Minnesota Season Opener History: 1970-Present

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IceBoxGopher

IceBoxGopher

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Just over three weeks from the season opener and I'm super hyped! During the 2010s, the season opener was usually a win, with the Gophers going 8-2 that decade in the first game. It made me want to look back at other seasons and see how Minnesota did to start the season. Below is the season opener history and how both teams ended up doing

The 1970s
  • 1970, away, Vs. Missouri, LOSS, 34-12. Missouri finished 5-6. Minnesota finished 3-6-1
  • 1971, home, Vs. Indiana, WIN, 28-0. Indiana finished 3-8. Minnesota finished 4-7
  • 1972, away, Vs. Indiana, LOSS, 27-23. Indiana finished 5-6. Minnesota finished 4-7
  • 1973, away, Vs. Ohio State, LOSS, 56-7. Ohio State finished 10-0-1 with a Big Ten title, a Rose Bowl win and a No. 3 ranking. Minnesota finished 7-4
  • 1974, home, Vs. Ohio State, LOSS, 34-19. Ohio State finished 10-2 with a Big Ten title, a Rose Bowl loss and a No. 3 ranking. Minnesota finished 4-7.
  • 1975, away, Vs. Indiana, LOSS, 20-14. Indiana finished 2-8-1. Minnesota finished 6-5
  • 1976, home, Vs. Indiana, WIN, 32-13. Indiana finished 5-6. Minnesota finished 6-5
  • 1977, home, Vs. Western Michigan, WIN, 10-7. WMU finished 4-7. Minnesota finished 7-5 with a loss in the Hall of Fame Classic Bowl.
  • 1978, home, Vs. Toledo, WIN, 38-12. Toledo finished 2-9. Minnesota finished 5-6
  • 1979, home, Vs. Ohio, WIN, 24-10. Ohio finished 6-5. Minnesota finished 4-6-1

The 1980s
  • 1980, home, Vs. Ohio, WIN, 38-14. Ohio finished 6-5. Minnesota finished 5-6.
  • 1981, home, Vs. Ohio, WIN, 19-17. Ohio finished 5-6. Minnesota finished 6-5
  • 1982, home, Vs. Ohio, WIN, 57-3. Ohio finished 6-5. Minnesota finished 3-8
  • 1983, away, Vs. Rice, WIN, 21-17. Rice finished 1-10. Minnesota finished 1-10
  • 1984, home, Vs. Rice, WIN, 31-24. Rice finished 1-10. Minnesota finished 4-7
  • 1985, home, Vs. Wichita State, WIN, 28-14. WSU finished 3-8. Minnesota finished 7-5 with an Independence Bowl win over Clemson
  • 1986, home, Vs. Bowling Green, WIN, 31-17. Bowling Green finished 5-6. Minnesota finished 6-6 with a Liberty Bowl loss to Tennessee.
  • 1987, home, Vs. Northern Iowa (FCS), WIN, 24-7. UNI finished 10-4 with a playoff berth. Minnesota finished 6-5
  • 1988, home, Vs. Washington State, LOSS, 41-9. Washington State finished 9-3 with an Aloha Bowl win and a No. 16 ranking. Minnesota finished 2-7-2
  • 1989, away, Vs. Iowa State, WIN, 30-20. Iowa State finished 6-5. Minnesota finished 6-5.

The 1990s
  • 1990, home, Vs. Utah, LOSS, 35-29. Utah finished 4-7. Minnesota finished 6-5
  • 1991, home, Vs. San Jose State, WIN, 26-20. San Jose State finished 6-4-1 with a Big West title. Minnesota finished 2-9
  • 1992, home, Vs. San Jose State, LOSS, 39-30. San Jose State finished 7-4. Minnesota finished 2-9
  • 1993, away, Vs. Penn State, LOSS, 38-20. Penn State finished 10-2 with a Citrus Bowl win and a No. 7/8 ranking. Minnesota finished 4-7.
  • 1994, home, Vs. Penn State, LOSS, 56-3. Penn State finished 12-0 with a Big Ten title, a Rose Bowl win and a No. 2 ranking. Minnesota finished 3-8.
  • 1995, home, Vs. Ball State, WIN, 31-7.Ball State finished 7-4. Minnesota finished 2-9.
  • 1996, away, Vs. Louisiana Monroe, WIN, 30-3. Louisiana-Monroe finished 5-6. Minnesota finished 4-7
  • 1997, away, Vs. Hawaii, LOSS, 17-3. Hawaii finished 3-9. Minnesota finished 3-9
  • 1998, home, Vs. Arkansas State, WIN, 17-14. Arkansas State finished 4-8. Minnesota finished 5-6
  • 1999, home, Vs. Ohio, WIN, 33-7. Ohio finished 5-6. Minnesota finished 8-4 with a loss to Oregon in the Sun Bowl and a No. 17/18 rating.

The 2000s
  • 2000, home, Vs. Louisiana-Monroe, WIN, 47-10. Louisiana-Monroe finished 1-10. Minnesota finished 6-6 with a loss in the MicronPC Bowl vs. NC State
  • 2001, away, Vs. Toledo, LOSS, 38-7. Toledo finished 10-2 with a MAC title, a Motor City Bowl win and a No. 22 ranking. Minnesota finished 4-7
  • 2002, home, Vs. Southwest Texas State (FCS), WIN, 42-0. SWTS Finished 4-7. Minnesota finished 8-5 with a Music City Bowl win against Arkansas.
  • 2003, home, Vs. Tulsa, WIN, 49-10. Tulsa finished 8-5 with a Humanitarian Bowl loss. Minnesota finished 10-3 with a Sun Bowl win and a No. 17/20 ranking
  • 2004, home, Vs. Toledo, WIN, 63-21. Toledo finished 9-4 with a MAC title and a Motor City Bowl loss. Minnesota finished 7-5 with a Music City Bowl win against Alabama.
  • 2005, away, Vs. Tulsa, WIN, 41-10. Tulsa finished 9-4 with a CUSA title and a Liberty Bowl win. Minnesota finished 7-5 with a Music City Bowl loss against Virginia
  • 2006, away, Vs. Kent State, WIN, 44-0. Kent State finished 6-6. Minnesota finished 6-7 with an Insight Bowl loss against Texas Tech.
  • 2007, home, Vs. Bowling Green, LOSS, 32-31(OT). Bowling Green finished 8-5 with a GMAC Bowl loss. Minnesota finished 1-11
  • 2008, home, Vs. Northern Illinois, WIN, 31-27. NIU finished 6-7 with an Independence Bowl loss. Minnesota finished 7-6 with an Insight Bowl loss to Kansas.
  • 2009, away, Vs. Syracuse, WIN, 23-20 (OT). Syracuse finished 4-8. Minnesota finished 6-7 with an Insight Bowl loss to Iowa State.

The 2010s
  • 2010, away, Vs. Middle Tennessee, WIN, 24-17. Middle Tennessee finished 6-7 with a GoDaddy.Com Bowl loss. Minnesota finished 3-9.
  • 2011, away, Vs. USC, LOSS, 19-17. USC finished 10-2 with a No. 6 ranking. Minnesota finished 3-9
  • 2012, away, Vs. UNLV, WIN, 30-27 (3OT). UNLV finished 2-11. Minnesota finished 6-7 with a Car Care Bowl loss to Texas Tech.
  • 2013, home, Vs. UNLV, WIN, 51-23. UNLV finished 7-6 with a Heart of Dallas Bowl loss. Minnesota finished 8-5 with a Texas Bowl loss to Syracuse.
  • 2014, home, Vs. Eastern Illinois (FCS), WIN, 42-20. Eastern Illinois finished 5-7. Minnesota finished 8-5 with a Citrus Bowl loss.
  • 2015, home, Vs. TCU, LOSS 23-17. TCU finished 11-2 with an Alamo Bowl win and an No. 7 ranking. Minnesota finished 6-7 with a Quick Lane Bowl win over Central Michigan
  • 2016, home, Vs. Oregon State, WIN, 30-23. Oregon State finished 4-8. Minnesota finished 9-4 with a Holiday Bowl win over Washington State
  • 2017, home, Vs. Buffalo, WIN, 17-7. Buffalo finished 6-6. Minnesota finished 5-7
  • 2018, home, Vs. New Mexico State, WIN, 48-10. NMSU finished 3-9. Minnesota finished 7-6 with a Quick Lane Bowl win over Georgia Tech.
  • 2019, home, Vs. South Dakota State (FCS), WIN, 28-21. SDSU finished 8-5 with a playoff berth. Minnesota finished 11-2 with an Outback Bowl win over Auburn, a share of the Big Ten West title and a No. 10 ranking.

The 2020s
  • 2020, home, Vs. Michigan, LOSS, 49-24. Michigan finished 2-4. Minnesota finished 3-4.
  • 2021, home, Vs. Ohio State, LOSS, 45-31. Ohio State finished 11-2 with a Rose Bowl win. Minnesota finished 9-4 with a Guaranteed Rate Bowl win over West Virginia

The Stats
  • Against FCS teams in season openers, Minnesota is 4-0
  • Against Group of 5 teams, Minnesota is 26-5
  • Against Power 5 teams, Minnesota is 3-4
  • Against Big Ten teams, Minnesota is 2-8
  • In total, since 1970, Minnesota is 35-17 in season openers
Of the 17 teams that defeated the Gophers, 11 finished with winning records. 9 played in bowl games. 9 finished ranked in the top 25. 7 finished in the top 10. 7 won their bowl game. 5 won their conference championship.

Of the 35 teams the Gophers have defeated, 12 finished with winning records. 6 played in bowls. 2 played in FCS playoffs. 3 won their conference championship. 1 won their bowl game.
 

Great jb! I had forgotton that string from 1979-1982 where we played Ohio *every* year. Was at all four of the games. Victories are of course cool, but we were kind've tired of opening against them by 1982.....
 

Wow. Good write-up! It's funny how detail I can remember from many of those games. Fun to think about! Most of them anyway. A couple of recollections:

1) In the Ohio game in 1980, I remember Tim Salem, son of coach Joe Salem, getting his first start at QB (I think this is right). I remember someone in the media asking Tim if he called Joe "Dad" or "coach" during a practice or game. He said "he's my dad so I call him Dad." This quote is one of my earliest memories of Gopher Football. Not sure why.
1a.) Ohio game in 1981. I recall listening to this game on the radio from my boyhood home in northern MN. We didn't always get good broadcast reception but we did on this day. I am pretty sure this is the game where I remember Ray Christensen's call of a touchdown run by Frank Jacobs. "And he goes into the end zone, fist held high in the air!" I don't know why that sticks with me either as I don't remember a single minute of the rest of that season.
2) For the Rice game in 1983, the local media were calling it the "Uff da Bowl." As a young boy, I had to ask my mom what "uff da" was. Anyway these teams were basically thought to be the two worst teams in all of college football. I think they were correct. I believe our QB was a guy named Greg Murphy.
3) I was at the 1990 game vs Utah. I think this was my second Gopher game in person. Horrible. We lost on a blocked field goal at the very end of the game, which they returned for a TD. Gut punch.
4) Before the Penn State game in 1994, I remember thinking we had a chance to win. One of our return guys (maybe Rishon Early?) returned a kickoff early in the game a long ways. I was hopeful. The rest of the game was a one-sided track meet. Kijana Carter ran all over the Gophers.
5) I was at the 2015 TCU game. It was a sellout and it was a sweat bath. Felt like drudgery.
6) In 2019, I remember thinking that we really got luck to win that game. Just a feeling of relief. Started that string of 'way too close" non conference wins.
7) I was also in the stadium last year for the OSU loss. I think we would have won that game if not for injuries to Crab, Mo, and Jordan Howden.
 

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