Arrr! Iowa be left flabbergasted as Minnesota's punt return be causin' a hullabaloo in this fierce loss, mateys!
2023-10-22
Avast ye hearties! Iowa's scallywag, Cooper DeJean, be thinkin' he'd be granting his crew the booty o'er Minnesota with but a brace o' minutes remainin' on a punt return touchdown. Yet, by the grace of the review gods, them scurvy referees cried foul and snatched away the spoils!
The Minnesota Golden Gophers emerged victorious in a close game against the Iowa Hawkeyes, with a final score of 12-10. However, the outcome appeared to be in favor of the Hawkeyes until a controversial punt return was called back by the referees.Iowa's Cooper DeJean was preparing to receive a punt from Minnesota when he noticed that the ball was going to fall short. In an attempt to signal where the ball would land, he waved his left hand, although it wasn't clear if it was a fair catch signal. Despite this, DeJean decided to pick up the ball and make a return instead of letting it go out of bounds. Surprisingly, none of the Golden Gophers attempted to push him out of bounds near the sideline, allowing him to race down the field and score a touchdown, much to the dismay of the home crowd.
However, upon review, it was determined that DeJean had actually signaled for a fair catch, leading to a change of possession. On the NBC broadcast, rules analyst Reggie Smith explained that the waving of DeJean's left hand constituted an invalid fair catch signal, resulting in the ball being dead at the recovery spot.
Despite this setback, Iowa still had a chance to secure the victory with good field position, but their possession ended with an interception by the Golden Gophers. The loss dropped Iowa's record to 6-2 for the season and 3-2 in Big 10 conference play, while Minnesota improved to 4-3 overall.