By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa football team has won seven straight and 17 of the last 21 games against Minnesota.

Floyd of Rosedale has called Iowa City home since 2015, and Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck never has defeated Iowa.

The teams will meet for the 116^th time on Saturday in frigid conditions in Minneapolis, and with a lot on the line.

Iowa and Minnesota are among four teams tied for first place in the Big Ten West Division with 4-3 records. The others are Illinois and Purdue.

Should Iowa defeat Minnesota and Nebraska in its final two regular-season games, and should Illinois lose to either Michigan on Saturday in Ann Arbor, Michigan, or at Northwestern in the final regular season game, then Iowa would win the Big Ten West Division for the second year in a row.

This border rivalry is always a big game for both teams, and for both fan bases, with the rights to having Floyd as a resident always on the line.

But Saturday’s game has even more significance with both teams having to win to stay alive in the West.

Turnovers could have a lot to say about who wins on Saturday, but it will mostly come down to which team wins more of the individual and position matchups.

Iowa and Minnesota have similar in playing styles that are built around power running, top-notch defense and reliable special teams.

“They’re big and physical on the offensive side,” said Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz. “They do a good job running the football and good job with the play-action, et cetera. So good on that side also.

“And special teams are good, two good specialists do a good job. And they’ve got a lot of starters involved on special teams. They really play hard on special teams.

“So, the success they’ve had, it’s earned for sure. And bottom line is we’re going up there, it’s a November road contest, a rivalry game, and we’ll have to play our best to be in this thing.”

Here is a look at which team has the advantage at each position:

Quarterback: Tanner Morgan has only played in eight games for the Gophers because of injuries, and while he ranks third in the conference in pass efficiency with a 148.57 rating, he’s only averaging 165.5 passing yards per game and has only thrown seven touchdown passes, while throwing five interceptions.

Backup quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis could someday be the solution for Minnesota at quarterback, but he is only a freshman and has been wildly inconsistent as Morgan’s replacement.

This is a difficult decision because Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras has struggled for much of the season as evidenced by his 108.8 efficiency rating.

Petras has thrown as many interceptions (5) as touchdown passes this season. But he also has a 19-10 record as Iowa’s starting quarterback, is just 31 yards shy of having 5,000 career passing yards and has had to work with a depleted receiver group and play behind an offensive line that has been a sieve at times with pass blocking.

Advantage: Iowa

Running back: Injuries have been the only thing to stop Minnesota running back Mohamed Ibrahim, whose average of 140.11 rushing yards per game ranks third in the Big Ten.

Ibrahim has scored 18 touchdowns and is averaging 5.30 yards per carry, while Iowa has only scored 15 offensive touchdowns as a team. Ibrahim has also rushed for at least 100 yards in 18 consecutive games.

Minnesota is ranked second in the Big Ten in rushing with an average 220.9 yards per game, while Iowa is ranked 13^th at 98.4 yards per game.

Minnesota also has quality depth at running back as backups Trey Potts and Bryce Williams have rushed for 432 and 229 yards, respectively.

The Gophers were down to their fourth-team running back against Iowa last season, and yet, still outrushed the Hawkeyes by more than 100 yards, gaining 183 yards on the ground to Iowa’s 71.

And while the Iowa running game has sputtered for much of the season, the emergence of true freshman running back Kaleb Johnson has provided a needed boost. Johnson leads Iowa with 610 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns, and he’s the only running back on the team averaging more than 3.5 yards per carry with Johnson averaging 5.2 yards per carry.

Advantage: Minnesota

Receiver: The Gophers suffered a huge blow when senior Chris Autman-Bell was lost for the season due to an injury after having played in just three games. He was having a solid season with 11 catches and 214 receiving yards.

Minnesota’s passing game has struggled without him.

Junior Daniel Jackson leads the Minnesota receivers with 26 catches for 355 yards and two touchdowns despite missing two games, while junior Michael Stephens-Brown has 22 catches for 338 yards, but he doesn’t have a receiving touchdown this season.

Junior Dylan Wright has 10 catches for 180 yard and one touchdown.

It’s been a struggle without Autman-Bell as Minnesota’s top three receivers have combined for just three touchdown catches.

The Iowa receivers have had their own struggles with injuries, but mostly with a lack of productivity.

Senior Nico Ragaini leads the Iowa receivers with 24 catches and 294 yards despite missing the first two games of the season because of a foot injury. Ragaini also has one of Iowa’s five touchdown catches this season.

Sophomore Arland Bruce has 17 receptions for 177 yards and one touchdown, and he should be ready to play against the Gophers on Saturday after having missed the Wisconsin game because of an injury.

Redshirt freshman Diante Vines has played in the last four games since returning from a broken wrist and has eight catches for 71 yards, while redshirt freshman Brody Brecht has seven catches for 66 yards while playing in nine games.

Advantage: Minnesota

Tight end: The fact that a tight end is the leading receiver for both teams says a lot about each team’s offense, but also about the talent at the tight end postion.

Senior Brevyn Spann-Ford leads Minnesota with 31 receptions, 374 receiving yards and two touchdown catches, while senior San LaPorta leads Iowa with 49 catches and 506 receiving yards. His 49 catches are the most by a Big Ten tight end.

Iowa also has a solid second option at tight end in 6-6, 252-pound sophomore Luke Lachey, who has 13 catches for 196 yards, and he also leads the team with two touchdown catches.

Advantage: Iowa

Offensive line: Minnesota was hit hard by graduation as it had to replace four starters on the offensive line from last season.

And while there have been some growing pains along the way, Minnesota being ranked second in the Big Ten in rushing says a lot about the blocking up front.

P.J. Fleck has built the Minnesota offensive line into a formidable unit in which reloading happens more than rebuilding.

Minnesota senior center John Michael Schmitz anchors the offensive line and is considered one of the best players in the country at his position. He made second-team All-Big Ten last season.

The Iowa offensive line, on the other hand, has struggled with both run blocking as evidenced by Iowa’s per-game rushing average, and with pass blocking as evidenced by Spencer Petras being sacked six times against Wisconsin.

Advantage: Minnesota

Defensive line: Senior tackle Kyler Baugh has been a nice addition to the Gopher defensive line after having transferred from Houston Baptist where he played in 26 games with 18 starts. Baugh leads the Gopher defensive lineman with 29 tackles.

The Gophers needed help on the defensive line after losing six of the top eight players from last season based on snap counts.

Senior defensive end Thomas Rush has 25 tackles, including 1.5 for losses, and 1.5 sacks, while sophomore defensive end Jalen Logan-Redding has 15 tackles, including three for losses, and four quarterback hurries.

Junior tackle Trill Carter has 14 tackles and two quarterback hurries, while sophomore defensive end Jah Joyner has 12 tackles, including two for losses, and four quarterback hurries.

The Gophers don’t have any stars playing on the defensive line, but they have a solid group that is tough and physical.

Iowa also has a solid defensive line that is tough, physical, deep and experienced.

Iowa’s four starting defensive lineman – John Waggoner, Logan Lee, Noah Shannon and Joe Evans – have combined for 83 career starts, and are a big reason why opponents are averaging just 88.6 rushing yards per game against this season.

Sophomore Lukas Van Ness isn’t technically a starter, but he might have the most potential of all the Iowa defensive linemen. The 6-5, 269-pound Van Ness has 31 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, six sacks and four quarterback hurries this season despite playing in a rotation.

Joe Evans, a former high school quarterback, and a former walk-on, has eight tackles for loss and six sacks as a defensive end. He also has 18 career sacks, which is the most on the team.

Advantage: Iowa

Linebacker: Both teams have senior linebackers that are performing at a very high level.

Senior Mariano Sori-Marin leads Minnesota with 69 tackles, while seniors Jack Campbell and Seth Benson lead Iowa with 100 and 73, tackles respectively.

Campbell’s average of 10.0 tackles per game also leads the Big Ten.

The Cedar Falls native is a finalist for the Butkus, Lombardi and Bednarik Awards.

Benson has started 31 games and played 47 games overall and his 236 career tackles ranks 42^nd all-time at Iowa.

Minnesota also has a solid second linebacker in sophomore Cody Lindenberg, who has 45 tackles and four tackles for loss.

Iowa suffered a blow with the loss of junior Jestin Jacobs to a season-ending injury, but junior Jay Higgins has performed well in his absence with 33 tackles.

Higgins becomes the third linebacker when Iowa uses a 4-3 alignment on defense.

Advantage: Iowa

Secondary: Minnesota senior safety Tyler Nubin is performing at an All-Big Ten level with 47 tackles and four interceptions in 10 games, while fellow senior safety Jordan Howden has 41 tackles, two interceptions and four pass breakups.

In other words, the Gophers are loaded at safety.

Minnesota also has one of the best cornerbacks in the conference in sophomore Justin Walley, who was a Freshman All-American last season. Walley has 23 tackles and two interceptions this season.

Iowa’s secondary consists of two veteran starters in fifth-year senior cornerback Riley Moss and senior strong safety Kaevon Merriweather, and two first-year starters in do-everything sophomore Cooper DeJean and junior free safety Quinn Schulte.

Moss has made 36 career starts and was named the Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year last season, while Merriweather has started 22 games and played in 43 games overall.

DeJean has arguably been Iowa’s best defensive back this season as he is ranked third on the team with 60 tackles and leads Iowa with four interceptions, including two pick-sixes.

DeJean is currently playing cornerback due to injuries at that position, but he also has played the cash position when Iowa uses five defensive backs, and could play safety.

Junior Sebastian Castro has filled in at the cash position and has 23 tackles , two forced fumbles and three pass breakups.

Advantage: Iowa

Special teams: Both teams have talented kickers who have combined to make 24-of-27 field-goal attempts this season.

Iowa true freshman Drew Stevens has made 13-of-15 field goal attempts, with a personal best from 54 yards, while Minnesota senior Matthew Trickett has made 11-of-12 attempts, with the longest from 45 yards.

Iowa has a big advantage at punter where junior Tory Taylor is averaging 45.5 yards on 64 attempts, and has and 21 punts travel at least 50 yards and 24 downed inside the 20-yard line.

Minnesota punter Mark Crawford is averaging 40.12 yards on 33 punts, but only four of his punts have traveled at least 50 yards, while only 12 have been downed inside the 20.

Quentin Redding is Minnesota’s top return specialist as he is averaging 23.77 yards on kick returns and 6.82 yards on punt returns.

Kaleb Johnson leads Iowa with 24.6 average on 11 kick returns, while Arland Bruce has returned 17 punts for a 7.4 average.

DeJean replaced Bruce as the punt returner against Wisconsin and helped to set up Iowa’s third touchdown of the game with a 41-yard punt return.

Advantage: Iowa