The 2019 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

in the

2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2019. The regular season began on August 24, 2019, and end ...

. The Golden Gophers played their home games at

TCF Bank Stadium Huntington Bank Stadium (formerly known as TCF Bank Stadium) is an outdoor stadium located on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The stadium opened in 2009, after three years of construction. It is ...

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, and competed in the West Division of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. They were led by third-year head coach

P. J. Fleck Philip John Fleck Jr. (born November 29, 1980) is an American football coach and former wide receiver. He has served as the head coach for the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team since 2017. Born in Sugar Grove, Illinois, Fleck played colle ...

. Minnesota was projected to finish in sixth place in the Big Ten West Division by the preseason media poll. Instead, Minnesota had its most successful season in over 50 years. The Gophers won their first nine games of the year, punctuated with a home win over then-No. 4

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

, and rose to eighth in the College Football Playoff rankings. They suffered their first loss of the year the next week on the road against

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. In the final game of the regular season, in a game that decided the West Division, Minnesota lost to

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, 38–17. The team was invited to the

Outback Bowl The ReliaQuest Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, usually on New Year's Day. The event has been formerly called the Hall of Fame Bowl from 1986 to 1995 and the Outback Bowl from 1996 to ...

to play then-No. 12

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

, where Minnesota won by a score of 31–24. Minnesota ended the season with a record of 11–2, their 11 wins being the school's most since

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...

. They were ranked 10th in the final

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

of the season, their first ranked finish since

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, and highest finish since 1962. The Gophers' offense was led by redshirt sophomore quarterback

Tanner Morgan Tanner Morgan (born April 17, 1999) is an American football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Minnesota. Early life and high school career Morgan was born on April 17, 1 ...

, who had 3,253 passing yards and 30 touchdowns, and was named second-team All-Big Ten. Wide receivers Rashod Bateman and Tyler Johnson both finished with more than 1,200 yards and were both named first-team all-conference. Running back Rodney Smith finished in third in the conference with 1,163 yards. The defense was led by first-team all-conference safety Antoine Winfield Jr., who led the team in tackles and had seven interceptions on the year. Head coach P. J. Fleck was named the

Big Ten Coach of the Year Coaches and media of the Big Ten Conference award the following individual honors at the end of each American football, football season. In addition, the ''Chicago Tribune'' awards the Chicago Tribune Silver Football to the most valuable football p ...

by the other coaches.

Previous season

The

Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college athletics, college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and com ...

finished the 2018 season 7–6, 3–6 in Big Ten play to finish tied for fifth place in the West Division. They were invited to the

Quick Lane Bowl The Quick Lane Bowl is a post-season college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that began play in the 2014 season. Backed by the Detroit Lions of the National Football League, the game features a bowl-eligible team from the Big Ten Confe ...

, where they defeated

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

Preseason

Preseason Big Ten poll

Although the Big Ten Conference has not held an official preseason poll since 2010,

Cleveland.com ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...

has polled sports journalists representing all member schools as a ''de facto'' preseason media poll since 2011. For the 2019 poll, Minnesota was projected to finish in sixth in the West Division.

Schedule

Source:

Rankings

Game summaries

South Dakota State

Down 1, the Gophers won the game with a short TD run by Mohamed Ibrahim and a two point conversion late in the 4th Quarter to win 28–21.

at Fresno State

Georgia Southern

at Purdue

Illinois

Nebraska

at Rutgers

Maryland

Penn State

at Iowa

at Northwestern

Wisconsin

vs. Auburn (Outback Bowl)

Despite losing an opportunity to go to the BIG 10 Championship and a shot at the Rose Bowl, the Gophers would earn a spot in the Outback Bowl on New Year's Day against the

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associat ...

, the first ever meeting between the two teams. The game would be played at

Raymond James Stadium Raymond James Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Tampa, Florida that opened in 1998 and is home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL) and the University of South Florida (USF) Bulls college football program. The se ...

in Tampa Bay, Florida. Auburn had impressive victories in their season, beating the Pac-12 champion Oregon Ducks in Texas to open the season and more recently knocking off the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Iron Bowl. The game was a back and forth affair with both teams trading field goals then touchdowns to make it 10–10 after the 1st Quarter. The lone Gopher 1st quarter touchdown came from Mohamed Ibrahim on a 16 yard TD run. About midway through the second, Seth Green found offensive lineman Bryce Witham in the end zone to give the Gophers a 17–10 lead, their first lead of the game. After

Bo Nix Bo Nix (born February 25, 2000) is an American football quarterback for the Oregon Ducks. Nix played with the Auburn Tigers from 2019 to 2021 before transferring to Oregon in 2022. High school career Nix was born on February 25, 2000, in Arka ...

connected with Sal Cannella for a 37 yard score, the Gophers would end the half with a drive that ultimately ended with an impressive Tyler Johnson touchdown reception to give them a 24–17 lead. Auburn would score the only points of the 3rd Quarter as Jordan Whitlow ran a touchdown in from three yards out. Finally, Tyler Johnson finished his final collegiate game with a 73 yard touchdown catch and run in the 4th Quarter to give Minnesota the lead. It would be the deciding score as the Gophers stopped the Tigers on their final drive to win the Outback Bowl 31–24.

Roster

Players drafted into the NFL

References

{{Minnesota Golden Gophers football navbox

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Minnesota Golden Gophers football seasons ReliaQuest Bowl champion seasons

Minnesota Golden Gophers football The Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represents the University of Minnesota in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Founded in 1882, Minnesota has been a member of the Big Ten Conference since its ince ...