Gopher Football Team Opens Season Against No. 2 Ranked TCU
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Summer may not be officially over, but fall is certainly present at the University of Minnesota!
The Minnesota Gophers football season begins Thursday night with a big test at TCF Bank Stadium. The Gophers will take on the No. 2 team in the country, the TCU Horned Frogs, at 8 p.m.
Last year the Gophers lost 30 to 7 to TCU down in Texas.
Those 30 points were actually the fewest allowed to an opponent by the Frogs all season.
Minnesota had five turnovers in the game, including three interceptions and a fumble by quarterback Mitch Leidner.
Leidner returns this season and can hopefully have a better game Thursday.
He has a record of 10 and 6 as the Gophers starting quarterback. The Lakeville-native has 17 career rushing touchdowns to go along with 14 passing touchdowns.
Despite strength in Leidner, Minnesota lost three of their four top receivers to the NFL.
Tight end Maxx Williams was drafted by Ravens, Isaac Fruechte signed with the Minnesota Vikings, and running back David Cobb is with the Tennessee Titans.
If the Gophers want to stop TCU, they're going to need great defense. The No. 2 team in the country averaged more than 45 points a game.
The Gophers have improved each year since head coach Jerry Kill took over four years ago. But they still have not wont a bowl game in more than a decade.
Following this first game, the Gophers will take on Colorado State, Kent State and Ohio in September.
Then the Big 10 schedule starts up in October, with their first two games of the month being on the road.
Their tough schedule gets even tougher in November when they face off against national champion Ohio State.
The Gophers are the only team in the country scheduled to play both the No. 1 and No. 2 team in the country this season.
In honor of opening night, the Golden Gophers have created a game you can play online called "Go Gopher Go!" It parodies the classic game, "Frogger."
Instead of a frog and cars, the player control Goldy as he tried to dodges TCU football players.
