After getting nine sacks in a victory over Nebraska, the Gophers will face a much stiffer challenge on Saturday in Iowa City.
Last Friday night, the Gophers defense put on a show at Huntington Bank Stadium. On the way to holding a Nebraska team that was averaging 41 points per game to a pair of field goals, the Gophers sacked Cornhuskers quarterback Dylan Raiola a program-record nine times.
That defensive dominance was the highlight of a 24-6 victory over the 25th-ranked Huskers that ended with a field storming by giddy fans.
A week later, the challenge ramps up a notch or two for Minnesota, which visits Iowa at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in a matchup of teams with 5-2 overall records and 3-1 Big Ten marks. Fittingly, the Gophers and Hawkeyes will be playing for the Floyd of Rosedale Trophy, the 98-pound bronze statue of a prized hog, because the big boys in the trenches will have a lot to say about who wins the game.
Three defensive ends for the Gophers — Anthony Smith (2½ sacks), Karter Menz (2½) and Jaxon Howard (2) — combined for seven of those sacks against Nebraska, while tackle Deven Eastern and linebacker Matt Kingsbury contributed one each.
Replicating that production will be a tall order of the Gophers for a couple of reasons.
First, they’ll be matched up against an Iowa offensive line that might be the nation’s best.
Second, they’ll face a running quarterback in Iowa’s Mark Gronowski instead of Raiola, who often holds onto the ball to his team’s detriment. No Big Ten team has allowed more sacks than Nebraska’s 25.
Pro Football Focus gave Iowa its mythical midseason Joe Moore Award (top offensive line). The Hawkeyes line carried a 91.3 overall rating from PFF, which was nearly nine points better than the runner-up. The linchpin of the line is senior center Logan Jones, ranked No. 1 at his position by PFF. The guards, sophomore Kade Pieper and senior Beau Stephens, are ranked Nos. 4 and 5, respectively, while sophomore Trevor Lauck is No. 9 and senior Gennings Dunker is No. 13 at tackle.
Iowa’s starting offensive line, which has a combined 119 starts and 152 games played, has given up only three sacks this season and committed only three penalties, according to PFF.
“They just play so well together as a unit,” Gophers defensive coordinator Danny Collins said. “Where they’re really dangerous is they love to get after it and run the ball. … They play really fast together. They’re always aligned on the same page in terms of protection. That’s going to be a challenge for us."
The Hawkeyes are averaging 192.7 rushing yards per game, which ranks fifth in the Big Ten. Their leading rusher is running back Kamari Moulton (360 yards), but their most dangerous might be Gronowski, the graduate transfer who led South Dakota State to a pair of FCS national championships. Gronowski rushed nine times for 130 yards in a 25-24 win over Penn State last week. Included in that was a 67-yard run that set up Iowa’s winning touchdown in the final four minutes.
“Their quarterback, he’s talented, he’s tough and hard-working,” Kingsbury said. “They can run the ball. The biggest thing is we know that we’re going into a big battle against these guys, and it’s going to be most physical team wins.”
Last week, the Gophers wore that most-physical label against Nebraska. The signature play came in the third quarter, just after Minnesota’s offense completed a 14-play, 98-yard drive to take a 14-6 lead. On third-and-5 from the Nebraska 22, Kingsbury came on a blitz, blew up Huskers running back Emmett Johnson and sacked Raiola for an 8-yard loss. Five plays later, the Gophers stretched the lead to 21-6.
“I didn’t realize how far I knocked [Johnson] back until I saw the video,” Kingsbury said. “I’ve always played with violence and physicality my whole career, so it definitely felt good to get that done.”