MINNEAPOLIS -- As the assembled media was waiting for Gophers head coach Jerry Kill to arrive for his postgame press conference, a nearby television showed highlights from Minnesota's 51-14 domination of Iowa.
There were plenty of highlights to go around, as the Gophers put up the most points they've scored against the rival Hawkeyes since 1949. But arguably the most entertaining highlight didn't happen during the game. It was video of a jubilant Kill, dancing like nobody was watching -- even though he was surrounded by his players in the locker room.
That moment of impromptu celebration encapsulated how big of a win Saturday's victory was for Kill and Minnesota. Just two weeks ago, the Gophers had perhaps their worst loss in Kill's four-year tenure, dropping a winnable road game to Illinois. Now Minnesota was back in business after a bye week thanks to a trouncing of the Hawkeyes.
For Kill, that's something worth celebrating.
"I can't dance anyway. Everybody makes a big deal of that," Kill said. "I'm hard on players. I'm a disciplinarian. So if they're going to play hard for you, you've got to show them that you're a human being and have fun."
Sure, some predicted Minnesota would beat Iowa -- although not the oddsmakers in Las Vegas, which had the Gophers pegged as slight underdogs. But one week after the Hawkeyes rolled over Northwestern, and in the Gophers' first game off a bad loss at Illinois, this type of game wasn't supposed to happen.
Nobody saw this coming. Not even the Gophers.
"I thought it was going to be a back-and-forth battle all day," said Gophers quarterback Mitch Leidner, whom Kill said had his best performance of his career Saturday. "It was cool to see that scoreboard at the end of the game."
Minnesota's 51 points were the most the Gophers have scored against Iowa since 1949. The Gophers scored 51 -- yes, 51 -- unanswered points after an early Hawkeyes touchdown to roll to a 7-2 record.
The Gophers outplayed the Hawkeyes in every phase of the game. In doing so, they stayed alive in the Big Ten West as one of three division teams with just one loss. The other two -- Nebraska and Wisconsin -- still loom on Minnesota's schedule later this month.
For the meantime, the Gophers can feel good about Saturday's win, one that elicited a storming of the field by Minnesota's fans as its players rushed to the opposite sideline to grab Floyd of Rosedale. The large bronze pig has been awarded to the winner of this rivalry since 1935. After winning the Little Brown Jug against Michigan earlier this year, Minnesota has now won both of those trophies in the same season for the first time since 1967.
"It's huge for us," Leidner said. "It's big for this state, the state of Minnesota. We had really good support out here today and a great crowd. It was really cool to see. I'm just happy for my teammates and coaches and fans."
Leidner's bounceback effort Saturday was a big reason for the Gophers' success. The redshirt sophomore was 10 of 13 for 138 yards and four touchdowns, three of which went to tight end Maxx Williams. Leidner also led Minnesota with 77 rushing yards on 11 carries.
Defensively, the Gophers didn't give Iowa much room to breathe. The Hawkeyes converted several times on third down on their opening touchdown drive, but threw an interception, punted three times and fumbled twice before halftime. By that point, the Gophers led 35-7. The rout was already on.
That loss to Illinois could have had a carry-over effect into Saturday's game, even though Minnesota had two weeks to prepare for Iowa as it attempted to forget that game against the Illini. Turns out the loss is already a thing of the past. The buzz in Dinkytown will no doubt return this week after a win -- and a convincing one, at that -- against a big rival.
"It feels good. We're a totally different team now this year," said receiver KJ Maye when asked about the Gophers' previous two losses to Iowa. "I knew coming into the game, for us to be able to win this game, we have to execute. Everybody has to do their job. . . . We did good with that."
Minnesota was able to put the Illinois loss in the past. Now the Gophers will need to try to use Saturday's big win as a confidence-builder moving forward. Minnesota will host Ohio State next Saturday before road games against Nebraska and Wisconsin to close out the regular season.
At 7-2 overall and 4-1 in the Big Ten, the Gophers are in good shape. Yes, the Illinois loss will likely linger in the back of fans' minds from now until the end of the season. But Minnesota knew it had a tough four-game stretch to close out the season, and the Gophers have now cleared the first hurdle -- with plenty of room to spare.
"Guys can get too high. We want to stay even-keeled," said Gophers cornerback Briean Boddy-Calhoun, who had an interception in the first quarter. "We can celebrate this win tonight but come back tomorrow and start preparing for Ohio State. Any win is always big going into the next week . . . especially in November when we're playing for something."
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