For a football team’s defense, stopping the opponent’s running game is as important as oxygen. Stop the run and you dictate second and third-and-long situations to the opponent; They force the opponent to play left-handed. and you keep the opponent’s offense on the sidelines.

For a defense that can’t stop the run, the game becomes an exercise in everything from frustration to demoralization. If you fail to stop the run, you’ll be stuck on the field for long, time-consuming journeys; you become exhausted from pounding; and you are mentally exhausted when the opponent imposes his will on you.

On Saturday at Michigan Stadium, the Gophers will try to stay out of that second category and get back into the first. It will be a daunting challenge, however, because No. 12 Michigan loves to run the ball and put together an impressive rushing performance in a 27-24 win over USC last week. The Gophers, meanwhile, were outscored by Iowa with 24 second-half points in the Hawkeyes’ 31-14 win.

“We have to stop the run,” said Corey Hetherman, the Gophers’ first-year defensive coordinator. “That’s the No. 1 goal. We have to force them to throw the football.”

On Saturday, the Gophers (2-2, 0-1 Big Ten) held Iowa’s running game in check for at least 30 minutes. They allowed 91 yards on 16 carries in the first half. Then things got serious for Kaleb Johnson and his offense. Johnson passed for 118 of his 206 yards after halftime, including touchdowns of 15 and 40 yards. As a team, Iowa scored 45 carries for 272 yards, including 29 for 181 after halftime.

“In the second half we missed a tackle or we hesitated and didn’t fire,” Gophers coach PJ Fleck said, referring to the aggressiveness on first contact. “We had people where they needed to be. We just couldn’t do it. … We need to coach it a lot better.”

Results against the run need to improve quickly, because as of Saturday’s game, the Gophers face three teams that are averaging 200 or more yards per game – Rutgers, Penn State and Michigan – and three more that are aiming for 150 or more yards: Wisconsin, Illinois and Maryland.

The Iowa game marked the second time in as many losses this season that the Gophers fell victim to the run. North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton rushed for 129 of the Tar Heels’ 147 yards in a 19-17 win in the season opener. In the other two games against Rhode Island and Nevada, Minnesota allowed a total of 76 yards on the ground.