Tag: Minnesota Football

Kickoff time, TV channel for Wisconsin Badgers’ Week 14 game vs. Minnesota

Kickoff time, TV channel for Wisconsin Badgers Week 14 game vs Minnesota

This story was updated to add new information.

The Wisconsin Badgers will play host to the Minnesota Golden Gophers at noon ET, 11 a.m. CT on Nov. 29.

The Week 14 contest will mark Wisconsin’s ninth and final Big Ten game of the 2024 season: The first eight were at USC (a 38-21 loss), vs. Purdue (a 52-6 win), at Rutgers (a 42-7 win), at Northwestern (a 23-3 win), vs. Penn State (a 28-13 loss), at Iowa (a 42-10 loss), vs. Oregon (a 16-13 loss) and at Nebraska (Nov. 23). The game against the Golden Gophers will be televised nationally on CBS.

After firing offensive coordinator Phil Longo on Nov. 17, Wisconsin could head back to Madison for the Nov. 29 contest with a 5-6 mark if it drops the Week 13 game at Nebraska. If that’s the case, the Badgers’ 23-year bowl game streak would be in jeopardy.

Minnesota, meanwhile, is on an opposite trajectory. The Golden Gophers are 6-4 and seventh in the 18-team Big Ten conference. Unexpected victories over USC and No. 24 Illinois have altered the course of Minnesota’s season.

In Wisconsin’s last game against its bitter rival, the Badgers won 28-14 in Minneapolis. UW is 3-3 in its last six games against Minnesota dating to 2018.

On Monday, coach Luke Fickell indicated redshirt sophomore Braedyn Locke will take snaps as UW’s quarterback for the rest of the season. He may be required to play a nearly perfect game if the Badgers enter Week 14 in need of the coveted sixth win of the season.

Minnesota mascot Goldy Gopher won Halloween with multiple costumes, including Deadpool

“How many outfit changes does Goldy have today?”

In case anyone forgot it’s the end of October and Halloween is a few days away, the Minnesota Golden Gophers’ mascot was happy to remind them.

Saturday during Minnesota’s dominant 48-23 win over Maryland in Minneapolis, the team’s mascot, Goldy Gopher, had multiple outfit changes showing off different Halloween costumes (we assume). And they were fantastic.

At one point during the game, Goldy was dressed up as Dune‘s Paul Atreides and even rode a “sandworm” across the field. At another, it was dressed as a Minnesota goalpost and hilariously stood next to the goalpost.

Goldy also performed with the Golden Gophers cheerleaders while dressed as Deadpool, which prompted the Fox broadcast to ask: “How many outfit changes does Goldy have today?” Valid question because this mascot was having fun as Chappell Roan Goldy, tuba Goldy and Terrapin Goldy.

Here’s a look at some of the Halloween costumes Goldy Gopher wore Saturday for the Minnesota-Maryland game:

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Photos of UCLA’s tough loss to Minnesota

Through the lens after another loss…

The UCLA Bruins football team is now 1-5 on the year after a Week 7 loss to Minnesota at the Rose Bowl.Ā 

UCLA was up 17-14 before Max Brosmer connected with Darius Taylor for the go-ahead touchdown in the closing seconds, causing heartbreak to fans hoping for the Bruins’ first Big Ten win.

Unfortunately, UCLA has to wait at least another week as they drop to 1-5 and have now lost five in a row since an opening weekend win over Hawaii.

It wasn’t a pretty performance by UCLA, although it wasn’t a blowout.

Nonetheless, here are some of the best photos from the game.

Going deep on UCLA’s Big Ten matchup versus Minnesota

UCLA finally matches up with a beatable Big Ten oppoenent.

The UCLA Bruins have had a rough start to their first season in the Big Ten. The combined record of UCLA’s Big Ten opponents through the first six weeks of the college football season, including Indiana, Penn State, and Oregon, was a perfect 15-0.

Thankfully, UCLA finally has an opponent in Minnesota that has shown signs of weakness.

Coming to California, the Golden Gophers are an even .500 at 3-3. Coming off a gutsy 24-17 upset against USC, Minnesota could be in danger of walking into a “trap game” against UCLA, where they could come out flat against an inferior opponent.

Writer Ryan Burns for Gophers Illustrated sees several windows of opportunity for the Bruins this week.

While Burns believes the Golden Gophers will win 24-16, he writes, “Let’s see if this 2024 Gopher team can do it two weeks in a row. It has been confounding to me that such a veteran team, which this squad is, has slipped on the banana peel they put down as often as they have.”

If UCLA can catch mistake-prone Minnesota team on an off week, the Bruins offense and defense could lead the Bruins to their first win in Big Ten play.

Can UCLA’s offense play a full game against Minnesota?

The Bruins nasty habit of losing steam is something to watch for against Minnesota

The UCLA offense has been consistent in the 2024 college football season and for all the wrong reasons. Struggling to put points on the board in the third and fourth quarters, UCLA’s comeback bids have been cut short by a lack of offensive production.

This week, the Bruins take on the 3-3 Minnesota Golden Gophers at home with a chance to right some of their wrongs on offense.

Writing for 247Sports, Tracy McDonald detailed the Bruins second-half slumps on offense and shed light on their problems producing points.

“UCLA and Louisiana State were tied 17-17 in the first half before the Bruins were shut out the rest of the way. UCLA then fell into a 28-3 hole against Oregon after failing to take care of the ball before the defense allowed just six second-half points. Then, the Bruins trailed just 7-3 late in the second quarter against Penn State before giving up a touchdown with 20 seconds left in the first half,” McDonald writes.

The Bruins have a massive opportunity this weekend to steer the team in the right direction and build momentum with a win. If UCLA can keep the game close at halftime, all eyes will be on offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy to see if he and the offense can put points on the board at the Rose Bowl.

P.J. Fleck helped spark Minnesota’s USC upset with an indirect Space Jam idea

This sounds a lot like what happened in Space Jam.

Minnesota football coach P.J. Fleck found a very unorthodox method to encourage his Golden Gophers before upsetting USC on Saturday.

Indirectly borrowing a move from the movie Space Jam, Fleck told Minnesota’s KFAN sports radio station about his unique way to hype his team up after a tough loss to Michigan.

“Players were given an ‘antidote of confidence’ last Wednesday after their tough Michigan loss,” Pioneer Press reporter Andy Greder shared on Twitter (X) about Fleck’s radio segment. “The players drank the capsules, which contained Sprite, and then upset USC on Saturday.”

Just like Michael Jordan encouraged the Toon Squad with “Michael’s Secret Stuff” to beat the Monstars in Space Jam, Fleck used the “antidote of confidence” to spark a Minnesota upset over USC.

What a world! While you can’t say with confidence Fleck stole this from Space Jam, you can’t say he didn’t either.

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USC seeks elusive first-quarter perfection when it travels to Minnesota

Can USC get that quick 10-0 or 14-0 lead which will enable D’Anton Lynn’s defense to put the boot on the neck of a Trojan opponent? Let’s see in Minnesota.

The game scenario USC wants to produce more than anything else in 2024 (other than final victory) is obvious: Get a quick two-score lead. Force opponents to be one-dimensional. Force opponents to have to throw the ball into the teeth of what is a very good secondary. Take away the opponent’s running game. Make the opposing offense panic. Make opposing defenses guard the downfield pass early in the game, then run the ball after the passing game has been established. Running the ball with a 10-0 or 14-0 lead will enable USC to protect leads, keep its defense fresh, and establish the ideal game flow throughout the season. USC goes to Minnesota this week in search of the dream start, something it has not achieved against the decent-to-good teams on its schedule: LSU, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Only against Utah State did USC dominate the first quarter and establish total game control. USC needs to begin to do this in Big Ten play and make the season a lot more manageable.

If the Trojans can make this their new good habit, they will give themselves a real chance to make the College Football Playoff.

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Iowa Hawkeyes, Minnesota Gophers injury availability reports announced before kickoff

The Iowa Hawkeyes and Minnesota Golden Gophers have released their availability reports for who is in and who is out ahead of their matchup.

As the Iowa Hawkeyes and Minnesota Golden Gophers get ready to kick off and get Big Ten play underway with the Floyd of Rosedale on the line, the squads will be without some key players.

For the most part, the Hawkeyes have had much more luck in 2024 avoiding the injury bug after it plagued them quite badly in 2023. The Minnesota Golden Gophers are a bit more snake-bitten as they are without a much larger group ahead of the matchup.

Once again, Iowa will be without wide receiver Seth Anderson, who has yet to appear in a game this season as he is nursing a nagging injury. A new addition to the Hawkeyes’ injury report is running back Leshon Williams.

After running for 821 yards on 170 carries in 2023, Williams has just 11 carries for 21 yards this season. Kaleb Johnson has taken over the running back duties with Kamari Moulton and Jaziun Patterson filling in behind him.

Minnesota is without seven players and has one that is questionable as kickoff nears. The largest absence for the Golden Gophers is cornerback Justin Walley, who will be out tonight.

The senior cornerback has three tackles and an interception this season. In his career, he has registered 121 tackles, 18 pass deflections, three forced fumbles, and six interceptions.

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Iowa football and Minnesota see opposite movement in CBS Sports 134 Rankings

Come Saturday, only one of Iowa or Minnesota can trend upwards in CBS Sports 134 college football rankings.

Not all wins are necessarily equal and that absolutely applies to teams in college football. It applies a little bit harder to Power Five teams as the Iowa Hawkeyes are finding out.

Iowa took care of business against the Troy Trojans with a final score of 38-21, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. The Hawkeyes were down 14-10 at the half and in serious danger.

A second-half explosion from the offense helped Iowa pull away and avoid the upset, but the slow start has cost them a spot in CBS Sports 134 rankings of every FBS team.

This week, Iowa slides down one spot to No. 27 in the nation despite the win. The drop is minor and also largely due to being pushed down by a couple of Group of Five teams soaring.

Memphis leapfrogged Iowa climbing four spots to No. 25 and the Northern Illinois Huskies saw a six-spot jump up to No. 24.

Iowa’s next opponent, the Minnesota Golden Gophers, saw a small climb this week after a 27-0 win over Nevada. Minnesota climbed three spots to No. 66.

Both the Hawkeyes and Golden Gophers bring in a 2-1 record into this matchup. Not only is it each team’s Big Ten opener, but it is also a rivalry game with the Floyd of Rosedale on the line.

Kickoff from Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota is set for 6:30 p.m. CT and will air on NBC.

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Iowa football opens as small road favorite vs. Minnesota in battle for Floyd of Rosedale

Iowa has opened as small favorites over Minnesota in the rivalry for the Floyd of Rosedale.

Not only is it the Big Ten opener for the Iowa Hawkeyes, but they also start off conference play by jumping right into a rivalry matchup.

After starting the year off with three home games inside Kinnick Stadium, Iowa hits the road to take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the first Big Ten game for each team.

Hanging in the balance is the Floyd of Rosedale Trophy, which Minnesota took home last season after a controversial ruling on a Cooper DeJean punt return touchdown that would have put Iowa up late.

Both teams are 2-1 with similar paths to the record. Iowa and Minnesota are 2-0 against FCS and Group of Five teams but have stumbled in their Power Five matchups.

Iowa fell to the Iowa State Cyclones in Week 2 and the Golden Gophers lost to North Carolina in Week 1. With identical records and similar showings, it is no surprise this always-close game has opened up with a tight spread.

The Iowa Hawkeyes have opened up as a small road favorite in this one as they are currently favored by 2.5 points over Minnesota. The total in this matchup is low, as expected. The total has opened at just 36.5 points, which highlights the defense expected in this one.

Minnesota leads the all-time rivalry 63-52-2 but as of lately, this game has belonged to Iowa. The Hawkeyes have won eight of the last 10, 15 of the last 20, and 22 of the last 30 matchups.

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