Minnesota closes out its non-conference schedule Saturday morning with Akron coming to Huntington Bank Stadium, and the Gophers will get a familiar-looking test even if the opponent is brand new. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m.
CST on Big Ten Network, with the game also available on the Gopher Radio Network and through the FoxSportsApp. The weather is expected to be 62 degrees, cloudy, with light winds.
It’s the first-ever meeting between Minnesota and Akron, and the first time since 2023 that the Gophers have faced two new FBS opponents in the same season, following last week’s first-ever matchup with Mississippi State. Before that, it hadn’t happened since 2006, when Minnesota played Kent State and Temple.
P.J. Fleck is already 1-0 against the Zips after Western Michigan beat them 41-0 in 2016, and Minnesota has generally handled MAC teams under Fleck.
The Gophers are 34-4-1 all-time against programs currently in the Mid-American Conference, including 9-1 at Huntington Bank Stadium, and they’ve won three straight and 13 of their last 14 against MAC opponents.
The quarterback spot has been the engine early, and Drake Lindsey has kept humming. The junior, after an elite redshirt freshman season, has gone 50-of-72 for 543 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions through two games in 2026, good for a 137.4 rating.
He ranks third in the Big Ten in completions per game at 25.0 and fifth in passing yards. Against Mississippi State last Saturday, he set a career high in pass attempts and tied his personal best with 31 completions, finishing 31-for-48 for 279 yards.
That 31-completion total also matched the mark he posted last year against Rutgers, which is tied for fifth-most in program history. Lindsey is one of only four Gophers - along with Mike Hohensee, Tim Schade and Adam Weber - to have multiple career games with 30 or more completions.
He followed a 264-yard opener by becoming the first Gopher to throw for 250-plus yards in consecutive games since Tanner Morgan on Sept. 24 and Oct. 1, 2022.
His 2025 season set the tone for how Minnesota views him now. Lindsey finished 246-of-389 for 2,382 yards with 18 touchdowns and six interceptions, and he also added a team-high four rushing scores. Those numbers left him second all-time among Gopher freshmen in passing yards and passing touchdowns, while his eight wins were the most ever by a Minnesota freshman quarterback.
On defense, Maverick Baranowski has picked up where he left off and is chasing a bit of program history. The fifth-year linebacker, a Butkus Award Watch List selection, is trying to become the first Gopher to lead the team in tackles in back-to-back seasons since Lee Campbell in 2008 and 2009.
Baranowski leads Minnesota with 15 tackles through two games, including 1.0 tackle for loss. Last season he finished with a team-high 103 tackles, becoming the first Gopher to top 100 since Blake Cashman’s 104 in 2018.
He also added 9.0 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, a pass breakup and a forced fumble in 2025, earning consensus Honorable Mention All-Big Ten honors. Baranowski had a team-high six tackles against Eastern Illinois and followed that with nine stops against Mississippi State, and he has now logged at least six tackles in each of his last 13 games.
Saturday also marks another milestone for Fleck. The 2025 season is his 10th at Minnesota, making him tied for the fourth-longest tenured coach in program history.
He is the second-longest active tenured coach in the Big Ten and the 11th-longest tenured head coach in the FBS. Fleck’s Minnesota record is 67-45, which ranks fourth in program history in overall wins, while his 39 Big Ten victories and 112 games coached both rank fourth and fifth, respectively.
His .598 winning percentage at Minnesota is third-best among coaches with more than 40 games, behind only Henry L. Williams and Bernie Bierman.
In his 14th season overall as a college head coach, Fleck is 97-67, and he is three wins away from becoming the 18th active FBS head coach to reach 100 victories.
In Other News...
Former Gophers Are Already Making Minnesotas Transfer Losses Look Different
After a busy 2024 offseason that sent 20 players out of the Gopher football program, the immediate question was how much those departures would actually sting once the new season arrived. The early answer is not as simple as a blanket loss, because the ex-Gophers have scattered into very different situations, from clear-cut starters to players still fighting for snaps, and that makes Minnesotas transfer picture look a lot more complicated than a simple count of exits.
Some of those former Gophers are already showing up in meaningful roles at their new schools, while others are active but not yet starting, or still working their way onto the field at all. A few have not even surfaced on rosters in a way that suggests an immediate impact, which is why the value of the departures cannot be judged all at once. For Minnesota, the real story is not just who left, but how quickly those players are either validating the change or fading into the background. [Read more 🡒]
Gophers Suddenly Have A Bigger Problem Than One Bad Loss
P.J. Fleck did not spend much time sugarcoating Minnesotas 38-13 loss to Mississippi State, and for good reason. The Gophers were flagged too often, missed too many tackles and never found enough rhythm on offense, even as Fleck said he liked the game plan overall. The bigger concern may be that the problems were spread across the operation, from the offensive line to the defensive line rotations, leaving Minnesota with a lot more to clean up than just one ugly result.
Anthony Smith is part of that broader conversation, too, after moving around positionally and still making only a limited statistical impact through two games. Flecks comments suggested the staff is still searching for the right combinations and the right answers, which is not what any team wants to be doing in early September. The loss itself stung, but the unfinished business around personnel and execution may be the more telling issue for a Gophers team trying to steady itself quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Minnesota Just Reached A Crucial Moment In The Malik Olajuwon Race
Minnesota has already added one piece to its 2027 class with Isaiah Santos' verbal commitment, and the Gophers are still pressing for more perimeter help as they chase four-star shooting guard Malik Olajuwon out of Texas. Olajuwon turned heads over the summer, climbing in the recruiting rankings and picking up MVP honors at a tournament, the kind of run that tends to sharpen interest from high-major programs looking for scoring and shot-making on the wing.
Now comes the part that matters for Minnesota. Olajuwon is set to transfer to IMG Academy for his senior year, and he has adjusted his official visit schedule, a sign that the recruitment is moving into a more serious phase. For a Gophers staff trying to build momentum in the class, the timing is important, and the next move in this one could tell a lot about where Minnesota really stands. [Read more 🡒]