Minnesota Golden Gophers football

The sport's beginnings were humble. Students began gathering to play the game recreationally and its popularity grew.

Once the sport had taken off, it was only a matter of time before a team was formed to play against other schools. Early teams were very loosely organized, not requiring all of the players to be students and not having designated coaches. The players on the team started to recruit faculty members who had played football at schools in the East to help organize the team. The team gained their first coach in 1883: Thomas Peebles, a philosophy professor who also recruited a cheer team for the football players, which later established him as the father of American cheerleading.[6] Like many of the early coaches, his term lasted just one year.[7]

Some years, the football team played without a coach. Other years, they played with multiple coaches. In total, from 1882 through 1899, the team played 16 seasons of football and had 15 different coaches. As the years went by, the leadership structure started to become more formal. In 1900, the hiring of Dr. Henry L. Williams, the school’s first full-time salaried coach, signaled the end of the early, chaotic days.[8]^: 15

The Minnesota's Golden Gophers, 1935 National Champions, coaches: Bert Baston, end coach; Bernie Bierman, head coach; and George Hauser, line coach. The fourth varsity tutor, Lowek (Red) Dawson, who coached the backfield, was absent when the photograph was taken

The Gophers enjoyed quite a bit of success in the early 20th century, posting winning records from 1900 to 1919. Head coach Henry L. Williams developed the "Minnesota shift", a predecessor to later quick line shifts, which was adopted widely.[9] Also Henry L. Williams led Minnesota to one of the NCAA's longest unbeaten streaks of 35 games, from 1903 to 1905 with 34 wins and 1 tie.[10] In 1932, Bernie Bierman became the Gophers' head coach and led the Gophers to their first dynasty. From 1934 to 1936 the Gophers went on a run of winning three straight National Championships, the last Division I team to accomplish this feat. During the run, Minnesota went unbeaten in 28 straight games, 21 of which were consecutive victories. The school record for consecutive victories is 24, which spanned 3 seasons from 1903 to 1905. Led by halfback Bruce Smith, the Gophers also won two more national championships in 1940 and 1941, with Smith winning the Heisman Trophy in 1941. Those two seasons comprised most of an 18-game winning streak that stretched from 1939 to 1942.

After some mediocre seasons throughout the remainder of the 1940s and 1950s, the Gophers rose back to prominence in 1960 with their seventh national championship (because polling ended after the regular season, the Gophers were crowned AP and UPI national champions despite losing the Rose Bowl to Washington). That national championship followed a 1–8 record in 1958 and 2–7 record in 1959. Minnesota played in bowl games the two following years as well, in 1961 and 1962. The Gophers earned their first berth in the Rose Bowl by winning the 1960 Big Ten title. The following year, Minnesota returned to Pasadena despite a second-place finish in the conference. The Ohio State Buckeyes, the Big Ten champions in 1961, declined an invitation to the Rose Bowl because of tension between academics and athletics at the school. Minnesota beat UCLA 21–3 to claim its first and only Rose Bowl victory. Minnesota's last Big Ten title was in 1967, tying the Indiana Hoosiers and Purdue Boilermakers atop the standings.

Amir Pinnix celebrates a touchdown with D.J. Burris on September 1, 2007

Goldy showing off his ring at a Gophers Football Game

After their 8–2 record in 1967, the Gophers did not win 8 games in a season again until they finished 8–4 in 1999.[11] Their 10–3 record in 2003 gave the Gophers their first 10 win season since 1905.

The 2006 team had the dubious distinction of blowing a 38–7 third-quarter lead in the Insight Bowl against Texas Tech, losing 44–41 in overtime. The collapse, which was the biggest in the history of Division I-A postseason football, directly led to the firing of head coach Glen Mason. On January 17, 2007, Tim Brewster was officially announced as the next head coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers.[12]

In 1981, the Gophers played their last game in Memorial Stadium and played their home games in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome until 2008. The Gophers moved back to campus with a 20–13 win against Air Force on September 12, 2009, when their new home, TCF Bank Stadium, opened.

In 2010, after a 1–6 record to start the season, the Gophers football head coach Tim Brewster was fired. Jeff Horton served as the interim head coach going 2–3. On December 6, 2010, Jerry Kill, former Northern Illinois University head coach, was hired to take over the University of Minnesota football program.[13]

In 2014, The Gophers reached an 8–4 record while going 5–3 in Big Ten games, falling just short of making the Big Ten Championship Game by losing to The Wisconsin Badgers in the season finale. After being revitalized in the Big Ten contention, The Gophers were awarded an appearance in the Citrus Bowl on January 1 against Missouri.

In 2018, the Gophers defeated the Badgers to reclaim Paul Bunyan's Axe and end a 14 season losing streak.

In 2019, the Gophers turned in a historic season, going 11-2 (7-2 in conference play)[14] including a home victory against No. 4 Penn State 31-26, their first victory over a top 5 team in 20 years.[15] The win also marked the first time since 1904 that the Gophers started out a season 9-0.[16]

The 91st battle for the Little Brown Jug between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Michigan Wolverines in the Metrodome

Minnesota has been selected nine times as national champions from NCAA-designated major selectors, including four from the major wire-service AP Poll and Coaches Poll.[17][18]^{: 111–113} Minnesota claims seven (1904, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1940, 1941, and 1960) of these championships.[19] The 1960 championship is a consensus national championship.[18]^: 120

The Gophers were the inaugural winners of the Toledo Cup national championship trophy in 1934 and repeated the feat in 1935 and 1936.[20] The poll's rules stated the traveling trophy would be retained permanently by the first team to win it three times; Bernie Bierman's teams completed the three-peat without any other team winning the cup.[21] The Toledo Cup is currently displayed in the lobby of the Gibson-Nagurski Athletic Center at the University of Minnesota.[20][21]

Minnesota won Dickinson System national championships in 1934, 1936, and 1940. The three wins gave them permanent possession of the Knute Rockne Memorial Trophy, which had been introduced in 1931.[22] Following tradition, the university set their own new trophy into play and named it for former football coach Henry L. Williams.

With professor Frank Dickinson retiring from the ratings business, the new Williams Trophy was instead linked to the nascent AP Poll and served as the first AP Trophy.

Minnesota has won 18 conference championships, 11 shared and 7 outright.

† Co-champions

Big Ten Football adopted divisions in 2011, with the winner of each division playing for the conference championship. The divisions were known as Legends and Leaders from 2011 to 2013. In 2014, the divisions were realigned geographically into East and West. Minnesota competes in the Big Ten West Division. Minnesota has shared one division title, in 2019.[2]

† Co-champions

The Minnesota-Wisconsin rivalry is the most-played rivalry in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The winner of the game receives Paul Bunyan's Axe, a tradition that started in 1948 after the first trophy, the Slab of Bacon, disappeared. Minnesota dominated the series for most of the first half of the 20th century, and Wisconsin similarly dominated the series from the early 1990s until 2018, accruing a 14-game win streak for the Badgers which gave Wisconsin its first-ever lead in the series in 2017. Since the end of that streak in 2018, Minnesota leads the series 3-2. The series is tied 62–62–8 through the 2022 season.[24]

The winner of the game is awarded the Floyd of Rosedale, 98 lb (44 kg) a bronze pig trophy. The trophy began in 1935, when, in an effort to deescalate tensions between the two teams and fan bases, Minnesota Governor Floyd Olson bet Iowa Governor Clyde L. Herring a prize hog against an Iowa prize hog that Minnesota would win the game. After Minnesota's victory, Governor Herring obtained a pig donated by Rosedale Farms and named the hog after Governor Olson, giving birth to Floyd of Rosedale. Minnesota leads the series with Iowa 62–51–2 through the 2021 season.[25]

The Michigan–Minnesota football rivalry is the first and oldest trophy game in college football history. The winner of the game is awarded the Little Brown Jug, a five-gallon earthenware jug. The jug was used by Michigan in the 1903 matchup to prevent Minnesota from tampering with its water supply, and, according to folklore, stolen from Michigan by a Minnesota custodian after the game. Michigan leads the series 77–25–3 with the last game played in 2023.[26]

The winner of the game is awarded the Governor's Victory Bell. The Governor's Victory Bell was introduced to mark Penn State's first conference game after being added to the Big Ten Conference, which came against Minnesota in 1993. Penn State leads the series 10–6 with the last game played in 2022.[27]

The winner of the Minnesota-Nebraska game is awarded the $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy, which is an unofficial trophy created by fans after a good-humored back and forth between the Twitter accounts for Minnesota mascot Goldy Gopher and a parody account for then-head coach Bo Pelini. The trophy was officially rejected by both universities, although groups associated with each university continue to use the trophy as a fundraiser around the annual matchup. Minnesota leads the series with Nebraska 37–25–2 through the 2023 season.[28]

Huntington Bank Stadium is the football stadium for the Minnesota Golden Gophers college football team at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The 52,525-seat on-campus "horseshoe" style stadium is designed to support future expansion to seat up to 80,000 people, and cost $303.3 million to build. The stadium was the temporary home of the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League for the 2014 and 2015 seasons while U.S. Bank Stadium was being built.

TCF Bank Stadium, photographed from the corner of University Ave and Oak St

The complex houses the team administrative offices, locker room, meeting rooms, equipment room, training room, and players’ lounges. It is named after Gopher teammates from the 1920s, George Gibson and Bronko Nagurski.

Gophers football inside the Metrodome

• Northrop Field (1899–1923)
• Memorial Stadium (1924–1981)
• Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (1982–2008)

The Golden Gophers has retired three numbers.[29][30][31]

Additionally, the Golden Gophers have retired two jerseys. This honor is distinguished from "retired numbers" because the numbers of these players can be worn by any player normally.[31]

List current as of October 21, 2023.[60]

[61]

Purdue Boilermakers visiting the Minnesota Golden Gophers on November 5, 2016. The maroon and gold jerseys are stitched by Lee's Pro Shop in Pine City.[81]

Minnesota plays the other six Big Ten West opponents once per season.

Announced schedules as of October 11, 2022 [82]

No opponents currently scheduled for the 2029 and 2031 seasons.