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University of Minnesota Athletics
Iowa Downs Minnesota 45-21
11/16/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Iowa (11-1, 8-0) scored 21 straight points in the first half and never looked back en route to a 45-21 win over Minnesota (7-4, 3-4) on Saturday.
Iowa claimed the Floyd of Rosedale trophy and secured their first undefeated Big Ten season since 1942. A sellout crowd of 65,184 was on hand at the Metrodome for the epic battle.
After Iowa opened the scoring on a Fred Russell 10 yard touchdown run, Minnesota came back to tie the game. Asad Abdul-Kaliq connected with Antoine Burns for an 11 yard scoring play. The touchdown capped a eight play 70 yard scoring drive.
Iowa immediately regained the momentum scoring on their next three possessions to gain a 28-7 lead. The Golden Gophers bounced back with an 11 play 80 yard scoring drive capped by a one-yard Abdul-Kaliq touchdown plunge wth 32 seconds remaining the half.
After intermission, Iowa stole back the momentum cashing in on a Thomas Tapeh fumble on the Minnesota 37 yard line. Six plays later, Brad Banks hit Clinton Solomon for a six yard strike for a touchdown to take the lead 35-14. Minnesota closed the gap to 14 with a 10 play 72 yard scoring drive highlighted by Abdul-Kaliq's second touchdown run of the game.
However, Iowa commanded the fourth quarter adding 10 points to seal the victory.
Abdul-Kaliq finished the game 18-30 for 205 yards and one touchdown. Tapeh led the ground attack with 48 yards on 16 carries. Minnesota was plagued by a season high six touchdowns.
Iowa racked up 365 yards of rushing headed by Russell's 194 yards on 17 carries. Jermelle Lewis added 101 yards on 19 carries.
Minnesota closes out the regular season next Saturday on the road against Wisconsin.
Game Notes
- Minnesota now holds a 58-36-2 advantage all-time vs. Iowa in a series dating to 1891. The Minnesota-Iowa series is the second-oldest in UM school history (Wisconsin). The Hawkeyes won last season's meeting 42- 24, in Iowa City, Iowa. Minnesota holds a 35-13-1 lead in home games against the Hawkeyes. Minnesota Head Coach Glen Mason is 3-3 vs. Iowa.
- Floyd of Rosedale was on the line for the 96th time. Minnesota holds a 38-28-2 advantage in the series with Floyd on the line.
Minnesota Game Notes:
- With Iowa's opening-drive touchdown, the Golden Gophers have now allowed an opponent to score on their first drive in six games this season (UL Lafayette, Toledo, Purdue, Northwestern, Michigan State). Five of the six drives resulted in touchdowns (UL Lafayette).
- Wide receiver Antoine Burns tallied his second consecutive game with a touchdown catch with his TD reception in the first quarter.
- With his touchdown pass to Burns in the first quarter, Asad Abdul- Khaliq has now had a TD pass in 12 of the last 13 games.
- Iowa's 137 yards rushing in the opening quarter was the most yards allowed on the ground in the first quarter by Minnesota this season.
- Abdul-Khaliq tallied his fourth game of the season and fifth of his career with both a passing and rushing touchdown. Minnesota is 4-1 when Abdul-Khaliq scores with a TD pass and run in the same game.
- Iowa's 28 points in the first half was the most points allowed in the opening half by Minnesota this season and the most since giving up 28 to Iowa on Nov. 17, 2001.
- Iowa's 287 yards in the first half was the most allowed by Minnesota this season in the first half since the Northwestern game on Oct. 10, 2002.
- With his 43-yard pass to Aaron Hosack in the third quarter, Abdul- Khaliq has recorded 16 passes of 35 yards or more in his past 11 games.
- Abdul-Khaliq tallied his first two-touchdown rushing game of the season and the second of his career (10/28/2000 vs. Northwestern).
- Iowa's 45 points was the most points allowed by the Golden Gophers this season and the most allowed since Indiana scored 51 on Oct. 21, 2000. It was also the most points allowed to Iowa since the Hawkeyes scored 45 on Nov. 25, 1995.
- Minnesota turned the ball over a season-high six times.
- The attendance of 65,184 was the largest crowd to watch a Golden Gopher football game at the Metrodome, breaking the previous record of 65,018 vs. Iowa on Nov. 22, 1986. It was the largest Minnesota crowd in school history since a school-record crowd of 66,284 on Nov. 18, 1961, vs. Purdue at Memorial Stadium. It's the fifth-largest attendance in school history.
- Minnesota had 50,000+ on hand for the second time this season and 60,000+ for the first time since the Golden Gophers hosted Wisconsin (63,108) on Oct. 9, 1999.
- This was the 15th sellout for the Golden Gophers in the Metrodome and the first under Mason. Minnesota has had more sellouts against Iowa than against any other team. The last sellout for the Golden Gophers was against Wisconsin (64,016) on Nov. 11, 1995, and the last time Minnesota had two home games with at least 50,000 people was in 2000 vs. Northwestern (59,004) and Iowa (54,387).
- Abdul-Khaliq stands in sixth place in the Minnesota record book for career passing completions with 291. Cory Sauter (1994-97) leads the list with 539 completions.
- Abdul-Khaliq stands in third place in the Minnesota record book for season touchdown passes with 17. Mike Hohensee heads the list with his 20 TD passes in 1981.
- Abdul-Khaliq stands in second place in the Minnesota record book for career touchdown passes with 36. Cory Sauter (1994-97) leads the list with 40 TDs.
- Placekicker Dan Nystrom stands in third place in the Big Ten all-time record book for career kick scoring with 339 points. He needs three points to move into a tie for second place with Dan Stultz (Ohio St., 1997-00) at 342. The conference record is 355, held by Purdue's Travis Dorsch (1998-01).
- Nystrom stands in a tie for third place with Remy Hamilton (Michigan, 1993-96) in the Big Ten all-time record book for career field goals made with 63.
- Nystrom stands in sixth place in the Big Ten all-time record book for career PATs made at 150.
- Nystrom stands in sixth place in the Big Ten all-time record book for consecutive extra points made with 79.
- Punter Preston Gruening tallied the 153rd punt of his career to stand in sixth place on Minnesota's career punt list. Ryan Rindels (1997-99) leads the list with 217 punts.
Post-Game Quotes
Iowa 45 (11-1, 8-0), Minnesota 21 (7-4, 3-4)
Nov. 16, 2002
Attendance: 65, 184
Minnesota
Head Coach Glen Mason
"It was only appropriate that Coach Ferentz and his football team were able to claim at least a share of the conference title. This is an accomplishment that is well-deserved, and a lot of credit has to go to the coaching staff and what they have accomplished with this team."
"A lot of the players on the team had to endure the 20 straight losses that the program suffered a few seasons ago, and for them to be in the position they are now is such a testament to how hard they have worked to how good their coaching staff. They deserve all the respect they are getting."
"Today was a game full of ups and downs. For us, we finished on a down as the score indicated, but I knew going into the game that this was going to be a tough ball game to win."
"Our young defense had their hands full. We knew Iowa possessed a very diversified offense, but I was surprised with how successful they were at running the ball today. They had a lot of big plays in the running game and that was a reason why we struggled to stop them."
"Turnovers were our undoing. We had six turnovers and they scored touchdowns on four of them. We gave them a miniature field, which really put our defense in some tough situations. We can't expect to do that against anyone and win a ball game. We have to protect the ball better."
"I thought Abdul Khaliq played a good game, he did a lot of things well. You can't look at all the turnovers and blame them on him, if a tackle misses a block and he gets hit on the blindside, then there is nothing he can do. With his interceptions, I thought our receivers did make good plays on the ball. What can I say, our offense is struggling right now."
Post-Game Quotes
Defensive End Mark Losli
"Iowa is one of the better teams we've played. They have a very good line full of old guys who have been around for a while. They're very good as far as offensively running their scheme. We pride ourselves on stopping the run. The game was not how we hoped it would happen."
On playing Wisconsin:
"We'll be ready. It's a big game. We've got an axe to bring back here. You can expect we'll play hard."
Running Back Thomas Tapeh
"Ohio State, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin they're all big games. But we have to concentrate on next week. We have to concentrate on bringing back the axe."
Linebacker Ben West
On Iowa's offense:
"Iowa has the best offensive line I've seen. They're dominant. We knew going in that they had a great offensive line and we knew it would be a challenge. We also knew we needed to stop Banks, but it didn't turn out that way."
On playing Wisconsin:
"It's going to be huge. Being from Wisconsin, this is the best game of the year for me."
Wide Receiver Antoine Burns
"We all feel a little frustrated. But we know we've got another game, so we've got to put this loss behind us. All of us feel bad because we have lost three in a row, but we will come back strong next week. Wisconsin can't be underestimated, though, because any team can win on any given day."
Corner Back Danny Upchurch
On playing Wisconsin:
"We're still young. We need to regroup and come back strong. I think we can pull through. Iowa had a great season so they deserve the fans and excitement that they got today. I just hope that next weekend in Wisconsin we can do the same."
Quarterback Asad Abdul-Khaliq
"Our guys are feeling like any other team does after a loss. We're feeling pretty low. We know there are things we could have done to change the outcome of the game, but obviously we didn't do those things. We need to play our best against Wisconsin. We need to show our potential."
"I think we were still able to move the ball well and make some great plays, but not as much as we should have. Iowa is the best all around team and I'd say they top Ohio State. Iowa is strong in every aspect of play. Hopefully we can be just as strong as they are in a couple years. That is something we are working on. They deserve to have 25,000 fans follow them to every game."
Offensive Tackle Jake Kuppe
On turnovers:
"They definitely killed the momentum. To play a team like Iowa and have turnovers is just shooting yourself in the foot. They all happened during crucial moments in the game."
