Tag: Chris Autman-Bell

Iowa Hawkeyes 2022 schedule breakdown: Minnesota

The Golden Gophers can hang with any team in the Big Ten. How do they match up with Iowa in a massive penultimate showdown?

Sheesh, what a murderer’s road of competitors! Fresh off tough divisional battles against Purdue and Wisconsin, the schedule doesn’t let up. Minnesota had one of the quietest 9-4 seasons you’ll find last year, defeating both Purdue and Wisconsin.

P.J. Fleck really has that squad humming, the staunch defense making up a lot of times for a lackluster passing attack. With their style of play, Minnesota can take any team to the wire. They nearly beat Iowa last year.

Unfortunately, their style opens them up to upsets. For example, they lost to Bowling Green last year. Which version of Minnesota will the Hawkeyes get this season? Here are the players to keep an eye on wearing Maroon and Gold.

Ohio State may face Minnesota without Gophers’ top receiver available

This could be a huge blow to Minnesota as it on the No. 4 ranked Buckeyes to open the season.

Can you believe it Buckeye fans? We’re less than 20 days from Ohio State football with full stadiums in the fall. Ohio State opens on a Thursday night, which seems odd. However, then you remember, 2019 was the last time we watched OSU football with capacity crowds and suddenly you don’t care anymore.

The Bucks will head to Minneapolis to take on the Golden Gophers of Minnesota on September 2. The Gophers are a curious bunch. After a breakout season in 2019 under P.J. Fleck, the team seemed to take a step backward in 2020. Maybe it was COVID-19 related, maybe it wasn’t.

While Minnesota may have the best running back in the Big Ten in Mohamed Ibrahim, the Gophers will possibly be without their top wide receiver Chris Autman-Bell when they face the Buckeyes. The Minnesota wideout sustained what appeared to be a knee injury in practice late this past week.

While the severity of the injury is unknown, Autman-Bell was helped off the field and his availability is questionable for September 2 at this time. It’s even bigger news potentially because Minnesota lost their No. 1 receiver to the NFL draft in Rashod Bateman. Autman-Bell was second on the team with 22 catches for 430 yards, while the other returning receivers combined for just 21 receptions total.

We’ll have a full breakdown leading up to the game in our weekly preview and prediction on the Monday before the matchup.

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