2009 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

The 2009 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team was the third under head coach Tim Brewster. They began play on September 5, 2009, at Syracuse, a member of the Big East Conference. On September 12, the Minnesota opened the new TCF Bank Stadium with a 20–13 win against Air Force, moving from the Metrodome, which had been their home stadium since 1982. The Golden Gophers finished the season 6–7 and 3–5 in Big Ten play and lost 13–14 to Iowa State in the Insight Bowl. Despite the worse overall record, the Golden Gophers only suffered two blowout losses in the 2009 season (20-0 to Penn State and 38–7 to Ohio State), compared to 3 in 2008 (55–0 to Iowa, 42–21 to Kansas, 29–6 to a 3–9 Michigan team, and one could possibly also include a 34–21 loss to Ohio State that was 34–6 until the Buckeye reserves came in).

2009 Minnesota Golden Gophers football
Insight Bowl, L 13–14 vs. Iowa State
Conference	Big Ten Conference
2009 record	6–7 (3–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Tim Brewster (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Jedd Fisch (1st season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Kevin Cosgrove (1st season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Ronnie Lee (1st season)
Captain	Garrett Brown, Lee Campbell, Eric Decker, Simoni Lawrence, Eric Small, Adam Weber
Home stadium	TCF Bank Stadium (Capacity: 50,805)

2009 Big Ten Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 5 Ohio State $		7	–	1					11	–	2
No. 7 Iowa %		6	–	2					11	–	2
No. 9 Penn State		6	–	2					11	–	2
No. 16 Wisconsin		5	–	3					10	–	3
Northwestern		5	–	3					8	–	5
Michigan State		4	–	4					6	–	7
Purdue		4	–	4					5	–	7
Minnesota		3	–	5					6	–	7
Illinois		2	–	6					3	–	9
Michigan		1	–	7					5	–	7
Indiana		1	–	7					4	–	8
$ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative Rankings from AP Poll

Preseason

The Golden Gophers came off a 7–6 season after starting 7–1, capped by an appearance in the 2008 Insight Bowl. On January 6, offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar resigned and defensive coordinator Ted Roof left Minnesota for Auburn.[1] On January 9, former Nebraska defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove was hired as the co-defensive coordinator, a position he will share with Ronnie Lee.[2] On January 21, Jedd Fisch was named the offensive coordinator.[3] He had previously been the wide receivers coach for the Denver Broncos.[3]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	11:00 AM	at Syracuse*	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY	ESPN2	W 23-20 ^OT	48,617[4]
September 12	6:00 PM[5]	Air Force*	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	BTN[5]	W 20–13	50,805[6]
September 19	11:00 AM	No. 8 California*	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	ESPN	L 21–35	50,805[7]
September 26	11:00 AM[8]	at Northwestern	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	BTN[8]	W 35–24	22,091[9]
October 3	11:00 AM	Wisconsin	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN (Battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe)	ESPN	L 28–31	50,805[10]
October 10	11:00 AM	Purdue	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	ESPN2	W 35–20	50,805[11]
October 17	2:30 PM	at No. 14 Penn State	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (Battle for the Governor's Victory Bell)	ABC/ESPN	L 0–20	107,981[12]
October 24	11:00 AM	at No. 18 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	ESPN	L 7–38	105,011[13]
October 31	7:00 PM[5]	Michigan State	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	BTN[5]	W 42–34	50,805[14]
November 7	11:00 AM	Illinois	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	BTN	L 32–35	50,805[15]
November 14	11:00 AM	South Dakota State*	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	BTN	W 16–13	50,805[16]
November 21	11:00 AM	at No. 15 Iowa	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (Battle for Floyd of Rosedale)	ESPN	L 0–12	70,585[17]
December 31	5:00 PM	vs. Iowa State*	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ (Insight Bowl)	NFLN	L 13–14	45,090[18]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Regular season

Syracuse

See also: 2009 Syracuse Orange football team

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Golden Gophers	14	0	3	3	3	23
Orange	10	10	0	0	0	20

Air Force

	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons	0	3	7	3	13
Golden Gophers	3	0	0	17	20

California

See also: 2009 California Golden Bears football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Bears	14	7	0	14	35
Golden Gophers	0	14	7	0	21

Northwestern

See also: 2009 Northwestern Wildcats football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Gophers	7	7	7	14	35
Wildcats	3	7	14	0	24

Wisconsin

See also: 2009 Wisconsin Badgers football team and Paul Bunyan's Axe

	1	2	3	4	Total
Badgers	7	3	7	14	31
Golden Gophers	10	3	0	15	28

Purdue

See also: 2009 Purdue Boilermakers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Boilermakers	10	3	0	7	20
Golden Gophers	0	14	21	0	35

Penn State

See also: 2009 Penn State Nittany Lions football team and Governor's Victory Bell

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Gophers	0	0	0	0	0
Nittany Lions	3	10	7	0	20

Ohio State

See also: 2009 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Gophers	0	0	0	7	7
Buckeyes	0	7	21	10	38

Michigan State

See also: 2009 Michigan State Spartans football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spartans	3	7	21	3	34
Golden Gophers	14	7	7	14	42

Illinois

See also: 2009 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini	14	14	0	7	35
Golden Gophers	0	7	3	22	32

South Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jackrabbits	0	10	0	3	13
Golden Gophers	6	7	0	3	16

Iowa

See also: 2009 Iowa Hawkeyes football team and Floyd of Rosedale

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Gophers	0	0	0	0	0
Hawkeyes	3	6	3	0	12

Insight Bowl

Iowa State

See also: 2009 Iowa State Cyclones football team and 2009 Insight Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Gophers	3	0	10	0	13
Cyclones	0	14	0	0	14

Awards and honors

References

1. "Gophers get resignations from top 2 assistants". The Sporting News. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
2. "Brewster Announces Cosgrove Hiring, Lee Promotion". University of Minnesota Athletics. Archived from the original on January 29, 2009. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
3. "Brewster Names Fisch Offensive Coordinator". University of Minnesota Athletics. Archived from the original on January 26, 2009. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
4. "Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Syracuse Orange Box Score". ESPN. September 5, 2009. Archived from the original on March 20, 2010. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
5. "Primetime football schedule announced". Big Ten Network. April 15, 2009. Archived from the original on August 1, 2009. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
6. "Air Force Falcons vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers Box Score". ESPN. September 12, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
7. "California Golden Bears vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers Box Score". ESPN. September 19, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
8. "Gopher Football at Northwestern Set For 11 a.m." University of Minnesota Department of Athletics. September 14, 2009. Archived from the original on April 14, 2009. Retrieved September 14, 2009.
9. "Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Northwestern Wildcats Box Score". ESPN. September 26, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
10. "Wisconsin Badgers vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers Box Score". ESPN. October 3, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
11. "Purdue Boilermakers vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers Box Score". ESPN. October 10, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
12. "Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Penn State Nittany Lions Box Score". ESPN. October 17, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
13. "Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Ohio State Buckeyes Box Score". ESPN. October 24, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
14. "Michigan State Spartans vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers Box Score". ESPN. October 31, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
15. "Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers Box Score". ESPN. November 7, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
16. "South Dakota State Jackrabbits vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers Box Score". ESPN. November 14, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
17. "Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Iowa Hawkeyes Box Score". ESPN. November 21, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
18. "Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Iowa State Cyclones Box Score". ESPN. December 31, 2009. Archived from the original on March 5, 2010. Retrieved March 8, 2010.