Minnesota opens up their 2021 season with a national televised game on Fox against Ohio State on the first Thursday night in September. They will most likely end their regular season with another national televised game fighting for Paul Bunyan’s axe when they take on Wisconsin. Both games are tough, what about the games in between? How easy are they? Below are my rankings for the 2021 season for the toughest to easiest opponents our Minnesota Gophers will face.
- vs Ohio State ( 9/2/21)
Sure, Ohio State may not know who they are going to start at QB at the moment (3 Way Race between Stroud, Miller, McCord) but that doesn’t take away the fact that Minnesota opens up their season against the national championship runner up. Ohio State brings a deep offensive line and the conference’s best WR duo in Chris Olave and Garret Wilson. Nobody is worried about their defense having a let down year either. Minnesota’s last win against Ohio State goes back to 1981. Who remembers that? Not me.
- AT Iowa (11/13)
Nobody has to remind P.J. Fleck that he hasn’t beat Iowa yet in his time at Minnesota and this year will be tough to get that monkey off his back. Iowa brings back All Conference RB Tyler Goodson and you can expect their OL to be solid again. Linebackers Benson and Campbell should lead a tough defense again this year. Iowa has beaten the Gophers 10 straight at Kinnick Stadium. Until Minnesota wins this game, hard not to have it be one of the toughest games for the Gophers.
- Vs Wisconsin (11/27)
The Big Ten West favorites will be coming to Minnesota the last Saturday in November. Graham Mertz will lead their offense and many in Madison are expecting RB Jalen Berger to have a better year than last year. You can expect the Gophers to arguably go against the best defense since their opener in Ohio State, their defense is led by Linebackers Jack Sanborn and Leo Chenal. Minnesota is 3-18 against Wisconsin since 2000.
- AT Indiana (11/20)
On paper, this has the potential to be a trap game as this game is sandwiched between Iowa and Wisconsin. The Gophers better not approach the game that way as they face the top QB and WR in the conference in Michael Penix and Ty Fryfogle. Head Coach Tom Allen has this program on the rise after Indiana went 6-2 last season. Minnesota has won 3 straight against Indiana but haven’t faced the Hoosiers since 2018.
- AT Northwestern (10/30)
Minnesota visits the reigning Big Ten West champs the day before Halloween. They continue the revolving QB Transfer door by adding Ryan Hilinski from South Carolina. They’re set at RB and Offensive Line and their DL is deep. They also bring back solid special teams specialist in
Kuhbander and Adams, must be nice eh? Northwestern is always a tough out being coached by Fitzgerald and this game is in Evanston, which is why I put this game at #5. This game also begins a brutal 5 game stretch for Minnesota.
- At Colorado (9/18)
Minnesota heads to Boulder, CO for their first road game of the season. This will also be their first road game in a packed setting since 2019 as Colorado will be letting their stadium fill up to 100% capacity. Colorado brings back the Pac-12 Offensive player of the year in Running Back Jarek Broussard and returns 5 of their top 6 Wide Receivers. Only question mark on offense is who will start at QB. 9 of the 11 starters also return on defense.
- Nebraska (10/16)
Scott Frost and Co come to Minnesota after a tough 5 game stretch that starts off with Oklahoma, Michigan State, Northwestern, and Michigan. Minnesota is their last game before their bye week. Once again, Nebraska loses their best WR in the offseason when Wan’Dale Robinson transferring out. Their returning production (as calculated in SP+) on offense is only 56%, which is 96th out of 127th in the country. This game will be strength vs strength as Nebraska will have a solid defense but many question marks on offense.
- At Purdue (10/2)
Jake Plummer returns at QB and you can bet he is going to throw the ball quite a bit this year. His favorite target isn’t a bad one either, David Bell who is one of the better WR’s in the Big Ten and has plenty of depth behind him. Their offense should cause some concern. Their Defense loses their best defender in linebacker in Derrick Barnes. Minnesota has won 2 of the last 3 when visiting Purdue.
- Maryland (10/23)
The Maryland/Minnesota series is an odd one as most of the games in the last 5 meetings have been complete blowouts. Of course, Minnesota lost this game last year by missing an XP in overtime. Maryland brings back quite a bit of production on offense (86%) and defense (85%) but their defense was very poor against the run last year. I may regret putting this game at #9 due to the history of these teams going against each other.
- Illinois. (11/6)
Could this be the year Minnesota finally beats Bret Bielema? Minnesota is 0-7 against the former Wisconsin coach. He begins his tenure at Illinois with the cupboards not totally bare. They return a solid Offensive Line and they have depth at Running Back. Their offense has the ability to put up some points, just not sure their defense can stop anybody.
- Miami (Oh) (9/11)
Minnesota plays Miami of Ohio right after Ohio State. One name to keep an eye on in this game is WR Jack Sorenson, who took up the bulk (40%) of their passing completions last year. They don’t have a set QB yet as it should come down to Brett Gabbert or AJ Mayer. Miami only played 3 games last season due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Bowling Green (9/25)
Not only did Bowling Green go 0-5 last year, they also had one of the worst defenses in the country. They got outscored 57-255 and they gave up 45 points a game. They lost their top tight end and 2 Wide Receivers and they are replacing a bunch of starters on offense. Not many games on the schedule are a guarantee win, (Minnesota sports an all) but this comes close.