Hlas: Hawkeyes’ sole focus this week is bringing home bacon

The time, place and situation for the Hawkeyes to be playing Minnesota almost couldn't be better.

Here's what's at work against the Gophers when they enter Kinnick Stadium Saturday night.

1. Emotionally, they might be somewhat drained after two straight losses against powerful foes, a gut-wrencher in Minneapolis against Michigan, and Saturday night's hard-fought 28-14 loss at Ohio State.

2. It's a night game, Iowa is 9-0, and the environment in Kinnick will be as electrically charged as any third rail.

3. It doesn't matter they are one of just six unbeatens left in FBS and they'll be no lower than seventh in this week's College Football Playoff rankings. Focus should be no problem whatsoever for the Hawkeyes.

They lost 51-14 at Minnesota last year. It was a humiliation, the underlining moment of their mediocre season. They gave up 291 rushing yards to the Gophers. They were outgained by over a 2-to-1 ratio. They were behind 35-0 at halftime.

Minnesota's Mitch Leidner completed 10 passes. Four were for touchdowns.

All week long, Iowa's players will be reminded of the indignity they suffered in Minneapolis. Football is a ruthless game, and they may see this as a great chance to return that kind of one-sided beating Saturday.

4. This point isn't based on science or anything resembling reality, but ... There will be at least 32,000 fans, and perhaps quite a few more than that in Kinnick earlier Saturday for the Oklahoma State-Iowa wrestling dual. The Hawkeye wrestlers could leave behind a trail of ferocity and aggression that lingers in the stadium for the rest of the day and transfers to their football brothers.

Is that impossible? Silly? Impossibly silly? If you think so, please tell it to Tom Brands before you bring that opinion my way. I think he just might beg to differ.

So all the Iowa footballers have to do Saturday night is show up and collect their pound of flesh, right? No, no, no. The Gophers have shown the last two weeks that they're a prideful team, as well as competitive and physical.

But I go back to Iowa's beatdown in Minnesota on Nov. 8 of last year. The wounds are still too fresh for this Hawkeyes team to get lazy or overconfident anytime this season.

'We're doing something special,” Iowa center Austin Blythe said after the Hawkeyes' 35-27 win at Indiana Saturday. 'We've just got to remember what got us to this point.”

'We made a big priority to come together as a team,” said Hawkeye quarterback C.J. Beathard. 'We wanted to change the culture around this program. I think we're doing that. We're not stopping here. We want to keep winning.”

No, this game couldn't be situated much better for Iowa. Instead of getting puffy from the polls, a possible school-record 10-0 start, and the pursuit of a division title, the Hawkeyes can easily lock in on something in front of them.

Floyd of Rosedale. The Gophers didn't just take it last year, they ran right over the Hawkeyes to get it.

The pig is in prime-time Saturday. Floyd will be stationed behind Minnesota's sideline late in the game. He may want to bring ear plugs.