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University of Minnesota Athletics
Game 8: Michigan at Minnesota
10/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
| Michigan (5-2) at Minnesota (4-3) | |
| Date | Saturday, October 31 |
| Time | 6 p.m. Central |
| Tickets | Game Day Central |
| Location | TCF Bank Stadium (52,525 capacity) |
| Parking | Game Day Central |
| Metro Transit | Get to the Game |
| Television | ESPN / WatchESPN |
| Radio | KFAN / Gopher Radio Network |
| Internet | Listen Live / I Heart Radio App |
| Live Stats | |
| Game Notes | Minnesota | Michigan l Press Conferences |
| Social Media | @GopherFootball | Facebook l Instagram |
FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
1. Minnesota hosts Michigan on Saturday, as the two teams will battle for one of the best rivalry trophies in all of college football: The Little Brown Jug. The Jug, unbeknownst to either team, was first played for on Oct. 31, 1903 (112 years to the day of this year's game) as Michigan mistakenly left it in Minneapolis after the two teams tied 6-6. Minnesota's custodian Oscar Munson found the jug the next day and took it to L.J. Cooke, who was in charge of the athletic department. Michigan wrote Cooke a letter asking for the jug back, to which Cooke replied, "If you want it back, you'll have to win it back." And with that, the tradition of The Little Brown Jug was born. The Gophers snapped a six-game losing streak to the Wolverines last season when they won 30-14 in Ann Arbor. Minnesota had previously won the Jug in 2005, when it won 23-20 on a last-second field goal on the road. Minnesota last won the Jug at home in 1977, when it upset No. 1 Michigan 16-0 at Memorial Stadium. The Wolverines are 69-23-3 against the Gophers when The Little Brown Jug is on the line.
2. Michigan enters Saturday's game ranked No. 15 in the AP poll. The Wolverines will be the third ranked team that Minnesota will play this season, as the Gophers opened the season hosting No. 2 TCU and played at No. 16 Northwestern. Dating back to last season - and including Saturday's game - Minnesota will play seven of 12 games against ranked teams. The Gophers ended last year with four straight games against ranked foes in No. 8 Ohio State, No. 21 Nebraska, No. 14 Wisconsin and No. 16 Missouri. After Saturday, the Gophers will play No. 1 Ohio State (8-0) on Nov. 7 and No. 10 Iowa (7-0) on Nov. 14, meaning that Minnesota will play three straight games against a top-15 team. The last time that happened was 2002 when the Gophers played No. 6 Ohio State, No. 13 Michigan and No. 6 Iowa. Minnesota is also in a stretch of playing nine of 14 games against ranked opponents. The last time Minnesota faced a stretch of schedule this difficult was during the 1990-91 seasons, when it also faced nine ranked opponents in 14 games. The Gophers ended 1990 with games against No. 24 Michigan State, No. 16 Michigan and No. 13 Iowa. In 1991, Minnesota played 11 games and six were against ranked teams in No. 4 Michigan, No. 8 Iowa, No. 18 Pittsburgh, No. 19 Colorado, No. 19 Ohio State and No. 22 Illinois.
3. Minnesota is 8-7-4 all time on Oct. 31. One of the ties is the original Little Brown Jug game, which was a 6-6 tie in 1903. The Gophers last played on Oct. 31 in 2009, which was the first year of TCF Bank Stadium. Minnesota beat Michigan State 42-34 at home in a sold-out night game.
4. Minnesota's four home games (TCF capacity is 52,525) this year have sold out. A stadium record 54,147 fans attended the TCU game, while 52,823 watched the Kent State game, 53,917 were at the Ohio game and 54,062 attended the Nebraska game. Prior to 2015, Minnesota's last home sellout was Nov. 23, 2013 against Wisconsin. Minnesota played in front of three sold-out home crowds from 2011-14.
5. Minnesota is 10-7 in its last 17 Big Ten regular season games, which is the fifth-best mark in the league during that span. Ohio State is 17-0, Michigan State is 16-1, Wisconsin is 14-3 and Iowa is 11-6.
