5 Minnesota players to watch against Iowa on Saturday

IOWA CITY — Another week, another Big Ten West rival.

Minnesota, 20th in the College Football Playoff rankings before losing to Illinois on Saturday, visits Kinnick Stadium on Saturday, the third of five straight Big Ten West rivalry games for the Hawkeyes.

Here are five Minnesota players to know ahead of the battle for the Floyd of Rosedale Trophy:

RBs Ky Thomas and Mar’Keise Irving

If someone looked ahead at this game a few months ago, Ky Thomas and Mar’Keise Irving are two names that likely wouldn’t emerge.

Neither of the running backs played a snap of college football before this season, nor were expected to play many snaps in 2021.

Then a lot of injuries happened.

Running backs Mohamed Ibrahim, Trey Potts, Preston Jelen and Bryce Williams all suffered season-ending injuries, moving Thomas and Irving to the top of the depth chart.

Thomas will likely see a few more of the opportunities than Irving. Thomas, a redshirt freshman, has been the Golden Gophers’ leading rusher in two of their last three games.

He became the fourth different Minnesota running back to rush for more than 130 yards in Minnesota’s win over Maryland last month. He had 101 of his 139 yards by halftime.

Irving, meanwhile, has shown impressive spurts as a true freshman. He rushed for more than 100 yards against Maryland on Oct. 23 and Northwestern on Oct. 30. He had a 41-yard run in the Northwestern game and earned co-Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors afterward.

A week later, he was much quieter. rushing for just 26 yards on five carries in Minnesota’s 14-6 loss to Illinois.

DE Boye Mafe

Boye Mafe is quite the menace on the Gophers’ four-man defensive line.

The 6-foot-4, 265-pound defensive lineman has a team-high six sacks this season.

Mafe, a 2020 All-Big Ten honorable mention, also is one of four Minnesota players to force a fumble in 2021.

One Sports Illustrated mock draft from last May projected Mafe to be the ninth pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Expectations have cooled since, though. More recent mock drafts have the defensive end slotted in the second, third or fourth round.

The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman put Mafe on his “2021 College Football Freaks List” at the beginning of the season.

QB Tanner Morgan

Tanner Morgan is certainly no stranger to the Hawkeyes.

Saturday will be the third time Morgan has led the Gophers against their rival to the south. He had mixed results in those matchups, both of which ended in Iowa wins.

Morgan completed just 16 of 33 passes against Iowa in 2020 and had one touchdown and two interceptions. He also took four sacks. It was his only game in 2020 with multiple interceptions.

The 2019 game wasn’t as bad for the Union, Ky., native. He completed 25 of 36 passes for 368 yards, had one touchdown and did not throw an interception. Morgan’s success came despite getting sacked six times.

Morgan has looked a little more like his 2020 self so far in 2021. He has a 60 percent completion rate, six touchdowns and seven interceptions. He has thrown at least one interception in three of the last four games.

P Mark Crawford

Mark Crawford’s season-long statistics certainly won’t jump out on paper.

His 43.2 yards per punt in 2021 ranks 10th in the Big Ten.

Crawford’s numbers look a lot better since the start of October, though. The sophomore from Australia has averaged 47.1 punts per game in October and November.

Crawford’s six-punt day on Oct. 2 against Purdue and a 51.3-yard average resulted in Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honors. He was the first Minnesota punter to receive the weekly honor since Peter Mortell — the athlete who went viral for jokingly naming himself “Holder of the Year” — in 2013.

Punting isn’t a major reason for Minnesota’s winning, though.

The Golden Gophers needed Crawford just once in two of their last three games.

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