2020 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

2020 Big Ten Conference football standings
	East Division
	West Division
	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.; Rankings from AP Poll.

2020 Minnesota Golden Gophers football
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
	Seasons ← 2019 2021 →

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]

Previous season[]

The Golden Gophers finished the 2019 season with 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.^[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[]

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

Players drafted into the NFL[]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
1	27	Rashod Bateman	WR	Baltimore Ravens
2	74	Benjamin St-Juste	CB	Washington Football Team

References[]

^ Stevens, Matthew. "Big Ten To Play A "Championship Weekend" 9th Game Of 2020 Season". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
^ "Big Ten Statement on 2020–21 Fall Season". bigten.org. August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
^ "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.
^ 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.
^ "UW-Minnesota cancellation ends 113-year streak". ESPN.com. November 24, 2020.
^ "2020 Football Schedule". University of Minnesota Athletics.

[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] 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.

[5] "UW-Minnesota cancellation ends 113-year streak". ESPN.com. November 24, 2020.

[6] "2020 Football Schedule". University of Minnesota Athletics.

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v t 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 Nebraska Penn State 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 Statistical leaders NFL draftees Annual awards
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
National championship seasons in bold

2020 Minnesota Golden Gophers football

Conference	Big Ten Conference
Division	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

Seasons ← 2019 2021 →

2020 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t	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		3	–	5		4	–	5
Maryland		2	–	3		2	–	3
Rutgers		3	–	5		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		2	–	3		4	–	3
Minnesota		3	–	3		3	–	4
Nebraska		2	–	5		3	–	5
Purdue		2	–	4		2	–	4
Illinois		2	–	5		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.