2020 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

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.

2020 Minnesota Golden Gophers football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
	West Division
2020 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)
Defensive coordinator	Joe Rossi (3rd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Joe Harasymiak (1st season)
Home stadium	TCF Bank Stadium (Capacity: 50,805)
Uniform

2020 Big Ten Conference football standings
	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.

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]

After compiling a 3–4 record, all in conference play, the program announced on December 20 that they were declined to play in any bowl game.[4]

Previous season

The Golden Gophers finished the 2019 season as arguably the best since their 1960 National Champion team. They finished with their highest win total ever, at 11–2, 7–2 in Big Ten play to finish tied for first place in the West Division. They were invited to the Outback Bowl, where they defeated Auburn and finished #10 in the AP poll.

Schedule

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.[5]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 24	6:30 p.m.	No. 18 Michigan	No. 21	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN (Little Brown Jug)	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[6]
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:[7]

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

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

References

1. Stevens, Matthew. "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". bigten.org. August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
3. "The Big Ten Conference Adopts Stringent Medical Protocols; Football Season to Resume October 23–24, 2020". bigten.org. September 16, 2020. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
4. Greder, Andy (December 20, 2020). "Gophers opt out of bowl game in 2020". twincities.com. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
5. Myerberg, Paul. "Big Ten football reduces season schedule to only conference games, maybe setting stage for others to follow". USA TODAY. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
6. "UW-Minnesota cancellation ends 113-year streak". ESPN.com. November 24, 2020.
7. "2020 Football Schedule". University of Minnesota Athletics.