Media Prediction Thread - Floyd Edition: Minnesota at Iowa





Can't worry about the line. We didn't cover Illinois. Worry about the result. Floyd needs to come home.
 


Can't worry about the line. We didn't cover Illinois. Worry about the result. Floyd needs to come home.
That's the bottom line right there. I don't care how ugly or pretty the game is played. I only care that Floyd lives at his home in Mpls.
 

The Gazette chimes in:

Minnesota-Iowa prediction
Minnesota will win if ... it can shake out a handful of explosive plays. Iowa allowed three in the second half to Northwestern last week. All three led to scores.

Iowa will win if ... it crosses the goal line twice in the first quarter. In perhaps the most incongruous stat in the country, the Hawkeyes are 25th in the nation controlling time of possession in the first quarter 55.24 percent of the time. They have almost nothing to show for that. Iowa is 121st in the nation in first-quarter points with 21, just 3.0 points a game in the first quarter.

Prediction: Iowa 30, Minnesota 17

http://www.thegazette.com/subject/s...sota-golden-gophers-at-iowa-hawkeyes-20171026

Go Gophers!!
 

Athlon chimes in:

Final Analysis

Even with the injuries Iowa is dealing with, the Hawkeyes are the more talented team to a man in this game. That said, this is a game where Kirk Ferentz's conservative nature could bite his team. Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck is an innovator, so you can expect a trick play or two to keep Iowa on its heels and possibly keep Minnesota hanging around in this game longer than it probably should. As a result, look for the Hawkeyes to force the ball dowfield on more vertical routes to tight end Noah Fant. Aside from the occasions when running back Akrum Wadley lines up in the slot, Fant is Iowa's most dangerous big-play threat as a receiver. The attention he'll require on those vertical routes will eventually make Minnesota more vulnerable on defense and set up the intermediate passing attack for the Hawkeyes. As usual, a big play from Wadley in the running game will likely be the difference, but look for Iowa quarterback Nathan Stanley to have one of his best games of the season statistically in this one.

Prediction: Iowa 24, Minnesota 20

https://athlonsports.com/college-fo...-vs-iowa-hawkeyes-preview-and-prediction-2017

Go Gophers!!
 

Athlon chimes in:

Final Analysis

Even with the injuries Iowa is dealing with, the Hawkeyes are the more talented team to a man in this game. That said, this is a game where Kirk Ferentz's conservative nature could bite his team. Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck is an innovator, so you can expect a trick play or two to keep Iowa on its heels and possibly keep Minnesota hanging around in this game longer than it probably should. As a result, look for the Hawkeyes to force the ball dowfield on more vertical routes to tight end Noah Fant. Aside from the occasions when running back Akrum Wadley lines up in the slot, Fant is Iowa's most dangerous big-play threat as a receiver. The attention he'll require on those vertical routes will eventually make Minnesota more vulnerable on defense and set up the intermediate passing attack for the Hawkeyes. As usual, a big play from Wadley in the running game will likely be the difference, but look for Iowa quarterback Nathan Stanley to have one of his best games of the season statistically in this one.

Prediction: Iowa 24, Minnesota 20

https://athlonsports.com/college-fo...-vs-iowa-hawkeyes-preview-and-prediction-2017

Go Gophers!!

PJ may be an innovator but definitely not year 0 with the gophers. Guessing this guy hasn't watched many of the gopher games this year. The jet sweep and RUTM are not exactly trick plays. Have we run any actual 'trick' plays this year?
 



They've tricked me into watching every single offensive play this year. I know eventually I'll see something daring/creative, right?
 

Is AWjr back this week? Anyone know? Fleck mentioned getting some guys back and I just saw a tweet from a fan of Gopher football “he’s finally back on the field this week”. If it is Winfield I sure hope he’s 100% healed and it’s not one of those career reoccurring hamstrings.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Last time we won in Mordor was 1999.

We've had some decent teams since then. None have come home with the pig.

Hard for me to see a path to victory. Hoping against hope!
 

ESPN chimes in:

Minnesota at Iowa, 6:30 p.m. ET, FS1

Murphy: The Hawkeyes are 4-0 in games when they put up at least 20 points and 0-3 when they score 19 or fewer. That trend should continue this weekend. Minnesota's defense has been solid this season, but Iowa quarterback Nathan Stanley (16 TDs, 3 INTs) might be one of the most overlooked players in the Big Ten this season. He throws for three scores against the Gophers, which gets Iowa to its magic number. Iowa 24, Minnesota 17

VanHaaren: This is a night game at Iowa, and you know how I feel about the Hawkeyes at night -- it’s scary. The Hawkeyes are 8-2 at home since 2007 when the kickoff is after 6 p.m. That's not good news for Minnesota. If linebacker Josey Jewell is back from injury, that will be a big boost to the Iowa defense. Minnesota’s passing game has been inconsistent, which could be the key to this game. I think Iowa takes this one. Iowa 24, Minnesota 17

Sherman: This matchup exemplifies the West malaise. The Gophers and Hawkeyes both started with promise -- Minnesota after a fool's-gold rout of horrendous Oregon State and Iowa because of an overtime victory over Iowa State that looks more fortuitous by the week. Alas, the optimism has waned, especially for Iowa, which can’t point to a coaching transition as the source of its growing pains. Iowa 14, Minnesota 13

http://www.espn.com/blog/bigten/pos...nn-state-beat-the-buckeyes-two-times-in-a-row

Go Gophers!!
 



Well, there you have it: unanimous. I can't disagree with these predictions (other than the first one predicting Iowa scoring 30 points). If Minnesota does win, the victory will be all the sweeter because none of the media were willing to predict it despite the fact that all predictors but the first projected a close game.
 

ESPN chimes in:

Minnesota at Iowa, 6:30 p.m. ET, FS1

Murphy: The Hawkeyes are 4-0 in games when they put up at least 20 points and 0-3 when they score 19 or fewer. That trend should continue this weekend. Minnesota's defense has been solid this season, but Iowa quarterback Nathan Stanley (16 TDs, 3 INTs) might be one of the most overlooked players in the Big Ten this season. He throws for three scores against the Gophers, which gets Iowa to its magic number. Iowa 24, Minnesota 17

VanHaaren: This is a night game at Iowa, and you know how I feel about the Hawkeyes at night -- it’s scary. The Hawkeyes are 8-2 at home since 2007 when the kickoff is after 6 p.m. That's not good news for Minnesota. If linebacker Josey Jewell is back from injury, that will be a big boost to the Iowa defense. Minnesota’s passing game has been inconsistent, which could be the key to this game. I think Iowa takes this one. Iowa 24, Minnesota 17

Sherman: This matchup exemplifies the West malaise. The Gophers and Hawkeyes both started with promise -- Minnesota after a fool's-gold rout of horrendous Oregon State and Iowa because of an overtime victory over Iowa State that looks more fortuitous by the week. Alas, the optimism has waned, especially for Iowa, which can’t point to a coaching transition as the source of its growing pains. Iowa 14, Minnesota 13

http://www.espn.com/blog/bigten/pos...nn-state-beat-the-buckeyes-two-times-in-a-row

Go Gophers!!

Interesting that the first two authors above describe the historical patterns and current team situations as giving little chance of a Gopher win but then predict a one-touchdown margin. The third probably is the most accurate assessment of the two teams in this game: both are disappointing and both have struggled but Iowa has an advantage, albeit small, in this one.
 



ESPN chimes in:

Minnesota at Iowa, 6:30 p.m. ET, FS1

Murphy: The Hawkeyes are 4-0 in games when they put up at least 20 points and 0-3 when they score 19 or fewer. That trend should continue this weekend. Minnesota's defense has been solid this season, but Iowa quarterback Nathan Stanley (16 TDs, 3 INTs) might be one of the most overlooked players in the Big Ten this season. He throws for three scores against the Gophers, which gets Iowa to its magic number. Iowa 24, Minnesota 17

VanHaaren: This is a night game at Iowa, and you know how I feel about the Hawkeyes at night -- it’s scary. The Hawkeyes are 8-2 at home since 2007 when the kickoff is after 6 p.m. That's not good news for Minnesota. If linebacker Josey Jewell is back from injury, that will be a big boost to the Iowa defense. Minnesota’s passing game has been inconsistent, which could be the key to this game. I think Iowa takes this one. Iowa 24, Minnesota 17

Sherman: This matchup exemplifies the West malaise. The Gophers and Hawkeyes both started with promise -- Minnesota after a fool's-gold rout of horrendous Oregon State and Iowa because of an overtime victory over Iowa State that looks more fortuitous by the week. Alas, the optimism has waned, especially for Iowa, which can’t point to a coaching transition as the source of its growing pains. Iowa 14, Minnesota 13

http://www.espn.com/blog/bigten/pos...nn-state-beat-the-buckeyes-two-times-in-a-row

Go Gophers!!

VanHaaren's cited stat is irrelevant, because kickoff is at 5:30 pm.
 



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That would be weird since the game is in the Central time zone, but regardless, it was an unnecessary qualifier that didn't add anything to what he was saying.

ESPN chimes in:

Minnesota at Iowa, 6:30 p.m. ET, FS1

ESPN has a definite east coast bias.

To me, VanHaaren is using Iowa's recent success playing night games at home as a basis for his prediction. You can argue that past results have no bearing on future outcomes, but I can see how readers might find that useful.
 




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