By The Numbers: Michigan Hasn’t Lost In Minneapolis Since 1977

The Michigan Wolverines’ football series with Minnesota has been dominated by the Maize and Blue, despite the fact the Golden Gophers have had some outstanding stretches throughout their history.

Minnesota’s three best decades were in the 1900s, 1930s and 1960s, when it won seven league championships from 1900-11, claimed five national titles from 1934-41 and finished second or higher in the Big Ten four times from 1960-67.

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The Golden Gophers’ 18 league titles are also the third most in the history of the conference, behind only Michigan’s 42 and Ohio State’s 38. Despite Minnesota’s past success, U-M still holds a dominant 75-25-3 edge in the all-time series that dates back to Oct. 17, 1892 (a 14-6 Golden Gopher victory).

Minnesota has fallen on harder times as of late (its last Big Ten championship came in 1967), and as a result the Maize and Blue have taken advantage in a big way. Since former U-M head coach Bump Elliott’s final season of 1968, the Wolverines hold a commanding 41-4 edge in the series, with the Golden Gophers’ only victories during that span occurring in 1977, 1986, 2005 and 2014.

Perhaps what’s even more impressive, however, is the success the Maize and Blue have had in Minneapolis, which is of course where Saturday night’s showdown is set to take place.

Oddly enough, three of the four aforementioned Minnesota victories since 1968 have occurred in Ann Arbor (1986, 2005 and 2014). The 1986 and 2005 Golden Gopher triumphs at The Big House each came by just three points, before they grabbed a 30-14 win in Ann Arbor in 2014 during a disastrous 5-7 campaign in Brady Hoke’s final year.

Conference realignment has interrupted the rivalry in recent years (the two squads haven’t met in consecutive seasons since 2014-15), but that doesn’t take away from the fact the Maize and Blue haven't lost in Minneapolis since 1977.

Michigan is riding a 16-game winning streak there heading into Saturday night’s clash at TCF Bank Stadium, not only having won consistently in The City of Lakes since 1977, but usually having dominated its competition there.

Domination has been the name of the game for the Wolverines in Minneapolis during their last 16 visits, with the games seldom being close. Only four of those matchups have been decided by 10 points or less, with Michigan’s average margin of victory during that span coming by 24.6 points.

Two of the most memorable showdowns there have occurred this century, however, most notably in 2003 and 2015. The 2003 matchup was played on a Friday night due to potential stadium conflicts with the Minnesota Twins and the Major League Baseball playoffs, and featured the biggest Wolverine comeback in school history.

U-M trailed by 21 points in the fourth quarter (28-7) before quarterback John Navarre led a furious rally to give the Maize and Blue a thrilling 38-35 win, thanks in large part to his 353-yard passing performance. The win also allowed Michigan to take home the outright Big Ten title that year with a 7-1 conference mark.

Current head coach Jim Harbaugh also experienced a thriller in Minneapolis in his debut season of 2015. With his club trailing 26-21 and only 4:57 to play, quarterback Wilton Speight hit wideout Jehu Chesson in the end zone on a 12-yard strike before converting the two-point conversion to go up 29-26.

The Golden Gophers then drove all the way down to U-M’s half-yard line but were stopped on second-and-goal as time expired, with the Wolverines’ defensive front making a goal-line stand to preserve the 29-26 victory.

3 Different Michigan running backs the club will have at its disposal who have rushed for at least 622 yards in a single season: sophomore Zach Charbonnet, redshirt sophomore Hassan Haskins and fifth-year senior Chris Evans. Charbonnet ran for a team-high 726 yards in his debut last year, when Haskins tallied 622, while the best season of Evans’ collegiate tenure occurred in 2017, when he compiled 685 yards on the ground.

11 Career pass attempts for Michigan redshirt sophomore quarterback Joe Milton, who will be making his first start this weekend. He has completed six of those throws (55 percent) for 117 yards, to go along with one touchdown and two picks.

11 Wins for Minnesota last year, marking its most victories in a single campaign since grabbing 13 triumphs in 1904. The Golden Gophers won the national championship that season under head coach Henry L. Williams.

30 Touchdown passes for Minnesota redshirt junior quarterback Tanner Morgan last year, which were the second most in the Big Ten and the most ever by a Gopher signal-caller in a single season. He also threw for 3,253 yards and completed 66 percent of his passes, while only tossing seven interceptions.

31 Degrees for a projected high on Saturday in Minneapolis, with the temperature expected to be in the 20s by the time the two teams kick off at 7:30 ET. Fortunately, winds will be at a minimum (wind gusts reaching only seven mph) and there is only a 20 percent chance of precipitation.

58-0 Was the final score of Michigan's victory over Minnesota in 2011 during Hoke’s debut campaign, marking U-M's largest margin of victory ever against the Golden Gophers. The score was 38-0 at halftime.

371 Rushing yards for Michigan the last time the two teams squared off on Nov. 4, 2017, a 33-10 U-M blowout in Ann Arbor. Karan Higdon rushed for 200 yards that night, while Evans racked up a career-high 191.

1,219 Receiving yards for Minnesota junior wideout Rashod Bateman in 2019, which were the second most in the Big Ten. His 20.3 yards per reception, meanwhile, led the league.

1903 Is when Michigan and head coach Fielding H. Yost left its water jug in Minneapolis, which has since developed into the Little Brown Jug trophy. U-M won the jug back with a 15-6 victory when the two teams met again in 1909.

2009 Is when Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium was built, making it the newest Big Ten venue in the league. Rutgers’ SHI Stadium checks in a distant second, having been constructed in 1994. Despite this being TCF Bank Stadium’s 12th year in existence, Saturday will only be Michigan’s third trip there (2012 and 2015 were the other two).

2015 Was the last time U-M played at Minnesota, making it Michigan’s second-longest active drought at any Big Ten venue. The only other conference venue the Wolverines haven’t played at since 2015 is Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium, with the club last having traveled there in 2012 (a 23-9 loss).

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