The Gophers experienced their most one sided defeat in three seasons under Brewster when they lost 55-0 to Iowa last year at the Metrodome. In Iowa City on Saturday the Gophers bring a struggling offense to face one of the Big Ten’s best defenses (Iowa is No. 1 in the conference against the pass, No. 3 versus the run).
Is all of the above an intimidating mix for the offense? “I wouldn’t say it’s intimidating,” quarterback Adam Weber said. “It’s a challenge. If guys are intimidated, I think they’re playing the wrong sport.”
Weber said the mistakes made against South Dakota State will need to be corrected against Iowa or all the errors will be “exploited ten-fold.” The Gophers, 6-5 overall and 3-4 in the conference, will be about a 10 point underdog against Iowa, 9-2 and 5-2.
Weber, though, is looking forward to the game with its challenges and the rivalry of Iowa-Minnesota. The one-sided result of last year is on his mind, too. He describes the defeat as the “most brutal” of his career. “No matter what, we just couldn’t get anything going,” he said.
Is there resolve to make up for last year. “Oh, definitely,” Weber said. “For the past two seasons we haven’t beat Iowa. It’s a big, big deal for us, especially coming off the way we played last season.
“Coach Brew even talked about it on Sunday. It’s about respect. When you play a brutal game like football it’s about your opponents respecting you, and having mutual respect. We didn’t earn any respect last year against Iowa. They were able to just kind of run all over us offensively and defensively. You take that personally. So this year it’s pretty important for us to go out there and earn some respect there.”