Big Ten Football: Picking the best season for each program since 2000

For Minnesota in the 21st century, there have been mostly average to bad seasons. Head coach PJ Fleck was brought in three seasons ago to change the Gophers’ fortunes. The 2019 season was a breakthrough year.

The Gophers had a high powered offense led by quarterback Tanner Morgan. The redshirt sophomore signal-caller would have plenty of weapons at his disposal. Wide receivers Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman would each finish with over 1,200 yards receiving. Running back Rodney Smith eclipsed the 1,100 rushing yard mark. On defense, the Gophers were led by safety Antoine Winfield Jr. who led the team in tackles.

Minnesota would squeak by in each of their first three games, beating FCS South Dakota State, Fresno State, and Georgia Southern by a combined score of 13 points. Another close win at Purdue followed.

For the next four games, the Gophers would open up the offense. They would beat Illinois, Nebraska, Rutgers and Maryland by a combined score of 168-41.

Sitting at 8-0 and ranked 17th in the country, there were questions of how good of a team the Gophers were given their lack of quality opponents thus far. The Gophers would answer those questions in a big way with a statement home victory over fourth ranked and undefeated Penn State 31-26.

Minnesota was in the driver’s seat for a Big Ten West title, however they would lose to Iowa the following week and two weeks after to rival Wisconsin. Despite failing to reach the Big Ten title game, Minnesota earned an invite to their first ever Outback Bowl appearance, where they would face the Auburn Tigers.

The game was a back-and-forth battle between the two teams. Minnesota would tally the only score in the fourth quarter and win 31-24. With a record of 11-2, the most wins since 1904, Minnesota under Fleck is poised for even better things in the coming seasons.