Iowa football: Heartbreaking, controversial Hawkeyes' game vs. Minnesota sparks outrage

The Iowa football team lost their Big 10 college football matchup to the Minnesota football squad after a controversial ending.

The Iowa football program took on the Minnesota Golden Gophers in a heated Big 10 college football matchup. The Hawkeyes led after the first half before being overtaken by the Minnesota football team in the fourth. The controversial play of the game came when Iowa's special teams unit returned a punt for a touchdown with under 2 minutes remaining. The points were waived though, as the refs ruled that Iowa return man Cooper DeJean waived a fair catch signal.

College football heartbreak in Iowa City

The replay shows DeJean waiving his left hand sideways, which many believe does not constitute a fair catch.

This WILD punt return TD from Cooper DeJean was taken off the board after the officials ruled that he called for a fair catch 🤔

Iowa ended up losing the game 😬pic.twitter.com/Uo7lDlFE84

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 21, 2023

Naturally, there were many noteworthy social media reactions to the overturning of the play.

Iowa football. pic.twitter.com/FSLYl9R6vx

— Evan Haskins (@EHaskins76) October 22, 2023

Many X (Twitter) users claim the Iowa football team got robbed. Some fans believe the refs should have given Minnesota a penalty after hitting DeJean if he truly called a fair catch. Others believe Iowa did not deserve to win, given their poor offensive performance.

Hawkeyes QB Deacon Hill threw an interception as Iowa tried to score at the last minute. In addition, the Iowa offense only had 127 total yards on offense for the day. The Big 10 matchup turned into a game of field goals, as both teams struggled to score. In the end, the Minnesota football squad won.

Was Iowa robbed? Although DeJean did not raise his hand vertically, his sideways motion was considered an “invalid fair catch”. NCAA rules define such a catch as having “any waving motion,” as explained by Yahoo Sports. Thus, the ball was marked dead at the spot where DeJean caught it.

Regardless, the Hawkeyes will likely lose their top-25 ranking after being defeated. There is still time for the Hawkeyes to regroup for the rest of their college football matchups.