The Iowa Hawkeyes were a tale of two halves Saturday. After a slow first half that saw them enter the break trailing 14-7, they rattled off a second half that looked like a completely new team to take down the Minnesota Golden Gophers 31-14 and move to 1-0 in Big Ten play, 3-1 overall.
The Hawkeyes relied on a big night from the nation’s leading rusher, Kaleb Johnson, as he went for 206 yards on 21 carries and three touchdowns. Johnson’s fourth straight century-mark outing electrified Hawkeye fans across social media.
In relief of him was Jaziun Patterson providing the Hawkeyes with juice in the second half as he ran for 66 yards on 18 carries. On the day, Iowa ran for 272 yards and averaged six yards per carry against a defense that allowed under four yards per carry entering the game. It was a statement performance offensively.
Defensively, Iowa and Phil Parker made great second-half adjustments after the Gophers found success against them on multiple drives in the first half. The Hawkeyes forced Minnesota into two interceptions and made them pay.
As the Iowa Hawkeyes head into a bye week after the first third of the season, here are the takeaways from the win over Minnesota in their Big Ten opener.
Kaleb Johnson is on another planet
Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
I don’t know what else you can say about Kaleb Johnson at this point. He is playing on another level that Iowa has not seen in some time. He went off once again for 206 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries.
He averaged 9.8 yards per carry against a defense that came into the game allowing 3.8 yards per carry. If he can stay healthy, the sky is the limit for Kaleb Johnson with the confidence and trust he has right now.
The special teams returned to form
David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
This is possibly the most encouraging thing from tonight. Iowa is known for its special teams and tonight saw them play at an elite level without…
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