2020 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

American college football season

2020 Minnesota Golden Gophers football

Conference| Big Ten Conference
Division| West Division
Record| 3–4 (3–4 Big Ten)
Head coach|

* P. J. Fleck (4th season)

Offensive coordinator| Mike Sanford Jr. (1st season)
Co-offensive coordinator| Matt Simon (1st season)
Offensive scheme| Spread option
Defensive coordinator| Joe Rossi (3rd season)
Co-defensive coordinator| Joe Harasymiak (1st season)
Base defense| 4–3
Home stadium| TCF Bank Stadium

Uniform

Seasons

<- 2019

2021 ->

2020 Big Ten Conference football standings

* v
* t
* e

| Conf. |  |  | Overall

|
|
|
|

Team |  | W |  | L |  |  |  |  | W |  | L |
East Division
No. 2 Ohio State xy$^  |  | 5  | - | 0  |  |  |  |  | 7  | - | 1  |
No. 12 Indiana |  | 6  | - | 1  |  |  |  |  | 6  | - | 2  |
Penn State |  | 4  | - | 5  |  |  |  |  | 4  | - | 5  |
Maryland |  | 2  | - | 3  |  |  |  |  | 2  | - | 3  |
Rutgers |  | 3  | - | 6  |  |  |  |  | 3  | - | 6  |
Michigan |  | 2  | - | 4  |  |  |  |  | 2  | - | 4  |
Michigan State |  | 2  | - | 5  |  |  |  |  | 2  | - | 5  |
West Division
No. 10 Northwestern xy |  | 6  | - | 1  |  |  |  |  | 7  | - | 2  |
No. 16 Iowa |  | 6  | - | 2  |  |  |  |  | 6  | - | 2  |
Wisconsin |  | 3  | - | 3  |  |  |  |  | 4  | - | 3  |
Minnesota |  | 3  | - | 4  |  |  |  |  | 3  | - | 4  |
Nebraska |  | 3  | - | 5  |  |  |  |  | 3  | - | 5  |
Purdue |  | 2  | - | 4  |  |  |  |  | 2  | - | 4  |
Illinois |  | 2  | - | 6  |  |  |  |  | 2  | - | 6  |
Championship: Ohio State 22, Northwestern 10

* ^ - College Football Playoff participant
* $ - Conference champion
* x - Division champion/co-champions
* y - Championship game participant
* Note: Due to COVID-19, the Big Ten suspended the season on August 11, but later decided to begin play on October 24. In addition to the title game that was played on December 19, the conference seeded all remaining teams for "championship week" games.[1]

Rankings from AP Poll.

The 2020 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Golden Gophers played their home games at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and competed in the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They were led by fourth-year head coach P. J. Fleck.

On August 11, 2020, the Big Ten Conference canceled all fall sports competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] However, on September 16, the Big Ten reinstated the season, announcing an eight-game season beginning on October 24.[3]

## Schedule

[edit]

Minnesota had games scheduled against Florida Atlantic, Tennessee Tech, and BYU, but canceled these games on July 9 due to the Big Ten Conference's decision to play a conference-only schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4]

Date| Time| Opponent| Rank| Site| TV| Result| Attendance

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

October 24| 6:30 p.m.|  No. 18 Michigan| No. 21|

* TCF Bank Stadium
* Minneapolis, MN (College GameDay)

| ABC| L 24–49| 589
October 30| 6:30 p.m.| at Maryland| |

* Maryland Stadium
* College Park, MD

| ESPN| L 44–45 OT| 0
November 7| 2:30 p.m.| at Illinois| |

* Memorial Stadium
* Champaign, IL

| BTN| W 41–14| 863
November 13| 6:00 p.m.| Iowa| |

* TCF Bank Stadium
* Minneapolis, MN (Floyd of Rosedale)

| FS1| L 7–35| 771
November 20| 6:30 p.m.| Purdue| |

* TCF Bank Stadium
* Minneapolis, MN

| BTN| W 34–31| 593
November 27| | at Wisconsin| |

* Camp Randall Stadium
* Madison, WI (Paul Bunyan's Axe)

| | No Contest[5] |
December 5| 11:00 a.m.| Northwestern| |

* TCF Bank Stadium
* Minneapolis, MN

| BTN/FS1| No Contest |
December 12| 11:00 a.m.| at Nebraska| |

* Memorial Stadium
* Lincoln, NE ($5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy)

| FS1| W 24–17| 0
December 19| 3:00 p.m.| at Wisconsin| |

* Camp Randall Stadium
* Madison, WI (Paul Bunyan's Axe)

| BTN| L 17–20 OT| 1

* Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
* All times are in Central time

Source:[6]

## Rankings

[edit]

Further information: 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes| Week

|

Poll| Pre| 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| 6| 7| 8| 9| 10| 11| 12| 13| 14| Final
AP| 19| 19*| —| —| RV| 25| 24| 21| RV| —| | | | | |
Coaches| 18| 18*| —| 22| RV| RV| 25| 21| RV| —| | | | | |
CFP| Not released| | | | Not released

## Players drafted into the NFL

[edit]

See also: 2021 NFL draft

Round  | Pick  | Player  | Position  | NFL Club

|
|
|
|

1 | 27 | Rashod Bateman | WR | Baltimore Ravens
2 | 74 | Benjamin St-Juste | CB | Washington Football Team

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Stevens, Matthew (September 16, 2020). "Big Ten To Play A "Championship Weekend" 9th Game Of 2020 Season". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
2. ^ "Big Ten Statement on 2020–21 Fall Season". Big Ten Conference. August 11, 2020. Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
3. ^ "The Big Ten Conference Adopts Stringent Medical Protocols; Football Season to Resume October 23–24, 2020". Big Ten Conference. September 16, 2020. Archived from the original on September 16, 2020. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
4. ^ Myerberg, Paul. "Big Ten football reduces season schedule to only conference games, maybe setting stage for others to follow". USA TODAY. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
5. ^ "UW-Minnesota cancellation ends 113-year streak". ESPN.com. November 24, 2020.
6. ^ "2020 Football Schedule". University of Minnesota Athletics.

* v
* t
* e

Minnesota Golden Gophers football

Venues|

* Athletic Park (1892–1898)
* University of Minnesota Armory (1892–1898)
* Northrop Field (1899–1923)
* Memorial Stadium (1924–1981)
* Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (1982–2008)
* Huntington Bank Stadium (2009–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Bowl games
* Iowa
* Michigan: Little Brown Jug
* Nebraska
* Penn State: Governor's Victory Bell
* Wisconsin

Culture & lore|

* Goldy Gopher
* Marching band
* Spirit squad
* "Minnesota Rouser"
* "Minnesota March"
* "Go Gopher Victory"
* "Minnesota Fight"
* "Our Minnesota"
* "Hail! Minnesota"
* "Battle Hymn of the Republic"
* Minnesota shift
* T formation
* Smith of Minnesota

People|

* Head coaches
* Annual awards
* NFL draftees
* Statistical leaders

Seasons|

* 1882
* 1883
* 1884–1885
* 1886
* 1887
* 1888
* 1889
* 1890
* 1891
* 1892
* 1893
* 1894
* 1895
* 1896
* 1897
* 1898
* 1899
* 1900
* 1901
* 1902
* 1903
* 1904
* 1905
* 1906
* 1907
* 1908
* 1909
* 1910
* 1911
* 1912
* 1913
* 1914
* 1915
* 1916
* 1917
* 1918
* 1919
* 1920
* 1921
* 1922
* 1923
* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927
* 1928
* 1929
* 1930
* 1931
* 1932
* 1933
* 1934
* 1935
* 1936
* 1937
* 1938
* 1939
* 1940
* 1941
* 1942
* 1943
* 1944
* 1945
* 1946
* 1947
* 1948
* 1949
* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

National championship seasons in bold
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Conf.]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[No.]: Number