Floyd of Rosedale is coming back to campus. Minnesota hosts Iowa on Saturday, October 24, at Huntington Bank Stadium, with kickoff at 2:30 p.m. The program wants the stands full of one color, so it has called a Maroon Out for the rivalry game.
The game will air on FS1. Iowa's game notes list the stadium's capacity at 50,805, and with a ranked rival coming in and the trophy on the line, that number is the target.
Minnesota comes in at 4-2, but the last result still hurts: a 41-13 loss at Purdue. The schedule doesn't ease up from here, either. Iowa is the first of 3 straight ranked opponents for the Gophers, so Saturday is the start of the stretch that will decide what this season becomes.
Iowa is 5-1 and came in at No. 15 in its own game notes. The Hawkeyes' last game was a 41-24 win over Washington. Running back Kamari Moulton leads the Big Ten at 103.8 rushing yards per game and ran for 208 against the Huskies. Quarterback Jeremy Hecklinski made his debut in that game and went 14-of-19 for 202 yards and 3 touchdowns. On defense, linebacker Cam Buffington leads Iowa with 52 tackles through 6 games.
Then there's the history, and Gophers fans know it too well. Iowa leads the all-time series 46-43-2. The Hawkeyes have won 10 of the last 11 meetings and 20 of the last 25, and they've won 5 straight in Minneapolis going back to 2016. P.J. Fleck is 1-8 against Kirk Ferentz. His only win was the 12-10 game at Kinnick Stadium in 2023. Ferentz is in his 28th season at Iowa and is the winningest coach in Big Ten history.
Fleck was set to hold his weekly press conference Tuesday morning to preview the game. The basics are already settled: it's a home game, it's an afternoon kickoff, the crowd is supposed to wear maroon, and the bronze pig is on the line. Minnesota hasn't beaten Iowa at home in 10 years, and Saturday is its next chance.
