IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa fans don't need to be reminded how the Hawkeyes lost to Minnesota in 2023.
Iowa took the lead on Cooper Dejean's 54-yard punt return in the fourth quarter, but it was called back due to an invalid fair catch signal. The Hawkeyes lost following an interception from quarterback Deacon Hill.
The Hawkeyes haven't forgotten the controversial ending, but they are playing for more than avenging Dejean.
"(I) Think Cooper's happy with his NFL contract, I'm sure he's watching this, but I think his head's in a different place," said graduate senior Jay Higgins. "I mean, what we're doing, we're doing it for ourselves, we're doing it for this team, this year."
Coach Kirk Ferentz remembers the game well.
"I guess the sickness coaches have, or at least I have, (losses) tend to, you know, they tend to linger more than the wins," said Ferentz. "Wins, you move on, but when you lose, it's hard. You know, ball losses are hard and same are harder than others."
The Golden Gophers took the Floyd of Rosedale Trophy home for the first time since 2014, and that doesn't sit right with the team.
"It just leaves some kind of like fire underneath you, it just hurts, man," said senior offensive lineman Logan Jones. "Seeing them walk off last year definitely hurt a lot. We're gonna try our best to get back this year."
However, despite the returners, this is a Hawkeye team with new players and new coaches.
"I mean, this is a new season. This is a new team," said graduate senior quarterback Cade McNamara. "We can't expect the game to be as tight as it was, or for the point differential to be what it was, we have to completely go into this game with a blank slate."
Iowa faces Minnesota at 6:30 p.m. in Minneapolis on Saturday.