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5 Minnesota players to watch against Iowa football in 2023
Tyler Nubin expected to be one of top safeties in next year’s NFL Draft
IOWA CITY — Minnesota Coach P.J. Fleck has won at least once against every Big Ten West foe with one very notable exception.
Iowa.
The Kirk Ferentz-led Hawkeyes are 6-0 against the Fleck-led Gophers. The last time the Floyd of Rosedale Trophy resided in Minneapolis was after Iowa’s 51-14 loss in 2014.
Here are five Minnesota players to watch as the Hawkeyes look to extend that streak another year:
DB Tyler Nubin
The area of the field Tyler Nubin covers has essentially been a no-fly zone this season.
Despite Nubin playing in 371 of 374 possible defensive snaps for the Gophers, opposing quarterbacks have targeted his receivers only five times, per Pro Football Focus.
Two of those five targets were completions. The other three were interceptions.
Nubin, an all-Big Ten second-team honoree last year, has picked up NFL Draft buzz with his productive start to the 2023 season.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. ranked Nubin as the second-best safety in the 2024 draft class last week. PFF similarly has Nubin slotted as the second-best safety and 27th-best player overall in the class.
RB Darius Taylor
Darius Taylor has made an immediate impact in Minneapolis as a true freshman.
The 5-foot-11 running back has appeared in four games, and he was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week after three of those performances.
Taylor has averaged 6.1 yards per carry as the Gophers’ top running back.
Minnesota’s freshman standout was a three-star recruit from Walled Lake, Mich. The Hawkeyes were among the many Power Five programs to offer him a scholarship.
The big question for Taylor this weekend is whether he is healthy enough to play.
Taylor has not played in Minnesota’s last two games after suffering an injury late in the Gophers’ 37-34 overtime loss to Northwestern on Sept. 23.
Fleck was coy about Taylor’s availability during his Monday news conference.
“I’m not the trainer, so the plan for me is always to practice them if we can,” Fleck said about Taylor and another injured player. “But the injury report will come out two hours before kickoff.”
QB Athan Kaliakmanis
Athan Kaliakmanis will be a player to watch on Saturday, but not necessarily in a good way.
Kaliakmanis has thrown at least one interception in all but one of the Gophers’ games so far this season. His 110.8 passer rating ranks 109th out of 111 qualifying FBS quarterbacks and 13th out of 13 qualifying Big Ten quarterbacks.
Minnesota’s loss to Northwestern showcased one of Kaliakmanis’ better performances of the season. The Antioch, Ill., native went 14-of-19 (73.7 percent) with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Avoiding turnovers will be essential for Kaliakmanis as his team visits Kinnick Stadium.
Since Kaliakmanis made his first career start last year against Penn State, the Gophers are 4-1 when he does not have any interceptions. When he throws at least one pick, the Gophers are 3-4.
DL Danny Striggow
Danny Striggow appears to be in the midst of a breakout season on the defensive line.
The fourth-year defensive lineman has a career-high 27 tackles with half of the regular season still to go. His four tackles for loss and three sacks are just short of his career-highs of 4.5 and 3.5, respectively. His three sacks also are a team-high through the first six games.
Minnesota defensive line coach Winston DeLattiboudere described Striggow in the spring as “the most vocal leader that we have,” according to 247Sports.
Coaches named Striggow an all-Big Ten honorable mention last year. He played in 24 of Minnesota’s 26 games from 2021-22.
DL Kyler Baugh
Kyler Baugh is another defensive lineman enjoying the best season of his college career.
Baugh has a team-high 4.5 tackles for loss through six games this season after recording 1.5 tackles for loss in 13 games last season.
His 2.5 sacks are the second-most on the team behind Striggow.
Baugh, a native of Talihina, Okla., took a humble path to becoming a major contributor on a Big Ten defense.
He did not have any ratings on 247Sports, Rivals or On3. Then after three seasons at FCS-level Houston Baptist, he transferred to Minnesota and enrolled in January 2022.
Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com
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