Nine years in, P.J. Fleck is no closer to solving Minnesota's Iowa problem

Fleck is 1-8 against the Hawkeyes since becoming the head coach of the Gophers.

Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck watches during the NCAA football game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Oct. 4, 2025. Ohio State won 42-3. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After Saturday's shellacking in Iowa City, P.J. Fleck is now 1-8 against Iowa since becoming head coach of the Gophers, and the gap between the two rival programs seems to be widening.

The head football coach at the University of Minnesota always has and always will be judged for success against Wisconsin and Iowa. Fleck is 4-4 against the Badgers, which coincides with Wisconsin falling into an abyss. Meanwhile, two straight losses against the Hawkeyes, by an average of 27.5 points, stick out like a sore thumb.

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The Gophers love to flaunt Fleck's perfect 6-0 record in bowl games. Outside of the 2019 Outback Bowl win over Auburn, the majority of the Minnesota fan base wouldn't think twice about trading all five of the other bowl game trophies for maybe one or two more wins over the Hawkeyes.

Four of Fleck's first six meetings against Iowa were decided by one score. Then, in 2023, they finally broke through with their first win in Iowa City since 1999 and their first win over the Hawkeyes since 2014. After their most recent performance, that 2023 win is looking far more like an anomaly — due to the controversial fair catch call that wiped away Cooper DeJean's punt return touchdown — rather than a breakthrough.

• 2025: Iowa 41, Minnesota 3
• 2024: Iowa 31, Minnesota 14
• 2023: Minnesota 12, Iowa 10
• 2022: Iowa 13, Minnesota 10
• 2021: Iowa 27, Minnesota 22
• 2020: Iowa 35, Minnesota 7
• 2019: Iowa 23, Minnesota 19
• 2018: Iowa 48, Minnesota 31
• 2017: Iowa 17, Minnesota 10

There are dozens of numbers that back up how much Fleck has improved the Minnesota program since taking over in 2017. The amount of NFL draft picks, record against the Badgers, bowl game wins and success in recruiting within state lines at the high school level. But the task of beating the Hawkeyes is a question he seems further away from answering than ever.

Minnesota hasn't won a Big Ten title since 1967. Because the Gophers are light years from reaching a level on par with Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, and Oregon, Iowa and Wisconsin are Fleck's Big Ten championship games — not the Duke's Mayo Bowl or Quicklane Bowl.

Is a 1-8 mark against the Hawkeyes and 4-4 against the Badgers good enough?

No — and it isn't just Fleck's problem. Iowa has owned Minnesota for a quarter century, winning 20 of 25 matchups since 2001.

But it's year nine of Fleck's tenure at Minnesota, and they didn't just lose to a better Iowa team; they got demolished by 38 points on national TV. Suffering blowout losses to top Big Ten programs like Ohio State, Penn State, or Michigan is an easier pill to swallow, but getting smashed by Iowa shouldn't be accepted.

Right now, Fleck seems further away from solving the Hawkeyes' puzzle than when he arrived in 2017. It's one of the biggest measuring sticks for the head coach at the University of Minnesota, and there's no other way to spin it — it's been an abject failure.