Gophers victory over Michigan State does not match triumph over Iowa

Countless times during breaks on Saturday, the Gophers played highlights of players hoisting the Floyd of Rosedale trophy following their glorious victory over Iowa a week ago. Welcome back, Floyd. It's been too long.

The Gophers eventually handled a scandal-ridden Michigan State team during their 27-12 victory at Huntington Bank Stadium. They have won consecutive games since being trounced at home by Michigan and can still win the Big Ten West title, and you can argue that their season would be viewed much differently if not for a fourth-quarter disaster at Northwestern on Sept. 23.

These two victories, however, should be looked at differently.

The victory in Iowa City ended a streak of losses at Kinnick Stadium that went back to 1999 — when P.J. Fleck was a wide receiver at Northern Illinois and before his journey brought him to Minnesota in 2017. Fleck had lost three one-score games there before breaking through last week.

The victory over the Spartans on Saturday should not be viewed as glorious. You take wins any way you can get them; that's not to be taken lightly. But let's not forget that the Gophers had just a 10-6 lead entering the fourth quarter after making Spartans punter Ryan Eckley punt, punt and punt some more. Michigan State was there to be put away, as the Gophers defense ruled the day. But Minnesota kept letting a Spartans team that is winless in the Big Ten off the hook.

The Gophers rolled up just 56 yards in the first quarter, the offense hampered by a pair of fumbles. Sean Tyler fumbled on his first carry of the game. He later caught a pass with his knee on the turf, negating a big play. Quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis was the victim of a strip sack in the first quarter as well. The Spartans could only convert field goals off these opportunities.

"It's not always going to go our way," Kaliakmanis said, "and it couldn't have been worse the way we started."

Kaliakmanis was brilliant in the second quarter, going 8-for-11 for 156 yards, including a 22-yard strike to Daniel Jackson to cap an eight-play, 94-yard touchdown drive and give Minnesota a 10-6 lead. Yes, more of that, please. This is what we have been waiting to see.

Then Fleck appeared to put the brakes on the aerial attack after a Kaliakmanis interception late in the third. The next nine offensive plays were runs by Jordan Nubin, a former defensive back, whose impression of Mo Ibrahim was Oscar-worthy. Kaliakmanis didn't have a pass attempt the rest of the game.

While the offense searched for fluidity, the one constant over the past two weeks has been the defense. Nearly everyone can hold Iowa's defense down. But the Gophers backed that up on Saturday by holding the Spartans to 125 yards over the first three quarters. Devon Williams led the group with nine tackles. Linebacker Cody Lindenberg returned from injury to add three tackles in limited action. Justin Walley had a pick and a tackle for loss. There were also three pass breakups, two quarterback hits and a forced fumble.

Michigan State rushed for only 109 yards, 52 by quarterback Sam Leavitt, who entered the game in the fourth quarter.

Regardless of the competition, holding Big Ten teams to 22 points over a two-week span can't be taken lightly. It will be up to the defense to keep the Gophers in games while the offense, hampered by injuries to the team's running backs, sorts itself out.

"I wouldn't want us to play this defense," Kaliakmanis said.

The final score belies how difficult the game was through three quarters, but the Gophers are 5-3 with winnable games coming up against Illinois and Purdue before they head to Ohio State on Nov. 18. The Illini and Boilermakers are not formidable offenses, so those are two games where the defense can shine again.

The win for the pig was better. But if the Gophers end up on a four-game roll, few will care how they won them.