For the second time in the P.J. Fleck era, Minnesota football will be part of ESPN’s College Gameday - but this one comes with a twist.
The Gophers are heading to Bloomington to face No. 6 Indiana on Saturday, and the Gameday crew will be on campus for the matchup at Memorial Stadium.
This time, Minnesota is the road team. The game kicks off at 2:30 p.m. and will air on CBS.
Minnesota arrives off a 13-10 upset of No. 15 Iowa on Homecoming at Huntington Bank Stadium, a win that turned the night into a full-on field rush. With that victory, the Gophers now hold the Little Brown Jug, Paul Bunyan’s Axe and Floyd of Rosedale at the same time for the first time since 1978.
It was also Fleck’s first home win over the Hawkeyes and his second overall in the series.
Indiana, meanwhile, had to go to overtime to slip past Michigan 13-6.
This marks Minnesota’s second appearance tied to College Gameday. The first came in 2019, when the Gophers hosted Wisconsin in the regular-season finale. A win would have given Minnesota the Big Ten West title and a trip to Indianapolis for the conference championship game, but the Badgers rolled 38-17.
At the end of Saturday’s Gameday broadcast, Rece Davis, Nick Saban, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Pat McAfee will deliver their picks for the game.
Earlier this season, FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff was in Dinkytown for Minnesota’s 20-14 win over Michigan to claim the Little Brown Jug.
The Gophers still have more hardware to protect, too. They’ll defend the Axe in the regular-season finale and also meet Penn State for the Governor’s Bell on Nov. 14.
In Other News...
Gophers Fans Will Love This Floyd Of Rosedale Celebration Moment
The Gophers got more than a hard-fought 13-10 win over Iowa on Saturday. They got Floyd of Rosedale back, and the postgame celebration matched the moment, with the trophy carried through a crowd of Minnesota fans before the team later made room for it in the trophy cases alongside the rest of the rivalry hardware. Luke Drzewieckis two field goals were enough to earn him Big Ten special teams player of the week, a fitting footnote for a game decided by the kind of details these Border Battle showdowns usually turn on.
One of the more memorable scenes from the celebration quickly made the rounds online, adding a family touch to a rivalry trophy that already means plenty in Minnesota. It was the kind of image that fit the mood around the program after the win, and the sort of thing that tends to linger long after the scoreboard is forgotten, even as the Gophers keep moving through a week that has them looking at Floyd a little differently again. [Read more 🡒]
Gophers Beat Iowa With A Formula Hawkeyes Fans Know Too Well
Minnesotas win over No. 15 Iowa looked a lot like the kind of game Hawkeyes fans have spent years expecting to control. The Gophers leaned on defense, special teams and sheer toughness to take back the Floyd of Rosedale trophy, while Iowa never found the sort of offensive rhythm needed to turn field position and pressure into points.
The tone of the afternoon changed early with a blocked punt on Iowas opening possession, and Minnesota kept making the kind of gritty plays that tend to decide this rivalry. Iowa finished with four turnovers and few big plays to fall back on, while Luke Drzewieckis long field goal gave the Gophers a crucial cushion they would not surrender. [Read more 🡒]
Luke Drzewiecki Is Turning Minnesotas Kicking Game Into A Real Edge
Luke Drzewiecki has quietly become one of Minnesotas most reliable weapons, and the latest recognition only reinforced it. After making two field goals in the win over Iowa, he was named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week, adding another honor to a season that has already seen him collect the award twice.
The bigger story for the Gophers is how steady he has been under pressure. Drzewiecki has not missed a field goal in his last 23 attempts, a run that dates back to last season and stands as the longest active streak in the nation. For a Minnesota team looking for every edge it can get in close games, that kind of consistency changes the feel of late-game situations. [Read more 🡒]