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After yet another listless performance by the Iowa offense, it appeared that the Hawkeyes’ special teams was going to lift them to victory over Minnesota today. But what appeared to be a miracle win for Iowa quickly turned to heartbreak.
With just over a minute left in the game and Minnesota leading 12-10, the Golden Gophers were forced to punt the ball from deep in their own territory. Iowa return man Cooper DeJean was back to return and grabbed the punt on a bounce.
DeJean managed to elude every Minnesota defender and ran the ball back for a punt return touchdown that gave the Hawkeyes a 16-12 lead.
COOPER DEJEAN! pic.twitter.com/2Bz9fjg52g
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) October 21, 2023
But the celebrations of the epic play were short-lived as officials ruled that DeJean had illegally waved his hand to signal a fair catch and was not allowed to return the ball.
Iowa wound up with the ball in their territory and their quarterback threw an interception that sealed the win for the Golden Gophers.
Points off the board for Iowa. Cooper DeJean is ruled to have signaled for a fair catch and his TD punt return is negated. Minnesota leads 12-10 and has to hold on for 1:33.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) October 21, 2023
The 12-10 loss dropped the Hawkeyes to 6-2 on the season and one game behind rival Wisconsin for the lead in the Big Ten West.
Having beaten the Badgers already, the Hawkeyes need them to lose just one more game somewhere along the line to have a chance at reaching the Big Ten Championship Game.
In the meantime, the Hawkeyes will have a bye week to lick their wounds before a road game against Northwestern.