Hello again Western Washington Hawkeye fans!
This week marks the kickoff of the Big 10 season, with our beloved Iowa Hawkeyes (3-1) traveling up to the Twin Cities to take on the Minnesota Gophers. This game will be Minnesota's homecoming, as well as the game to decide where the famous bronze pig, Floyd of Rosedale, will reside for the next 12 months. Iowa beat Minnesota in Iowa City last year for Iowa's homecoming to take control of Floyd, 31-13. Iowa is coming of a resounding 59-3 drubbing of Western... Michigan that had Kevonte Martin-Manley return two consecutive punts for touchdowns, a University of Iowa first. He currently leads the nation with a 31.1 yards per return average. Defensive back BJ Lowery also set a University of Iowa football first by returning two interceptions for touchdowns against Western Michigan.
The Gophers (4-0) are coming off a 43-24 victory over San Jose State, mainly on the shoulders of their mobile freshman quarterback Mitch Leidner, who rushed for 151 yards and 4 touchdowns. He should pose an excellent challenge for the Iowa defense, which has yet to allow a rushing touchdown this year. Leidner was named the Big Ten freshman of the week for his performance, and will join two other Big 10 players of the week (Martin-Manley for special teams and Lowery for defense) when the two teams take the field on Saturday.
Kickoff is at 12:30pm (PST) and will be televised on ESPN2. We hope to see a good number of you at one of the official Iowa game watches this week, as the Minnesota game normally draws a good, raucous crowd! On Iowa and Go Hawkeyes!
