Minnesota Football: 3 takeaways from first loss of 2019 at Iowa

3. Tanner Morgan had a solid day for Minnesota on the road

It was by no means a terrible day for Tanner Morgan. While he had trouble guiding Minnesota into the endzone, he did everything else he possibly could to put the Golden Gophers into position to emerge victorious against Iowa. Morgan was great throwing the ball, picking up first downs and keeping Minnesota in the contest into the fourth quarter. Even though the Gophers lost, Morgan acquitted himself well against a strong defense.

Morgan ended the day with 368 passing yards and a touchdown as he completed 25 of his 36 attempts. He did suffer several sacks, ending with negative-23 yards in the rushing stats. But that was hardly enough to blunt the impact that Morgan had on this contest as Minnesota kept hopes alive.

On a day when the Golden Gophers backfield struggled to move the ball on the ground, Morgan needed to come up huge on the road. A big sack in the final minute and a half forced Morgan off the field, allowing Iowa to escape with a stop on 3rd-and-21 against backup quarterback Cole Kramer. Kramer was still on the field for the fourth-down prayer, and he lofted up an interception to end the game.

Ultimately Morgan’s big game was not quite enough to make a difference and keep the Golden Gophers in the ranks of the unbeaten. Even as he disappointed in his absence in the final minute, Minnesota would not have been in position for any dream of a comeback without Morgan’s first 59 minutes of play.