Memorable College Football Weekends When The Gophers Won

[IceBoxGopher]

Minnesota winning always makes a Saturday (or Thursday or Friday when that's the case) better. What's even more fun are those college football weekends where the Gophers win, and there are some great games happening around the country as well.

Since it's the offseason and I'm missing college football like crazy, here are some memorable games that were entertaining to watch before or after Minnesota clinched a victory.

2011
October 29: Minnesota defeated Iowa, 22-21

• Ohio State defeated Wisconsin 33-29, with Braxton Miller tossing a Hail Mary at the end.

2012
September 8: Minnesota defeated New Hampshire, 44-7

• Iowa lost to Iowa State, 9-6
• Wisconsin lost to Oregon State, 10-7

November 10: Minnesota defeated Illinois, 17-10

• Texas A&M upset No. 1 Alabama, led by Johnny Manziel

2013
September 1: Minnesota defeated UNLV (Aug. 29)

• No. 8 Clemson, led by Taj Boyd, edged No. 5 Georgia, 38-35

September 14: Minnesota defeated Western Illinois, 29-12

• No. 1 Alabama took down No. 6 Texas A&M, 49-42
• Arizona State defeated No. 20 Wisconsin with the Badgers running out of time, 32-30

October 19: Minnesota defeated Northwestern, 20-17

• UCF defeated No. 8 Louisville, with Blake Bortles tossing a touchdown with less than 30 seconds left.

2015
September 19: Minnesota defeated Kent State, 10-7

• No. 15 Ole Miss defeated No. 2 Alabama in a shootout, 43-37

November 21: Minnesota defeated Illinois, 32-23

• No. 9 Michigan State upset No. 3 Ohio State with a field goal, 17-14
• No. 20 Northwestern took down No. 25 Wisconsin, 13-7

2016
September 1: Minnesota defeated Oregon State, 30-23

• No. 15 Houston upset No. 3 Oklahoma, 33-23
• Texas upset No. 10 Notre Dame, 50-47

September 10: Minnesota defeated Indiana State, 58-28

• Pittsburgh edged Penn State, 42-39

September 24: Minnesota defeated Colorado State, 31-24

• No. 14 Tennessee came back from 21 down to beat No. 19 Florida, 38-28

October 22: Minnesota defeated Rutgers, 34-32

• Penn State upset No. 2 Ohio State, helped by a blocked field goal, 24-21
• No. 16 Oklahoma defeated Texas Tech in a shootout, 66-59, in a duel between Baker Mayfield and Patrick Mahomes

2017
September 16: Minnesota defeated Middle Tennessee, 34-3

• No. 4 USC defeated Texas in double overtime, 27-24

2018
September 15: Minnesota defeated Miami-OH, 26-3

• BYU defeated No. 6 Wisconsin on a field goal, 24-21

November 10: Minnesota defeated Purdue, 41-10

• Northwestern defeated Iowa, 14-10
• No. 21 Penn State defeated Wisconsin, 22-10

November 24: Minnesota defeated Wisconsin, 37-15

• No. 6 Oklahoma won a shootout against No. 13 West Virginia, 59-56
• No. 22 Texas A&M defeated No. 7 LSU 74-72 in 7 overtimes

2019
August 29: Minnesota defeated South Dakota State, 28-21

• No. 16 Auburn defeated No. 11 Oregon, 27-21

September 7: Minnesota defeated Fresno State, 38-35 in double OT

• Colorado defeated No. 25 Nebraska in overtime, 34-31

September 28, Minnesota defeated Purdue, 38-31

• No. 1 Clemson survived North Carolina, 21-20

October 19: No. 20 Minnesota defeated Rutgers, 42-7

• Illinois upset No. 6 24-23
• No. 12 Oregon defeated No. 25 Washington, 35-31

October 26: No. 17 Minnesota defeated Maryland, 52-10

• Kansas State upset No. 5 Oklahoma, 48-41
• TCU upset No. 15 Texas, 37-27

November 9: No 17 Minnesota defeated no. 4 Penn State, 31-26

• No. 2 LSU defeated No. 3 Alabama, 46-41
• Texas upset No. 16 Kansas State, 27-24

November 23: No. 10 Minnesota defeated Northwestern, 38-22

• Arizona State upset No. 6 Oregon, 31-28

2021
October 16: Minnesota defeated Nebraska, 30-23

• Purdue upset No. 2 Iowa, 24-7

October 30: Minnesota defeated Northwestern, 41-14

• No. 8 Michigan State defeated No. 6 Michigan, 37-33

November 27: Minnesota defeated No. 14 Wisconsin, 23-13

• No. 5 Michigan defeated No. 2 Ohio State, 42-27, snapped losing streak
• LSU upset No. 15 Texas A&M, 27-24

2022
September 10: Minnesota defeated Western Illinois, 62-10

• No. 1 Alabama survived against Texas, 20-19
• Washington State upset No. 19 Wisconsin, 17-14

November 5: Minnesota defeated Nebraska, 20-13

• No. 10 LSU defeated No. 6 Alabama, 32-31
• No. 24 Texas defeated No. 13 Kansas State, 34-27

2024
September 7: Minnesota defeated Rhode Island, 48-0

• Iowa State defeated No. 21 Iowa, 20-19

October 5: Minnesota defeated No. 11 USC, 24-17

• Vanderbilt upset No. 1 Alabama, 40-35

October 12: Minnesota defeated UCLA, 21-17

• No. 3 Oregon edged No. 2 Ohio State, 32-31
• No. 4 Penn State edged USC, 33-30

November 2: Minnesota defeated No. 24 Illinois, 25-17

• No. 4 Ohio State defeated No. 3 Penn State, 20-13

November 29: Minnesota defeated Wisconsin, 24-7

• No. 7 Georgia defeated Georgia Tech, 44-42, in 8 overtimes
• Michigan upsets No. 2 Ohio State, 13-10
• Syracuse upset No. 6 Miami, 42-38

Also, not that Minnesota played, but there was one week in 2014 packed with a ton good college football. The Gophers were 4-1, had the Jug in their possession, and on their bye week these great games happened from Oct. 2-4:

• Arizona upset No. 2 Oregon, 31-24
• No. 11 Ole Miss upset No. 3 Alabama, 23-17
• No. 25 TCU upset No. 4 Oklahoma, 37-33
• No. 12 Mississippi State upset No. 6 Texas A&M, 48-31
• Utah upset No. 8 UCLA, 30-28
• No. 9 Notre Dame defeated No. 14 Stanford, 17-14
• Arizona State upset No. 16 USC, 38-34
• Northwestern upset No. 17 Wisconsin, 20-14
• Utah State upset No. 18 BYU, 35-20
• No. 10 Michigan State defeated No. 19 Nebraska, 27-22

 

[MNfootballfan]

Best weekend ever:
11/24/18 - Minnesota Gophers 37, Wisconsin 15
11/25/18 - Minnesota Vikings 24, Green Bay 17

 

[IceBoxGopher]

Best weekend ever:
11/24/18 - Minnesota Gophers 37, Wisconsin 15
11/25/18 - Minnesota Vikings 24, Green Bay 17

That was the first weekend sweep ever, too. STrib looked into it, only other time the Vikings beat the Packers on a Thursday followed by the Gophers topping the Badgers on a Saturday back in 1994. The Saturday-Sunday sweep of 2018 is the only one in history.

 

[Married@SiebertField]

That was the first weekend sweep ever, too. STrib looked into it, only other time the Vikings beat the Packers on a Thursday followed by the Gophers topping the Badgers on a Saturday back in 1994. The Saturday-Sunday sweep of 2018 is the only one in history.

For the 1994 sweep, we went to the Vikings game and then headed early Friday morning to Madison. Much to our amusement somebody had draped a sign on one of the I-94 overpasses saying: “Go home losers!”