UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS - FOOTBALL

The University of Minnesota Twin Cities has a long history of academic and athletic excellency. The University’s sports teams go by the moniker of the Golden Gophers. The University adopted the Gopher team name early on and deemed it appropriate since Minnesota is known as the “Gopher State” in the union. The golden adjective was added to the team name in the 1930’s when KSTP-AM radio announcer Halsey Hall coined the term “Golden Gophers” referring to the team’s all-gold pants and jersey’s on the field. The golden name stuck and the University amended their formal moniker to the Golden Gophers. Despite the golden term, the University’s colors today include maroon, white and gold.

The University of Minnesota Twin Cities is proud of its Golden Gophers football team. The team is currently a member of the Big Ten Conference in the NCAA. Most of the facilities that the University uses for sports training and competitive play are located on the East Bank of the Minneapolis campus, however the football team plays at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, home of the NFL Minnesota Vikings and MLB Minnesota Twins. The Metrodome is located in Minneapolis about 2.5 miles from the main University campus.

Before the Golden Gophers football team moved their home games off campus, they played in Memorial Stadium located at the corner of Oak Street and University Avenue. The Gophers spent 57 years playing outdoors at Memorial until the stadium was in need of expensive and unfeasible renovations. The move to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome was the best solution at the time to finding a “home” for the Minnesota Golden Gophers football squad. Recently, advocates for a new Gopher specific stadium located on campus have been lobbying the legislature. A new stadium for the University of Minnesota Golden Gopher football team is inevitable in the near future. The new stadium will bring added revenue back onto campus and give Gopher football fans and players even more to be excited about.

The Minnesota Golden Gophers football team is rich with history and success. The football team has won 6 National Championships in 1934, 1935, 1936, 1940, 1941, and 1960, 18 conference titles and can boast more than 50 first-team All-Americans.

Minnesota Gopher football had its first successful season in 1892 when the tough as nails team went undefeated beating up and coming powerhouses and future Big Ten rivals Michigan and Northwestern. That year the team won it’s first-ever conference title, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the Northwest. Eight seasons later in 1900, the Gophers won their first Big Nine title game under the first year direction of Dr. Henry Williams. Dr. Williams was the University’s first full-time salaried coach and for the next 21 years he compiled a 136-33-11 record. The Golden Gophers won eight Big Ten titles under Dr. Williams and he was appropriately honored in 1950 when the U of M Fieldhouse was renamed Williams Arena.

In 1934, the Golden Gophers recorded another undefeated season and even bowled over the Wisconsin Badgers 34-0 in the final game of the season. The remarkable season and the last game stomping shot the Gophers into national prominence as they were voted national champions in every poll for the very first time. The University of Wisconsin has long been a rival of the Minnesota Gophers. Since 1907 the two teams have played on an annual basis, the third-longest continuous series in college football. Since 1948, the two teams have played for Paul Bunyan’s Axe, a seven-foot traveling trophy that goes to the winner of the this tough “Border Battle.”

In 1960, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers had the biggest turnaround in the history of Minnesota football. The Gophers finished the 1959 season 2-7 overall and last in the Big Ten conference. In 1960, the Gophers rebounded to finish 8-2 overall and 6-1 in the conference to earn the school’s first trip to the Rose Bowl. The Golden Gophers lost a heartbreaking Rose Bowl game, 17-7, to Washington. The Gophers wouldn’t have to wait long to get a Rose Bowl win, they defeated UCLA two seasons later 21-3. The game showed off the talents of the Gophers All-American quarterback Sandy Stephens who ran for two of the tree touchdowns.

In addition to All-American Sandy Stephens, the University of Minnesota has had its stamp on several major individual sports awards. In 1929, sportswriters deemed Bronko Nagurski the best fullback and the best tackle in the nation, making Nagurski the only player ever to be named first-team and consensus All-American at two different positions in the same season. In 1979, his No. 72 was officially retired from the University of Minnesota roster.

In 1941, Bruce Smith, became the first and only U of M player to be honored with the Heisman Trophy Award. Bruce was a great spiritual leader, ball carrier, passer, blocker and a strong defensive player. His overall playing ability and strong character catapulted the team to a national championship that year as well.

In addition to Bruce Smith’s Heisman Trophy Award in 1941, Tom Brown won the Outland Trophy in 1960 as the nation’s finest interior lineman. Brown also finished second in Heisman Trophy voting. The Golden Gophers rode his broad shoulders to a number one national ranking, a trip to the Rose Bowl and a national championship.

Bobby Bell earned the Outland Trophy in 1962 by a landslide vote. A member of the College and Pro Football Hall of Fame, Bell led the Gophers to their Rose Bowl win in 1962. Bobby Bell was called “the best football player we’ve ever had here” by the legendary Butch Nash. Bell could run as fast as a running back and throw as far as a quarterback, but ended up playing offensive and defensive tackle.

The Gophers also had one of the greatest defensive backs in NCAA history, Tyrone Carter. Carter had an amazing 582 career tackles, the most ever by a defensive back in NCAA history. He won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back in 1999.

The prosperous history of the Golden Gopher Football program is well known by most college football fans. The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers will be a force to reckon with in the Big Ten Conference for many years to come. With talks of a new on-campus stadium and plenty of talent on the benches, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers football team will continue to play a game you won’t want to miss!  

The Golden Gophers have announced a new football stadium for the football team slated to open for the 2009 season. After all the years and memories in the Metrodome, the Gophers will finally return to campus. The stadium will hold 50,000 people so there are going to be some great tickets available for Gopher fans. The Gophers also look to be revitalized in the upcoming 2007 season. They hired a new head coach in Tim Brewster, and he is determined to bring the Golden Gophers football team to the next level of national prominence. The Gophers have been in and out of the top 25 polls in the last decade or so, but Brewster wants his team to be tops in the Big Ten.