A significant factor in the Minnesota Golden Gophers’ surprising 13-10 victory over the then No. 15-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday was a key blocked punt that occurred after Iowa’s offense went three-and-out on their initial drive. This pivotal play allowed kicker Luke Drzewiecki to convert a 31-yard field goal, which provided Minnesota with an early 3-0 advantage.
What strategies enabled the Gophers to outperform a team renowned for its special teams excellence?
To understand, let’s analyze Iowa’s punt setup:
The Hawkeyes are positioned with two upbacks providing protection for the punter, situated eight yards behind the line of scrimmage. Notably, Iowa had lined up with three upbacks for all four of their punts in their preceding match against Washington. In fact, I also looked back to their game against Ohio State, where the same alignment was maintained across all four of their punts.
In this instance, Iowa has configured an uneven front, featuring the long snapper alongside three linemen on his left and just one on his right. With only two upbacks present, a wing initially aligns on the left before shifting across to the right side.
The reason for Iowa’s choice to deploy two upbacks in this scenario remains unclear, but the wing’s motion could serve multiple functions. It might have been to bolster the right side, where the offensive line has fewer blockers, or it could have aimed to compel a defensive adjustment.
Let’s observe how events unfold:
The motion of the wing effectively adds an extra gunner for Iowa, and cornerback Simon Seidl follows him, allowing the gunner positioned at the top of the screen to run unimpeded down the sideline.
The Gophers are positioned with eight players at the line of scrimmage, including four concentrated on the long snapper’s right side. Mason Carrier and Mekhai Smith occupy the right A-gap, nestled between the long snapper and the lone lineman to his right. Nate Cleveland stands beside them to absorb the block from that lineman, while John Nestor rushes from the edge. Naiim Parrish also joins the rush from the opposite side.
Now let’s take a look from another perspective:
From this viewpoint, it becomes apparent through the blocking and wing motion that Iowa is preparing for a directional punt towards the right. Kicking from the left hash to the right sideline enables the ball to take a longer diagonal trajectory across the field, thus allowing the punter to avoid the returner, Javon Tracy’s position.
Head coach P.J. Fleck mentioned in his postgame remarks on Saturday that during practice sessions, when they executed this punt-block strategy, special teams coordinator Daniel Da Prato acted as the punter and aimed “a lot of kicks off that right foot with Naiim [Parrish] and [John] Nestor.”
Interestingly, despite Parrish and Nestor contributing to the practice, it was Carrier who managed to penetrate and touch the punt in the live game.
My hypothesis is that Iowa prioritized neutralizing Tracy’s potential impact on returns, leading them to forgo an upback to enhance their downfield coverage. However, this tactic ultimately played into Minnesota’s strategy, as the Gophers anticipated Iowa would field three upbacks and thus planned to exploit the numerical advantage. Instead, Iowa ended up with only two upbacks attempting to block four rushers.
Iowa subsequently punted six more times during the game.
Can you determine how many upbacks they utilized each time?
Here’s a hint: It was more than two.
