Iowa-Minnesota Prediction: Can The Hawkeyes Protect Floyd of Rosedale?

Though Iowa has owned the recent series against Minnesota, the days leading up to the battle for Floyd of Rosedale always bring great anticipation between the Hawkeye and Golden Gopher fanbases. 

Whether it's the trash talk between the two fanbases on social media or Iowa players just now discovering Minnesota's infamous "Who Hates Iowa" chant doesn't matter - these teams don't like each other. That's the way it should be, and this rivalry is a perfect depiction of Big Ten football - tough, physical, and low-scoring. 

Notice how the low-scoring bullet point falls at the end? That hasn't exactly been the case in the last two Hawkeye victories. Iowa has won both by a combined score of 72-17, including a 41-3 triumph at Kinnick Stadium in 2025. 

The scene shifts to Minneapolis this season, but the Hawkeyes haven't lost there in 12 years. Every season is different, but Iowa is heavily favored to keep Floyd of Rosedale in Iowa City for the 11th time in 12 years. 

But what is going to happen? After listening to Kirk Ferentz and his players talk on Tuesday and combing through some numbers, here is my final score prediction for Saturday's game. 

Matchup: No. 15 Iowa (5-1, 2-1) @ Minnesota (4-2, 2-1) 

Scheduled game time: Oct. 24 at 2:30 p.m. CDT 

Location: Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MN 

Weather: 72 degrees 

TV: FS1 

Announcers: Tim Brando (play-by-play), Devin Gardner (analyst), Josh Sims (sideline) \

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network (Gary Dolphin, Pat Angerer) 

Student Radio: KRUI (Collin Carrithers, Ryan Contreras-Betz) 

If you read my midseason game-by-game predictions last week, you probably know where I'm going with this one. The final score pick is going to be slightly different than that one because I've had time to digest Minnesota's numbers a little bit more, but I don't feel any differently than I did last week about this game. 

Why? Because Iowa is simply the more-talented team in this one. The Gophers aren't a bad football team, but I can't help but look at their lopsided 41-13 loss at Purdue two weeks ago. Minnesota rolled into West Lafayette with plenty of momentum that day, but the already-shaky run defense allowed the Boilermakers to tally 305 yards on the ground. There's been some nice performances against Washington and Michigan mixed in, but Iowa's offensive line showed everyone it was tired of the criticism two weeks ago by guiding the Hawkeye run game to 268 yards. 

The Gophers probably made some adjustments up front over the bye week, but it's not going to matter. Confidence matters in the game of football, and it feels that pendulum swings toward Iowa.

Two years ago, the Hawkeyes stormed into Minneapolis and used a dominant day from Kaleb Johnson to walk away with a 31-14 victory over Minnesota. How many passing yards did Cade McNamara have that September night? Sixty-two. That's all you need to say. 

I see a similar game playing out in 2026. Jeremy Hecklinski and Co. will manage a few more passing yards than McNamara on Saturday, but you get the point. Kamari Moulton will pick up right where he left off against Washington and when that clock hits zero, 100+ players will swarm towards Floyd of Rosedale for the 11th time in 12 years. 

Prediction: Iowa 28, Minnesota 13