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IOWA CITY (AP) — Iowa is in danger of being remembered more for its finish than its fantastic start.
The 15th-ranked Hawkeyes have dropped two straight football games after opening 9-0 for the first time, and last week's 27-24 overtime loss at Ohio State crushed their hopes of a trip to the Rose Bowl.
Though Iowa (9-2, 5-2 Big Ten) has gone from national title contention to hoping for an at-large BCS bowl bid, there's still a lot on the line for the Hawkeyes entering Saturday's 11 a.m. finale against Minnesota (6-5, 3-4).
Standing in the way of Iowa's hopes for its first 10-win season since 2004 and a bronze pig named Floyd are the Gophers, who haven't forgotten what the Hawkeyes did to them in their final game in the Metrodome last season.
Iowa retained the Floyd of Rosedale trophy given to the winner in the border rivalry with a 55-0 victory. It was the largest win by the Hawkeyes over Minnesota, and it has stuck with many of the Gophers.
“Something like that, you're never going to forget,” Minnesota tight end Nick Tow-Arnett said. “We're going to do everything we can this year to not let that happen.”
Iowa's slide has coincided with quarterback Ricky Stanzi's sprained ankle, which ended his regular season in the second quarter of a 17-10 loss to Northwestern on Nov. 7.
Redshirt freshman quarterback James Vandenberg, who'll make his second career start today, opened eyes with a confident performance against the Buckeyes.
Facing one of the nation's top defenses in one of the toughest venues in college football, Vandenberg completed 20 of 33 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns. He threw three interceptions, but he also drove the Hawkeyes to a game-tying score late in the fourth quarter.
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz praised Vandenberg's arm, his grasp of the offense and, most important, the way he handled such a tough environment.
“I'm impressed with the fact that he took a couple of shots in the head,'' Ferentz said, “and that's the stuff you don't let guys do in practice.
“We can't simulate 110,000 people, and we're not going to let guys come in and whack him, either, during most conditions. That's the stuff that you really find out about a guy. He just showed a lot of mental and physical toughness. Quarterbacks had better have that.”
Minnesota is skidding to the finish, as it did a year ago when the Hawkeyes closed the Gophers' run in the Metrodome.
Minnesota has dropped three of its past five games, and last week's 16-13 home win over South Dakota State was hardly a cause for celebration. The Gophers had 231 total yards, settling for Eric Ellestad field goals of 23, 25 and 26 yards and a D.L. Wilhite fumble recovery for a touchdown to sneak past the Jackrabbits.
The Gophers are taking a bus to Iowa City instead of flying to save money. They'll have plenty of time to mull over the challenge of facing Iowa's defense.
The Hawkeyes are allowing 16.9 points per game, and Minnesota scored seven points in road losses to the Big Ten's two other premier defenses, the Buckeyes and Penn State.
“It's a tremendous challenge for us. We know that we're a big underdog in the football game, and rightfully so,” Minnesota coach Tim Brewster said.
Save for a 34-24 loss in Minneapolis in 2006, the Hawkeyes have dominated the series since Ferentz got Iowa back on track in 2001.
Iowa has won seven of the past eight meetings with the Gophers, and the Hawkeyes will likely need to make it eight of nine to have any shot of landing an at-large BCS bid.
Referring to the Floyd of Rosedale trophy, Iowa defensive lineman Broderick Binns said: “It's a pig. Hopefully we can keep it here, and maybe we could kind of roast it for the Thanksgiving break.''
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