Gopher Football
It was a bitter end to a season that held so much promise and resulted in disappointment. With the Gophers taking the ball with three minutes left and down by only two it looked like they were in position to win. They moved the ball into field goal range, but the Iowa defense stepped up, dropping Marion Barber III for a 5-yard loss to make things much more dicey for a field goal attempt.
Unfortunately, this has been the story of the Gophers’ season, especially in the second half of the schedule with the team losing five of their final six games. Iowa had no running game. Twice they had the ball first in goal inside the five-yard line and twice they had to settle for field goals. And despite Iowa’s one-dimensional offense, they had little trouble passing.
The game really came down to key third down plays. Again and again, the Minnesota defense crumbled under the pressure, even on numerous third and long plays. In those fateful final minutes the Minnesota offense stumbled when they were on the doorstep.
The positives were Marion Barber III getting his 1,000 yards rushing and Laurence Maroney having another great day running which included three runs for touchdowns. The biggest negative was Bryan Cupito’s day passing.
Let’s face it. Minnesota got the breaks they should have needed to win this game. The long run Maroney for a TD could have been reviewed, as it looked like he may have gone out of bounds near the Iowa 30. The catch by Ernie Wheelwright for a key first down was the result of a call that was reversed. Iowa was nabbed for three personal foul penalties in the second half which really cost them. Yes, the Iowa kicker was a perfect 5-for-5 but Minnesota was still given a big opening to win this game.
No doubt, this was a bad way to end the regular season. The Gophers will get the small consolation of playing in a bowl game. However, a win against a MAC team in the Motor City Bowl hardly makes up for the disappointment of this loss, not to mention the other four.