MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Iowa football's College Football Playoff chances took a downward turn on Oct. 24.
The Hawkeyes dropped a dud against Minnesota, falling to the Golden Gophers, 13-10. Minnesota drilled a game-winning 46-yard field goal as time expired to win. It was a surprisingly poor performance.
It is Iowa's second loss of the season and makes the road to the College Football Playoff far more difficult. The Hawkeyes have to win their remaining five regular season games to even be in the conversation.
But based on Iowa's performance against Minnesota, the Hawkeyes don't look like a College Football Playoff team.
Here are likes and dislikes from Iowa's faceplant against Minnesota.
Likes
Defense: Phil Parker’s unit kept Iowa in the game. The Hawkeyes’ defense was swarming and kept giving the offense chance after chance to put points on the board. Minnesota mustered just 209 total yards.
Iowa's game-tying drive: Things looked dire for Iowa in the fourth quarter. But the offense finally woke up, driving 98 yards in four plays for the game-tying touchdown. Tony Diaz broke free for a 57-yard reception to jumpstart the offense. Two plays later, Hank Brown hit Reece Vander Zee for a 37-yard touchdown. It was reminiscent of Iowa's late-game heroics between Brown and Vander Zee against Michigan.
Deshaun Lee: The defensive back gave the Hawkeyes much-needed life when he picked off Minnesota quarterback Drake Lindsey to set up Iowa’s offense in the red zone. That was Lee’s team-leading third interception of the season.
Tanner Philpott: Philpott had a great catch and hold to get the ball down for Caden Buhr’s 32-yard field goal, which tied the game at 3-3 in the first half. It’s not the first time this season Philpott has made a standout play, also doing so on Buhr’s game-winning field goal against Iowa State.
Dislikes
Incredibly disappointing performance: An uncharacteristic showing by Iowa, which was undisciplined, sloppy and struggled to make the makeable plays. In the end, mistakes piled up and proved to be insurmountable. We'll get into some of them here.
Quarterback play: Jeremy Hecklinski got off to a fast start, completing six of his first seven passes, but he then went three of his next nine, including an interception in the red zone. After five offensive drives with Hecklinski at quarterback, Iowa turned to Brown, but that didn't solve anything.
It was an awful showing by both quarterbacks, who went a combined 20-of-37 passing for 198 yards with three interceptions and one touchdown.
Offense: A horrible day for Iowa's offense. The Hawkeyes scored just 10 points on 13 offensive drives. It's difficult to find much to feel good about on the offensive side of the ball.
Minnesota's game-winning drive: The Hawkeyes' defense was so good for so much of the game, but gave up a 39-yard reception on third down for the Gophers to get into field goal range. That led to the game-winning field goal.
Running game: After rushing for 263 yards against Washington, Iowa was bottled up for just 90 against Minnesota. The Hawkeyes have been feast or famine in the run game this season, and against Minnesota, it was the latter, managing just three yards per rush against the Golden Gophers. Offense becomes difficult for Iowa when it struggles to run the ball.
Turnover battle: Iowa lost the turnover battle 4-1. Iowa flirted with danger on multiple other occasions, and that turnover number could've been even worse.
Untimely penalty: One of Iowa’s penalties resulted in a Minnesota touchdown. The Hawkeyes seemed to get a huge stop on fourth down right around the goal line, but were flagged for offsides, giving Minnesota another opportunity. The Golden Gophers scored a touchdown on the next play and took a 10-3 lead.
Missed opportunities in 2nd quarter: Iowa wasn’t able to turn Lee's interception into seven points, despite being deep in Minnesota territory. The Hawkeyes were hindered by a pair of penalties on offensive lineman Trevor Lauck and settled for a Caden Buhr field goal to tie the game at three.
Then, near the end of the first half, Iowa was approaching field goal range, but Brown threw a head-scratching interception, which kept the Hawkeyes from trying to take the lead heading into the break.
Blocked punt: This was the first significant blunder from Iowa’s punt unit this season. Minnesota blocked Boston Everitt’s first punt attempt of the game and took over at the Hawkeye 13-yard line. The Iowa defense responded by forcing a field goal, but it still wasn’t an ideal start on the road.
Kamari Moulton injury: Iowa’s starting running back left the game in the second quarter with an injury and did not return. Moulton was coming off a career-high 208-yard rushing game at Washington, but was held to just 10 carries for just 22 yards against Minnesota. It’s a concern if Moulton is out for an extended period of time.
Couldn’t capitalize after fake punt: Iowa successfully faked a punt on its own end of the field as Cam Buffington earned a first down, but the Hawkeyes couldn't take advantage of what could’ve been a momentum swing. On the very next play, Hecklinski missed Tony Diaz on what could’ve been a deep touchdown. Iowa didn’t even get another first down that drive and was forced to punt.
Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at TTachman@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on Hawk Central: Likes, dislikes from Iowa football's loss to Minnesota