17 in three seasons leading the Golden Gophers, previously faced off versus Brady Hoke when both were head coaches at MAC schools. photo courtesy minnesota a pivotal win in the Jerry Kill era instead looked like a lot of other Gopher losses over the last 50 years." In all facets, all that Minnesota had been doing well came apart against the Hawkeyes. The Gophers couldn't run the football. They completed just 50.0 percent of their passes, and lost both the turnover battle and the field-position battle. About the only thing the Maroon and Gold did to their best ability was return kicks, posting 53- and 66-yard returns. But without a special teams score, Minnesota fell, and looked bad doing so in front of 51,382 fans at TCF Bank Stadium. "We had a great Friday night, a great pregame against Iowa; our kids were so excited to play that we played out of control," Kill said. "We lost it mentally a little bit. Not starstruck, but we played so intense we lost our fundamentals. "Sometimes you want to do so well that you press and don't play so good. We have to play within ourselves. Just play the way we're capable of. We know we're better than the way we played Saturday." Minnesota's defeat did not come without controversy. With sophomore quarterback Philip Nelson nursing a hamstring injured in week three against Western Illinois, the Golden Gophers had relied on redshirt freshman Mitch Leidner Sept. 21 against San Jose State, and the 6-4, 233-pounder responded with a monster effort, rushing for 151 yards and four touchdowns while running the read option. In the loss to Iowa, Nelson finished with negative-18 yards on nine carries, taking four sacks for 23 yards. He also completed 12 of 24 passes with two interceptions. Despite his struggles, however, Nelson remained in the contest for all four quarters. "He was coming back off a hamstring injury, and he's a tough kid and felt like this was a game where his team needed him, but it just really appeared that he wasn't full strength," O'Connell said. "The reason Kill decided to stick with him is the great unknown. Game Facts What: Michigan vs. Minnesota. When: Oct. 5 • 3:30 p.m. Radio-TV: ABC/ESPN2 will televise the game regionally. The game can be heard on the Michigan Sports Network (950 AM in the Detroit area and on SiriusXM channels 92 and 190) with longtime partners Frank Beckmann and Jim Brandstatter, and sideline reporter Doug Karsch. Coaches: Michigan: Brady Hoke (23-7, third season). Minnesota: Jerry Kill (13-17, third season). History: Michigan leads Minnesota 72-24-3, beating the Gophers 35-13 in 2012. Minnesota Notes: The Gophers are just 3-37 against Michigan in their last 40 meetings … Minnesota's last win over U-M came in Ann Arbor in 2005, on homecoming weekend for the Maize and Blue … The Maroon and Gold roster features four sets of brothers: Ed and Tommy Olson, Mitch and Matt Leidner, Luke and Kyle McAvoy, and Scott and Hendrick Ekpe … Minnesota ranks third in the country with 10 current players pursuing graduate degrees.

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