Game 1: Ohio State at Minnesota

THE ESSENTIALS

Date: Sept. 2, 2021
Time: 7:00 p.m. CT
Site: Minneapolis, Minn.
Stadium: Huntington Bank Stadium
Surface: FieldTurf
Capacity: 50,805
Series Overall: Ohio State Leads 45-7
Streak: Ohio State Won 11
Series in MN: Ohio State Leads 22-4
Streak: Ohio State Won 13
Last Meeting: Ohio State won 30-14 in Columbus (10/13/18)
Last U win: 29-17 in Columbus (10/14/00)
Last U win in MN: 35-31 (11/7/81)
Television: FOX Gus Johnson (PXP) Joel Klatt (Analyst) Jenny Taft (Reporter)
Radio: KFAN Mike Grimm (Play by Play) Darrell Thompson (Analyst) Justin Gaard (Reporter) Corbu Stathes (Host) Dan Rowbotham (Engineer)

FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. Minnesota is 96-35-6 all-time in season openers, including wins in four of their last five openers (3-1 under head coach P.J. Fleck). The Golden Gophers are 100-30-7 all-time in home openers with an identical stretch of four wins in their past five home openers (also 3-1 under Fleck). Minnesota is 8-4 in home openers since Huntington Bank Stadium opened in 2009.

2. Mohamed Ibrahim is the Big Ten's reigning Ameche-Dayne Running Back of the Year. He has 13 career 100-yard rushing games, which includes a current streak of eight in a row (2020 Outback Bowl and all seven games in 2020). Ibrahim's eight-game streak is the longest in program history, breaking a tie of seven with former Gopher great Laurence Maroney. An All-Big Ten First Team honoree and AP Third-Team All-American last year, Ibrahim ran 201 times (25th most in school single-season history) for 1,076 yards (23rd most in school single season-history) and 15 touchdowns (most ever for a junior at Minnesota and ranks fourth in school-single season history). He led the Big Ten in the following categories: rushing attempts (201), rushing yards (1,076), rushing yards per game (153.7), rushing touchdowns (15), scoring (90), points per game (12.9) and all-purpose yards per game (168.4). Ibrahim also set a school record with a rushing average of 153.7 yards per game and twice tied a school record with four rushing touchdowns in one game (at Maryland and at Illinois).

3. Minnesota enters the 2021 season with one of the deepest offensive lines in the entire country as 13 members of the unit have appeared in at least one game and 10 have started at least one contest. In fact, the Golden Gophers' offensive line has more combined starts at the FBS level than any team in the nation with 180. The next closest squad is Miami (FL) with 159, while Michigan State (151) is third. Only three other squads have more than 140 combined starts. In addition, the 10 individuals on the line with starts at the FBS level are the most of any program in the country. Redshirt senior Conner Olson leads the team by starting all 45 games he's played in, putting him six games shy of matching the school record of 51 games played held by long snapper Payton Jordahl (2015-18) and five shy of former quarterback Adam Weber (2007-10). Fellow redshirt seniors Blaise Andries and Sam Schlueter have each started 33 contests. Those three have also started at least two games at multiple positions. In addition, Utah State transfer Karter Shaw (19), Daniel Faalele (19), Curtis Dunlap Jr. (13) and John Micheal Schmitz (10) have all started double-digit games in their careers. Not only does the offensive line have tremendous experience, but it also has impressive versatility. The unit has at least 25 combined starts at every position, with a high of 58 at right guard, and each position features starts from at least two different players, including four each at right guard and right tackle.

4. While the Gophers' defense has a lot returning in 2021, three grad transfers are looking to provide an instant impact this season. Linebacker Jack Gibbens spent the past four seasons at the FCS level with Abilene Christian where he totaled 258 tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks and five interceptions. He was the team's leading tackler this past season and was second in both 2019 and 2018. Gibbens' accolades at ACU included being a 2020 Campbell Trophy Finalist and 2019 First Team CoSIDA Academic All-American. After two seasons at Iowa Western, defensive lineman Val Martin comes to Minnesota following three years at North Carolina State where he made 29 tackles in 22 games. In 2020, Martin played in eight games and recorded 12 tackles with one forced fumble. Fellow defensive lineman Niles Pinckney brings a championship pedigree to the Golden Gophers after being a part of two national titles in five years at Clemson. Pinckney was credited with 98 tackles (13.5 for loss), three sacks, a forced fumble and three fumble recoveries in 1,125 defensive snaps over 55 career games (15 starts) from 2017-20 for the Tigers

5. The 2021 campaign is the fifth for head coach P.J. Fleck at Minnesota. He enters the year with a record of 26-19. In Minnesota football history, only Henry L. Williams (42, 1900-03) had more wins in his first four seasons than Fleck's 26. In addition, Fleck's 15 wins in Big Ten play are tied with Cal Stoll (1972-75) for the most in a coach's first four years with the Gophers. Overall, Fleck is already ninth in program history for wins, while his .578 win percentage is third best among the 11 Minnesota coaches with at least 45 games under their helm behind only Williams (.786, 1900-21) and Bernie Bierman (.716, 1932-41, '45-50)

You can read Minnesota's complete game notes here.

Upcoming Events

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Blaise Andries

Daniel Faalele

Jack Gibbens

Mohamed Ibrahim

Conner Olson

Sam Schlueter

Karter Shaw