P.J. Fleck comments on Gophers’ rivalry futility versus Iowa
The Golden Gophers haven’t won in Iowa City since P.J. Fleck’s first year playing college football. That was all the way back when Fleck was a freshman wide receiver at Northern Illinois in the fall of 1999.
That was the final game of Kirk Ferentz’s first season at the helm as the Hawkeyes’ head coach. Keep in mind, Ferentz is now the longest-tenured head coach in college football.
Minnesota hasn’t won in Iowa City since. It’s a stretch of 10 straight home wins for the Hawkeyes.
The series against Iowa in general has been incredibly lopsided of late.
Fleck carries an 0-6 mark as the Gophers’ head coach into Kinnick Stadium this afternoon and Iowa has won eight straight overall in the series. That’s the Hawkeyes’ longest winning streak in the series in its history.
Ferentz actually dropped his first two as Iowa’s head coach in the series versus Minnesota. But, it’s a rivalry that he and Iowa have controlled ever since. Ferentz and the Hawkeyes have made capturing the Floyd of Rosedale routine, winning 18 of the past 22 in the series.
Fleck is well aware of the close losses versus Iowa during his time atop the Minnesota program. The Gophers have dropped four one-score games in that span, losing 17-10 in 2017, 23-19 in 2019, 27-22 in 2021 and 13-10 last season.
Fleck wasn’t downplaying earlier this week what a win over Iowa would mean for him and the Minnesota program.
“Obviously, it means a lot to our fan base. It means a lot to our players. It means a lot to our state, as it does Iowa’s team. They’ve had a lot of success in years past. I think we’ve had one win there since 1999, and just twice in 40 years. That’s not a lot. So we’ve got to work it out for us.
“We know how good they are. The game has been really close the last few years, as a rivalry should be. I think both teams really respect the rivalry and the fan base really do, too. Obviously, Iowa’s had the upper hand over the years, but we’re prepared to be do everything we can to be 1-0. It’s a one-game championship season. It’s a huge rivalry game. We’ve talked to our players about what it means. They understand that. A lot of guys who have been here understand that as they know how close we been.
“And we kind of do the history of the rivalry, just like we do every year with a rivalry game. But we’re going in to play a top 25 team. We know that. They know all the facts that everybody reports, but we just got to go in and play our best game on offense, defense and special teams.
“I mean this team has still has not played their best football yet and that’s my responsibility and my job to get them to. And hopefully they can do that on on Saturday afternoon,” Fleck said.
Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT this afternoon inside Kinnick Stadium where the Hawkeyes will look to run their string to nine straight over the Gophers.
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