2019 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

Although the Big Ten Conference has not held an official preseason poll since 2010, Cleveland.com 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.[1]

Minnesota began the 2019 campaign against FCS South Dakota State. The Gophers led the Jackrabbits 20-7 in the 3rd Quarter after Tanner Morgan's first TD pass to Rashod Bateman and a pick six by Chris Williamson. However, the Jackrabbits responded with two more touchdowns to take a late 21-20 lead in the 4th Quarter. The Gophers put the game away with a short TD run by Mohamed Ibrahim and a two point conversion late in the 4th Quarter and would survive their opening game 28-21.

After a close call against South Dakota State, the Gophers headed to Fresno, California to face off with the defending Mountain West Champions, the Fresno State Bulldogs. In a classic shootout, it took overtime for the Gophers to salvage their second win. With less than a minute to go and down a touchdown, Chris Autman-Bell caught a pass from Morgan from 20 yards out to tie the game and send it to overtime. After both teams traded touchdowns, a Michael Lantz field goal in double overtime and a stop by the Gopher defense gave Minnesota their second win of the season. The Gophers escaped Fresno with a 38-35 victory in double overtime.

The Gophers headed back home for their first ever matchup with the Georgia Southern Eagles. Once again, the Gophers had to come from behind after a blocked field goal return and a late 4th Quarter touchdown by the Eagles gave Southern a 32-28 lead. With less than 15 seconds to go, Morgan found Tyler Johnson for a two yard touchdown, his third of the game, to give Minnesota a 35-32 lead with 13 seconds to play. It would end up being the decider as the Gophers stole their third straight win to remain undefeated.

In their BIG 10 opener, the Gophers held off a late rally to beat the Purdue Boilermakers 38-31 in West Lafayette. Morgan threw four touchdown passes, two of them to Rashod Bateman, in the victory. Minnesota held a 21 point lead after the 3rd Quarter, but Purdue cut it close with two touchdowns in just over two minutes late in the 4th. The Gopher defense shut down Purdue's last chance to tie it and held on for their 4th straight win.

There would be no heroics needed this time for the Gophers as they dominated the Illinois Fighting Illini 40-17 to remain undefeated. Morgan tossed three more touchdown passes to three different receivers after throwing a pick six to begin the game. Despite falling in an early hole, the Gophers offense fired on all cylinders to build a big lead at the end of the 3rd Quarter and the defense held the Illini out of the end zone in the game.

Unlike previous games, Minnesota jumped out to a fast start and kept Nebraska out of the end zone for the first three quarters en route to a dominating 34-7 win. Mohamed Ibrahim ran for three touchdowns for the Gophers and Tyler Johnson had over 100 yards receiving.

In their first game as a ranked team, the Gophers started out fast and did not give up a touchdown until late in the 4th Quarter to crush the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 42-7. Antoine Winfield Jr. recorded a pick six and Morgan tossed two more touchdown passes. After Mohamed Ibrahim's touchdown run to give the Gophers a four score lead, walk-on holder and four-time cancer survivor Casey O'Brien made an appearance, holding for Minnesota's fourth extra point attempt which was good. After the PAT, O'Brien was mobbed by his teammates and was given a hug from Coach PJ Fleck in an emotional aftermath. The Gophers started 7-0 for the first time since 1960, the year they won their last national championship. [4]

Minnesota jumped out to a 28-3 lead at halftime and controlled the game from start to finish to defeat the Maryland Terrapins 52-10 in Minneapolis. The Gophers held the Terps to only 210 yards, including 76 rushing, and forced two turnovers. Johnson and Rashod Bateman each had a TD reception while Seth Green ran for two more. The Gophers started 8-0 for the first time ever and geared up for an undefeated matchup with Penn State next week

While Alabama and LSU were the talk of the College Football world, Minnesota and Penn State squared off in the first of two undefeated matchups of the week. The Gophers were 6.5 point underdogs to the unbeaten Nittany Lions, but like the last couple games the Gophers got off to a fast start. On Penn State's opening possession, Sean Clifford was picked off by Antoine Winfield Jr. and that turnover led to Morgan's first TD pass of the afternoon, a 66 yard strike to Rashod Bateman to put the Gophers on top. The Nittany Lions would score on their next possession thanks to a 45 yard run by Journey Brown to tie it. The Gophers responded with a TD pass from Morgan to Chris Autman-Bell to put the Gophers up 14-7 late in the 1st Quarter. After a Penn State field goal to end the 1st Quarter, the Gophers struck again with Morgan hooking up with Tyler Johnson for a 38 yard TD to open the second. Both teams traded field goals to end the half with Minnesota up 24-13. Penn State battled back after Clifford found Nick Bowers for a 10 yard touchdown, but a missed two point try gave Minnesota a 24-19 lead. To begin Quarter 4, Seth Green took a direct hand off at the goal line and drove himself into the end zone to put the Gophers up 31-19. Both teams struggled to move the ball from there, however Penn State would get Minnesota to punt and capitalize on a Journey Brown six yard run to make it 31-26 with just over three minutes left in the game. The Gophers went three and out on their next possession, giving the Nittany Lions the ball with 2:41 to play. Penn State quickly got into scoring range thanks to a 50 yard strike from Clifford to Jahad Dotson, but Clifford would be picked off three plays later by Jordan Howden in the end zone, ultimately sealing the game for Minnesota and ending Penn State's undefeated bid. The Gophers hung on for their ninth straight victory and won the Governor's Victory Bell for the first time in six years. The win also moved Minnesota into sole possession of 1st Place in the BIG 10 West

The Gophers undefeated run would ultimately come to an end at Kinnick Stadium in a 23-19 loss to the rival Iowa Hawkeyes. The Gophers were looking to build off the success of last week's big win, but found themselves in trouble when Iowa built a 13-0 lead after the 1st Quarter thanks to Nico Ragaini's 21 yard TD reception and a 10 yard TD run by Tyler Goodson. Brock Walker would get two field goals through to get the Gophers on the board in the 2nd Quarter, but Ihmir Smith-Marsette's five yard touchdown reception in between the two would give Iowa a 20-6 lead at halftime. The Gophers finally found the end zone thanks to Tyler Johnson's 28 yard TD reception to pull within seven. Following a Keith Duncan field goal, the Gophers drove down the field again and Rodney Smith ran it in from a yard out to make it 23-19 after a missed extra point by Walker. The Gophers struggled on their last drive and turned it over on downs giving Iowa the victory. It would be Iowa's fifth straight win against the Gophers and seventh in their last eight meetings. Despite the loss, the Gophers were still in command of the BIG 10 West with two games left to go.

The Gophers built a big lead in the 1st Half and held on to beat the lowly Northwestern Wildcats 38-22 in Evanston. Morgan threw four touchdown passes, three of them to Rashod Bateman, in the Gophers penultimate game of the season. Despite the big lead, the Gophers and Wildcats traded scores in the 2nd Half, but Northwestern could not stop Morgan and dropped their ninth game of the season. With their victory, the Gophers would set up a winner take all showdown next week back in Minneapolis against their hated rival Wisconsin for a spot in the BIG 10 Championship Game

The Gophers knew the atmosphere would be amazing. ESPN's College Gameday came to Minneapolis for the first time ever and the show concluded with Lee Corso donning the head of Goldy Gopher, predicting a Minnesota victory over Wisconsin. The atmosphere was loud at TCF Bank Stadium with snow projected later in the game. The Gophers and the Badgers were not only playing for Paul Bunyan's Ax, they were also playing for the right to represent the BIG 10 West in the BIG 10 Championship game against Ohio State, who won the BIG 10 East last week. The game started out well for Minnesota. The Gophers got Wisconsin to go three and out to start the game and Morgan found Rashod Bateman for a 51 yard touchdown that ignited the crowd. But it would all go downhill from there as Wisconsin took a 10-7 lead at halftime and ran the Gophers out of their own building by putting up 28 of the next 31 points to end Minnesota's shot at a BIG 10 title and winning them back Paul Bunyan's Ax. The Badgers clobbered the Gophers 38-17 to return to the BIG 10 Championship game. For the Gophers, the loss ended any shot they had at a New Year's Six bowl game, including the Rose Bowl, and ended the season with a record of 10-2

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 first ever meeting between the two teams. The game would be played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Auburn had some impressive victories in their season, beating the PAC 12 Champion Oregon Ducks in Texas to open the season and recently knocking off the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Iron Bowl. The game was an epic back and forth affair with both teams trading field goals then touchdowns to make it 10-10 after the 1st Quarter, the lone Gopher 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 connected with Sal Cannella for a 37 yard score, the Gophers would end the half with an impressive drive that ultimately ended with Tyler Johnson's jaw dropping touchdown reception to give them a 24-17 lead. Auburn would score the lone touchdown of the 3rd Quarter as Jordan Whitlow ran a touchdown in from three yards out. But it would be Tyler Johnson capping the game and his career off 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. The Gophers ended the season 11-2 and Outback Bowl Champions