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Fun Facts: Minnesota-Iowa, the Passing is Optional edition
Did you know Floyd of Rosedale was once the second most-famous pig in his family? Well, he was. Read this and learn why.
Oct. 19, 2023 10:39 am, Updated: Oct. 19, 2023 3:58 pm
1. Iowa’s eight-game winning streak over the Gophers is the second-longest in series history. Minnesota won the first 12 times the teams met, from 1891 to 1916.
2. Six of those last eight Iowa-Minnesota games were decided by one score.
3. The Gophers haven’t won at Iowa since 1999.
4. Minnesota has won its last six bowls, the longest streak in Big Ten history.
5. Iowa and Minnesota are two of the only three teams in the nation that outperformed the point spreads in each of the previous five seasons. This year, the Hawkeyes are 4-2-1 against the spread. The Gophers are 1-5.
6. Since 2019, Minnesota is 22-11 against Big Ten teams that aren’t Iowa.
7. Both teams had more punts than completed passes in their last game. The Gophers had seven punts, five completions in a 52-10 home loss against Michigan. Iowa had 10 punts, six completions in its 15-6 win at Wisconsin.
8. Iowa's 37 passing yards Saturday at Wisconsin was its lowest total since it had 28 against Nebraska in 1981. The Hawkeyes won both games.
9. Iowa has been outgained by an average of 146.8 yards over its four Big Ten games. Minnesota has been outgained by an average of 134 yards over its three conference games. Iowa has won three games when gaining under 250 yards. No other team has done that more than once.
10. Gophers Coach P.J. Fleck had a sweet childhood. He grew up in Sugar Grove (Ill.) and attended Maple Park High School. As a senior at Northern Illinois in 2003, Fleck caught 77 passes for 1,028 yards.
11. Minnesota and Iowa are the third- and fourth-least penalized teams in the nation.
12. Minnesota hasn’t won a Big Ten football championship since 1967 and hasn’t appeared in a Rose Bowl since the 1961 season.
13. The Gophers’ top two running backs have the last names Taylor and Tyler, and wear uniform numbers 1 and 2.
14. The lowest closing over/under number in history is 31.5. It was last year’s Iowa-Minnesota game, a 13-10 Hawkeyes win. As of Thursday morning, the number for this one was 31.5.
15. The highest closing over/under of all-time was 90 for the 2015 Texas Tech-Baylor game. Baylor won, 63-35.
16. At least 51 points were scored in five of the six Big Ten games last Saturday. The other was Iowa’s 15-6 win over Wisconsin.
17. Paul Burmeister will be NBC’s play-by-play announcer for this game. Burmeister was Iowa’s quarterback in 1993 when it closed its regular season with a 21-3 win over Minnesota. It was Hayden Fry’s 200th win as a head coach. Burmeister presented Fry with a trophy commemorating the achievement after the game.
18. Prince, Bob Dylan, Eddie Cochran and Jimmy Jam are Minnesota natives who have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Iowa has no such artist.
19. Among Minnesota’s cities with at least 10,000 residents are Prior Lake, White Bear Lake, Lino Lakes, Forest Lake, Ham Lake, Lake Elmo, Big Lake, Detroit Lakes, and of course, Lakeville.
20. Floyd of Rosedale wasn’t the most-famous member of his family until long after he died. His half-brother, Dike of Rosedale, was in the 1933 movie “State Fair” as the award-winning "Blue Boy." Dike later died in Hollywood.
Comments: mike.hlas@thegazette.com
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