Iowa’s special teams are incredible again this season, and Minnesota’s are not. If you look at PFF’s special teams grades for both teams, the Hawkeyes are the No. 1 team in the Big Ten with a grade of 90.7. Minnesota ranks among the worst special teams in the Big Ten with a grade of 58.3.
Hawkeye punter Tory Taylor has always been great, but he’s taken it to another level this year. He averages 45.6 yards per net punt, which ranks second among all college football punters who are their team’s primary player. He’s also the best in the Big Ten with the ball. What’s remarkable is that 39.1% of his punts also end up inside the 20. He has 18 punts inside the 20 and just one touchback on the year.
And even within that, he has 20 (!!) punts of 50 yards or more in the first seven games of the season. To compare this to the Minnesota punter Marc Crawfordhe has 16 punts of 50+ yards in his 3.5 YEARS as a Gopher.
Taylor is going to be able to flip the field and pin Minnesota deep inside their 20, and the Gophers won’t be able to say the same thing. So if I’m special teams coordinator Robert Wenger, I don’t care how far into its territory Iowa is. Put Quentin Redding at the Minnesota 15, because when the ball is thrown that far on a punt, it should have at least some room to return.
Iowa also has an extraordinary comeback Cooper DeJean at their disposal. He’s been incredible for them this season when it comes to punt returns, as no one has returned more punts in the Big Ten than DeJean, and he’s averaging 13 yards per return with a return score. I find it hard to believe that Mark Crawford’s 38-41 yards and a cloud of dust will allow DeJean to show his abilities.
As for a final score prediction: Minnesota 16, Iowa 13
