Following the Golden Gophers effort to tie it at the end of the first half, the Iowa Hawkeyes responded with a touchdown to go back up 14-7. On their first possession of the third quarter, they drove 63 yards on eight plays and capped it off with a Marcus Coker one-yard touchdown. Coker ran the ball four times on the drive, and was helped out by a 19-yard rush from Marvin McNutt.
Minnesota were forced to punt on their next drive and then had to endure Iowa moving the ball again on their next posession. Coker gained eight yards, then seven and six more after that. They pushed to the Minnesota 14-yard line before James Vandenberg was sacked by Kyle Henderson and fumbled the ball. The play ultimately resulted in a turnover and with a 39-yard completion to Devin Crawford-Tufts, they were set up in field goal range. Jordan Wettstein ended up nialing the 28-yard field goal and the Golden Gophers trailed 14-10.
The quarter came to an end with Iowa driving at the Minnesota 21-yard line.