Minnesota’s home date with Mississippi State arrives Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CST, with CBS carrying the game and Paramount+ handling the stream. The matchup at Huntington Bank Stadium is the first meeting between the two teams, and the weather is expected to be 72 degrees with partly cloudy skies and a light northwest wind.
The Golden Gophers come in as RV/RV Minnesota, still working through their non-conference schedule after opening the season with a win over Eastern Illinois. This one also carries a little extra note in the ledger: it’s the first regular-season game against a current SEC team since Minnesota visited Oklahoma in 1986. Minnesota’s recent results against SEC programs have been strong, with three wins in its last four against teams from that league, including a 31-24 victory over Auburn in the 2020 Outback Bowl.
Overall, Minnesota is 10-10-1 against schools currently in the SEC and 5-2 against SEC schools at the time of the game. Saturday will be just the third time Minnesota has hosted an SEC team at the time of the game, joining meetings with Vanderbilt in 1959 and Tulane in 1935. The last five games against SEC opponents have all come in bowl games.
A big reason Minnesota looked sharp in the opener was junior quarterback Drake Lindsey. He went 19-of-24 for 264 yards and a touchdown in just three quarters against Eastern Illinois, giving him a clean start to his 2026 season.
Last year, Lindsey completed 246 of 389 passes for 2,382 yards, 18 touchdowns and six interceptions, and he added a team-high four rushing touchdowns. His production already places him second all-time among Gopher freshmen in passing yards and passing touchdowns, and his eight wins were the most ever by a Gopher freshman quarterback.
Lindsey’s calling card has been ball security. With records dating back to 1977, he owns two of Minnesota’s five longest streaks of pass attempts without an interception.
He had a run of 112 straight attempts without a pick last season, which ranks fifth, and he is currently at 177 consecutive pass attempts without an interception. That’s second in program history, behind only Max Brosmer’s 206-pass streak in 2024.
The opener also turned into a showcase for fifth-year senior Javon Tracy. He entered the game without a career punt return, then became the first Gopher ever to score two punt return touchdowns in a game.
His first came on an 87-yard return in the first quarter, and he added a 69-yard return score in the third. Tracy finished with 167 punt return yards on four returns, a school record, and was named Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week.
He became the first Minnesota player to win that honor since Dragan Kesich in 2024 and the first Gopher returner to do it since Demetrius Douglas in 2018. Tracy is also just the fifth player in Big Ten history to post two punt return touchdowns in a game, joining Wisconsin’s Earl Girard vs.
Iowa in 1947, Ohio State’s Garcia Lane vs. Purdue in 1983, Iowa’s Kevonte Martin-Manley vs.
Western Michigan in 2013 and Penn State’s Daequan Hardy vs. UMass in 2023.
On top of the return fireworks, Tracy caught five passes for 98 yards, both career highs as a Gopher, and finished with 265 all-purpose yards, the 12th-best total in program history and the highest since current Gopher running backs coach Mohamed Ibrahim had 270 AP yards vs. Iowa in 2022.
Saturday also marks a milestone for P.J. Fleck, who is in his 10th season at Minnesota.
He is tied for the fourth-longest tenured coach in program history, is the second-longest active tenured coach in the Big Ten and ranks 11th among active FBS head coaches in tenure. Fleck’s record with the Gophers is 67-44, which puts him fourth in program history in overall wins, fourth in Big Ten wins with 39 and fifth in games coached with 111.
His .604 winning percentage at Minnesota is third among coaches with more than 40 games, trailing only Henry L. Williams (.786, 1900-21) and Bernie Bierman (.716, 1932-41, '45-50). In his 14th season overall as a college head coach, Fleck is 97-66 (.593), and he is three wins shy of becoming the 18th active head coach to reach 100 victories at the FBS level.
In Other News...
Gophers Just Crossed A Uniform Line Fans May Not Love
Minnesota football is adding a new look to its helmets this season, and it is one that signals just how far college athletics has drifted into the sponsorship era. The Gophers announced a partnership with Visible, the digital-first wireless carrier powered by Verizon, making it the first helmet bumper sponsor in program history. The logo will appear on the back of every Minnesota helmet starting Sept. 12, another visible reminder of how athletic departments are leaning harder on outside revenue streams.
The move comes as the athletic department also weighs future jersey patch sponsorships while dealing with a budget deficit, a sign the financial pressure is not easing anytime soon. For fans, the helmet addition is the kind of branding step that can feel small in isolation but meaningful in the larger picture, especially for a program trying to balance tradition, aesthetics and the growing cost of running college sports at this level. [Read more 🡒]
Gophers Just Crossed A New Branding Line Fans Will Debate
The Gophers are about to take a small but highly visible step into a new era of college sports branding. For the current season, Minnesota football helmets will carry a Visible logo sponsorship sticker on the bottom rear, a placement made possible by a new NCAA rule that now allows commercial logos on equipment. The deal was negotiated by Learfield on behalf of the athletics department, and it extends beyond football with additional branding tied to the schools basketball and hockey programs.
Minnesota will debut the helmet look in its upcoming game against Mississippi State, giving fans their first chance to see how the change lands on the field. For an athletic department trying to keep pace with the financial realities of modern college sports, it is the kind of move that makes business sense even if it invites plenty of debate from supporters who still want their teams gear to look as clean and classic as possible. [Read more 🡒]
Gophers Are Bringing A First To Their Helmets This Season
College football uniforms are entering a new era, and Minnesota is stepping into it in a notable way. Gopher Athletics and Learfields Gopher Sports Properties announced a partnership with Visible that will make the company the first-ever helmet bumper partner for Minnesota football, a move that puts the Visible logo on the back of every Golden Gophers helmet starting Sept. 12.
The change will debut during a nationally televised game against Mississippi State, giving Minnesota a high-profile showcase for a sponsorship that follows the NCAAs recent approval of commercial logos on college athletic uniforms. For the Gophers, it is another sign of how quickly branding opportunities are expanding in college sports, with the helmet now serving as more than just team identity on Saturdays. [Read more 🡒]