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University of Minnesota Athletics
FB: Gophers Close Regular Season In Showdown With Iowa
11/9/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
- Click Here For Minnesota-Iowa Notes
THE WEEKLY PREVIEW
1. Saturday against Iowa the Golden Gophers will attempt to become the first Minnesota team to finish a season undefeated at home in the Metrodome and the first team to go without a home loss in a season since the 1967 squad finished 6-0 in Memorial Stadium.
2. Minnesota's six turnovers this season leads the Big Ten Conference in fewest turnovers and puts Minnesota in position to break the NCAA record for fewest turnovers in a season. Clemson (1940), Miami (Ohio) (1966) and Notre Dame (2000) share the record of eight turnovers in a season.
3. Bryan Cupito's four interceptions this season is the fewest by a starting quarterback at Minnesota through 10 games since Rickey Foggie finished the 1985 season with only four INTs.
BREAKING DOWN IOWA
The Iowa Hawkeyes roll into the Metrodome for Saturday's game riding a five- game winning streak. The Hawkeyes began the season with non-conference wins over Kent State (39-7) and Iowa State (17-10) before losing 44-7 on the road at Arizona State. Iowa started the Big Ten Conference season with a road loss at Michigan (30-17), but has not lost since with wins over Michigan State (38-16), Ohio State (33-7), Penn State (6-4), Illinois (23-13) and Purdue (23-21). The Hawkeyes are led on offense by sophomore quarterback Drew Tate. Through nine games, Tate has completed 62.1 percent of his passes while averaging 222 yards passing per game. On defense, Iowa boasts one of the best defenses in the Big Ten Conference. Junior linebacker Chad Greenway leads the Hawkeyes with 86 tackles, while fellow linebacker, Abdul Hodge is second on the t eam with 82 tackles. Senior Matt R oth has made t he most of his 36 t ackles this season, posting 11 tackl es-for-loss and a team-leading seven quarte rback sacks. Overall, the Hawkey e defens e ranks second in th e conference in total defense (287.1 ypg) and first i n rushing defe nse ( 68 .2 ypg).
THE SERIES
Minnesota leads the all-time series against the Hawkeyes 58-37-2. The two teams first met in Iowa City on Nov. 2, 1891 with the Gophers claiming a 42-4 victory. The Gophers own a 35-13-1 record at home, but trail 6-5 in games played at the Metrodome. Saturday's meeting will mark the second consecutive season the Gophers have faced the Hawkeyes on Minnesota's final regular season weekend. The Gophers faced Iowa on the last weekend of the season from 1983-2000 before facing Wisconsin on the final regular season weekend in 2001 and 2002.
