Minnesota Golden Gophers vs Iowa Hawkeyes Match Player Stats On Oct 28, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Oct 28, 2017

Iowa scored on its opening drives of both halves and added a late field goal to beat Minnesota 17-10 on Saturday in Iowa City, Iowa.

Miguel Recinos' 32-yard field goal gave the Hawkeyes a two-score lead with 5:34 to go.

Minnesota responded with its biggest play of the game, a 63-yard pass from Demry Croft to Tyler Johnson. But three incomplete passes later, the Gophers had to settle for a field goal.

Minnesota's last-gasp drive was snuffed out when Croft was sacked on fourth-and-4 from the Minnesota 20-yard line.

In wasn't pretty offensively.

Iowa (5-3, 2-3 Big Ten) went three-and-out six times, and 13 of the Hawkeyes' 15 first downs came on their three scoring drives.

Minnesota (4-4, 1-4) lost for the fourth time in five games.

Nate Stanley completed 15 of 27 passes for 190 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and Akrum Wadley rushed for 70 yards and a score for Iowa.

The Minnesota passing game struggled again.

Croft was 9 of 29 for just 139 yards, but the Golden Gophers did more damage on the ground.

Rodney Smith led Minnesota with 82 yards rushing.

After falling behind 14-0 in the third quarter, the Gophers got within a touchdown early in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard plunge by Kobe McCrary.

McCrary was coming off a 153-yard performance in Minnesota's 24-17 win over Illinois seven days earlier. But on Saturday, he had just seven carries for 22 yards.

Stanley teamed with Noah Fant for a 45-yard touchdown pass to give the Hawkeyes a 14-0 lead four minutes into the the third quarter.

Both offenses struggled in the first half as Iowa led 7-0 at the break.

More than half of the Hawkeyes' first-half yardage came on their first drive.

Iowa scored on its opening possession, driving 80 yards in five plays capped by a 12-yard Wadley touchdown run.