Gophers football has been the University of Minnesota’s final act in their week-long Homecoming celebration for more than a century. Saturday will be their 103rd Homecoming contest as they face the 2-2 Purdue Boilermakers.
The tradition started in 1914 when the Gophers beat the Wisconsin Badgers 14-3. Since then, they have won 59 of their 101 Homecoming games, losing 39 and tying 3.
In the past ten years of Homecoming games, the Gophers are 5-4 after hosting Northwestern (2012), Iowa (2013, 2018), Purdue (2014), Ohio (2015), Rutgers (2016), Illinois (2017, 2019) and Bowling Green (2021). Head coach P.J. Fleck has been in command for four of those games and holds a 2-2 record. One of his losses came in 2021 against Bowling Green.
The game was gut-wrenching and almost unbelievable to watch. Minnesota had come off of two wins, the last a convincing shutout, and were the heavy favorites heading into the matchup. But in the end, 46,236 fans in attendance witnessed the Gophers on the losing end of a historic upset.
“This is my responsibility and my fault,” Fleck said after the game. “I apologize to our fans and apologize for everyone’s Homecoming. This is something we will learn and grow from, but again, it is all on me.”
The game’s circumstances added extra sourness to the loss as it was the team’s first homecoming game since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A year prior, Minnesota intended to face BYU for their Homecoming game. However, because of the Big Ten’s ruling to reduce teams’ schedules, they were forced to cancel.
Despite an unfavorable couple of years, Minnesota’s last win on Homecoming is not too far in the past. In 2019, Minnesota beat Illinois 40-17 and improved to 5-0 on the season. Players performed at a high level comparable to this year’s team and earned a spot on AP’s college football poll.
“It was the most complete game of the season we’ve played, but it still wasn’t very complete,” Fleck said after the victory over Illinois in 2019. “Our performance defensively today was outstanding. We played really well as a team, but there were certain periods during the game we stumbled, but we recovered every time.”
The offensive side of the ball had a dominant performance. Minnesota attacked Illinois on the ground and through the air with running back Rodney Smith’s 211 yards rushing and quarterback Tanner Morgan’s three TD passes.
This year, the Gophers will look to repeat that magic on Saturday as they face Purdue. It will be the 11th time in program history they host Purdue on Homecoming. In those games, Minnesota has a record of 7-3, the most recent game being a win in 2014.
Kick-off is scheduled for 11 a.m. and the game will be available on ESPN2.