Gophers look to put exclamation point at end of their season

Tim Brewster's Twitter account has taken a dark turn.

Before the Penn State game, the Minnesota coach tweeted, “Taking the Gopher Nation on the road! 2:30 p.m. ABC-TV! You got to love it! Go Gophers! ”

Then, the Gophers (6-5, 3-4 Big Ten) lost, 20-0.

The day before Minnesota's game at Ohio State, Brewster posted a tweet touting a new Minnesota Website, “You will be able to learn and see everything there is to know about Gopher Football!”

Then, UM lost, 38-7.

Since then, Brewster hasn't posted a tweet with an exclamation point. There were no exclamation points coming out of the Gophers' moribund 16-13 victory over FCS South Dakota State last week. The only legit exclamation point coming out of the Gophers in the last five games was a rousing 42-34 home victory over Michigan State.

Minnesota could but a giant exclamation point on their season Saturday at Kinnick against No. 15 Iowa (9-2, 5-2).

Iowa has defeated the Gophers in seven of the last eight meetings, including four straight at Kinnick. In between, Iowa has had its fans tear down UM's goal posts and closed out the Minnesota era of Metrodome football with a 55-0 victory last season.

“We study (the 55-0 game), we take a look at it, we remember,” Brewster said. “We did not play well in the last game against those guys last year. . . . This is an opportunity for us to go down there and have another shot. Nobody is going to give us a chance in the game, and probably rightfully so. We'll be a huge underdog, we understand that.”

The Gophers' offense produced few exclamation points last week.

Minnesota averaged just 2.9 yards on 48 carries. Quarterback Adam Weber completed just 10 of 21 for 94 yards. He was sacked four times. Minnesota gained just 3.3 yards on 70 offensive plays. The Gophers converted just 3 of 16 third downs, also.

“I wasn't pleased with some of the things I saw today, particularly from an offensive standpoint,” Brewster said. “As far as protecting the quarterback and making some plays, we had time of possession really in our favor.

“We did enough to win the football game and we're pleased to win the football game but we still didn't play very well, particularly on offense.”

An opportunistic defense saved the Gophers. It forced four turnovers with one going for a defensive TD. Recovery of a fumbled snap late in the game set up Eric Ellestad's winning field goal

“The defense has every reason to be joyful and excited, but our offense has to realize that we can't play the way we did,” Weber said. “That is the way we're going to lose football games.

“We came away with the win, and we are going to take that into Iowa and try and get the pig and give them our best shot.”

Oh yeah, the Floyd of Rosedale bronze pig trophy will be up for grabs Saturday at. Iowa has a chance to keep the Cy-Hawk Trophy (Iowa State), the Heartland Trophy (Wisconsin) and Floyd for the second straight season.

Freshman quarterback James Vandenberg will have a chance to build on his performance coming out of Ohio State, where he completed 20 of 33 for 233 yards, two TDs and three interceptions.

Freshman Adam Robinson is listed as a “slash” on Iowa's depth chart with freshman Brandon Wegher. Robinson, who called himself ”85 to 90” percent healthy, returned from injury against Ohio State and rushed 20 times for 74 yards, averaging 3.7 yards a carry against a team allowing only 2.6. Wegher missed OSU because of a rib injury. He was a gametime decision and coach Kirk Ferentz said on his TV show last night that Wegher should be good to go for practice Tuesday.

Linebacker Jeremiha Hunter is listed as a slash with Jeff Tarpinian. Hunter missed most of the second half with an ankle injury. Ferentz said he was cleared to return to the game but wasn't 100 percent effective. Ferentz wasn't sure if Hunter would be ready to go this week.