IOWA CITY — When you glance at the stat sheet from the Gophers game against No. 20 Iowa on Saturday, several items would seem to scream out Minnesota victory.
* Time of possession: 40 minutes, 20 seconds for the Gophers to 19:40 for Iowa.
* Total yards: 409-277 in favor of the Gophers, including 189-71 on the ground.
* Turnover margin: plus-1 for the Gophers, who avoided feeding into the plus-18 margin the Hawkeyes used in their seven previous victories.
Those type of stats have been the calling card for victory for the Gophers, yet there the scoreboard read early Saturday evening: Iowa 27, Gophers 22.
"That's why it's not 100%, it's 78%,'' Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said, referencing a victory rate when football teams win certain statistical categories that he emphasizes. "It's not always guaranteed, and it came down to the final play.''
When the clock struck 00:00, Gophers offensive tackle Daniel Faalele was recovering a fumble that Iowa defensive end Joe Evans forced from quarterback Tanner Morgan, who was hoping to reach the end zone with a Hail Mary pass. Instead, the Hawkeyes (5-2 Big Ten) secured their seventh consecutive victory in the Floyd of Rosedale rivalry and stood in a first-place tie with Wisconsin atop the Big Ten's West Division while pushing the Gophers (4-3) into a third-place tie with Purdue.
The game, however, was lost long before that last-ditch effort because the Gophers couldn't take full advantage of three trips inside the Iowa 15-yard line that ended in short field goals rather than touchdowns. The Gophers did hold a 13-10 halftime lead, but eight potential points left off the scoreboard in the first half enabled Iowa to hang around and eventually take control in the second half.
