IOWA CITY –Floyd of Rosedale? He's staying in Iowa for another year. The Gophers Big Ten West Division title hopes? They're on life support.
Those are the results of what happened Saturday at Kinnick Stadium, as No. 20 Iowa rallied from a three-point halftime deficit with a couple of big plays before hanging on for a 27-22 victory over the Gophers.
Chris Autman-Bell's 68-yard touchdown pass from Tanner Morgan with 5:28 left in the fourth quarter pulled the Gophers within 24-22, but Morgan's 2-point conversion pass intended for Autman-Bell was batted down by Dane Belton.
The Gophers took over from their 10-yard line with 3:08 left, but Morgan's fourth-and-17 pass fell incomplete. Caleb Shudak's 29-yard field goal with 41 seconds left set the final score.
The Gophers, needing a touchdown, took over at their 29 with 39 seconds left and reached the Iowa 39 with 12 seconds left after Morgan hit Mike Brown-Stephens for gains of 22 and 10 yards, but Morgan was sacked for a 15-yard loss by Joe Evans and fumbled, with the clock running out.
Iowa (8-2, 5-2 Big Ten) remained in a first-place tie with Wisconsin atop the West Division. The Gophers (6-4, 4-3) lost their second consecutive game and lost in the Floyd of Rosedale series for the seventh consecutive year. They haven't won at Iowa since 1999.
Minnesota led 13-10 at halftime on a pair of short field goals by Matthew Trickett and Cole Kramer's 37-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ko Kieft on fourth-and-2 out of the wildcat formation.
Problem was, the Gophers were settling for field goals while the Hawkeyes got a 72-yard TD pass from Alex Padilla to Charlie Jones early in the third quarter and a 27-yarder to Keegan Johnson in the fourth.
Ky Thomas rushed 29 times for 126 yards for the Gophers, and Autman-Bell caught five passes for 109 yards and the TD. Morgan completed 14 of 30 passes for 183 yards.
Minnesota had drives reach the Iowa 2, 14 and 11 only to settle for field goals. Another march to the Iowa 33 ended with a blocked 53-yard field-goal attempt on the first play of the fourth quarter.
The Gophers won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff, rather than defer to the second half. The move didn't work as planned. A first-down incompletion, a second-down gain of 4 by Thomas and a 1-yard gain on third down forced Minnesota to punt.
Iowa promptly drove to the Gophers 32, getting a third-and-6 conversion from its 45 before settling for a 50-yard field goal by Shudak. Three plays before Shudak's kick, Gophers linebacker Mariano Sori-Marin nearly intercepted a Padilla pass but couldn't complete the catch.
The field goal marked the 12th consecutive year that Iowa has scored first in the series.
On their second possession, the Gophers drove 73 yards to the Iowa 2 and settled for a 20-yard field goal by Trickett to tie the score 3-3 with 2:07 left in the first quarter.
On the 15-play march that took 7:42, the Gophers started using the toss pitch to much success. Mar'Keise Irving gained 16 yards to the 41.On second-and-10 from the Iowa 48, Irving broke a couple of tackles for a 13-yard gain. A pitch to Thomas gained 11 to the 20. On third-and-7 from the 17, Thomas gained 12 yards. The drive stalled inside the 5 with a 2-yard gain by Thomas, an incomplete pass when Morgan threw late to an open Kieft in the end zone and a 1-yard run by Thomas.
Iowa responded by taking a 10-3 lead on Padilla's QB sneak with 13:32 left in the second quarter, largely because of two big plays. Padilla hit tight end Sam LaPorta for a 17-yard gain on third-and-12 from the Hawkeyes 36. Johnson made a diving catch for a 34-yard gain to the Gophers 5.
After the Gophers defense forced a three-and-out, the Minnesota offense took over at its 41 after a 31-yard punt by Tory Taylor. They cashed in the good field position in dramatic fashion.
Facing fourth-and-2 from the Iowa 37, Kramer faked a handoff and found a wide-open Kieft for a touchdown and 10-10 tie. The play was reviewed because the Iowa defensive back knocked the ball out of Kieft's hands after he crossed the plane of the end zone. After a dramatic pause, the referee ruled that the play stood.
On the ensuing Iowa possession, the Gophers got a huge defensive play by freshman cornerback Justin Walley, who knocked the ball loose from wideout Nico Ragaini and recovered the fumble at the Iowa 46.
The Gophers turned that into a 31-yard field goal by Trickett on the final play of the first half for a 13-10 lead. They faced second-and-3 from the 16 with 56 seconds left, but back-to-back gains of 1 yard by Irving left them just short of a first down, and the referees did not stop the clock to measure. Gophers coach P.J. Fleck called his final timeout with 2 seconds to set up the field goal.
The Gophers defense forced a three-and-out to start the second half, and Minnesota's offense reached the Iowa 42. Morgan's third-and-7 pass was high for Autman-Bell, and the Gophers punted.
Padilla immediately hit Jones for a 72-yard TD pass for a 17-13 lead. Jones put a double move on cornerback Justin Walley, who bit and couldn't recover.
The Gophers responded by driving 64 yards to the Iowa 11 but settled for Trickett's 29-yard field goal that cut Iowa's lead to 17-16 with 6:14 left in the third quarter. Morgan's third-and-7 pass to Brevyn Spann-Ford fell 2 yards short.
Another promising drive for the Gophers reached the Iowa 37, but Morgan's incomplete pass, a 4-yard run by Irving and a pass for a 3-yard loss left them with fourth-and-9 from the 36. Fleck brought in Dragan Kesich to try a 53-yard field goal, but Logan Lee blocked it, and Iowa took over at its 42.
Facing third-and-12 from its 39, the Hawkeyes got a 12-yard run by Tyler Goodson. Then, Johnson took a screen pass, bounced off the tackle attempt by Coney Durr and Thomas Rush, and raced 27 yards for atouchdown and 24-16 Hawkeyes lead with 12:49 left in the fourth quarter.
Minnesota cut the lead to 24-22 when Autman-Bell got a Hawkeyes cornerback Matt Hankins to bite on a double move, and Morgan found the wide-open wideout for a 68-yard touchdown play with 5:28 left in the fourth quarter. The Gophers went for two to try to tie the score, but Morgan's pass intended for Autman-Bell was batted down.