2016 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

American college football season

2016 Minnesota Golden Gophers football

Holiday Bowl champion
Holiday Bowl, W 17–12 vs. Washington State
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Division	West Division
Record	9–4 (5–4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Tracy Claeys (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Jay Johnson (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Jay Sawvel (1st season)
Captain	Mitch Leidner, Brandon Lingen, Jack Lynn, Damarius Travis
Home stadium	TCF Bank Stadium
Seasons← 2015 2017 →

2016 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
No. 7 Penn State xy$	8	–	1	11	–	3
No. 6 Ohio State x^	8	–	1	11	–	2
No. 10 Michigan	7	–	2	10	–	3
Indiana	4	–	5	6	–	7
Maryland	3	–	6	6	–	7
Michigan State	1	–	8	3	–	9
Rutgers	0	–	9	2	–	10
West Division
No. 9 Wisconsin xy	7	–	2	11	–	3
Iowa	6	–	3	8	–	5
Nebraska	6	–	3	9	–	4
Minnesota	5	–	4	9	–	4
Northwestern	5	–	4	7	–	6
Illinois	2	–	7	3	–	9
Purdue	1	–	8	3	–	9
Championship: Penn State 38, Wisconsin 31
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

The 2016 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Tracy Claeys and played their home games at TCF Bank Stadium. They were a member of the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 9–4, 5–4 in conference play to finish in fourth place in the West Division. They were invited to the Holiday Bowl where they defeated Washington State.

Schedule

Minnesota faced all six West Division opponents: Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue, and Wisconsin. The Gophers also faced East Division opponents Maryland, Penn State, and Rutgers. Minnesota played three non-conference games: Oregon State of the Pac-12 Conference, Indiana State of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, and Colorado State of the Mountain West Conference. Minnesota had one bye week during the season between their games against Indiana State and Colorado State.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	8:00 pm	Oregon State*	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	BTN	W 30–23	44,582
September 10	11:00 am	Indiana State*	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	ESPNews	W 58–28	41,026
September 24	11:00 am	Colorado State*	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	ESPNU	W 31–24	44,854
October 1	2:30 pm	at Penn State	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (Governor's Victory Bell)	BTN	L 26–29	95,332
October 8	11:00 am	Iowa	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN (Floyd of Rosedale)	ESPN2	L 7–14	49,145
October 15	11:00 am	at Maryland	Maryland Stadium College Park, MD	ESPNU	W 31–10	41,465
October 22	11:00 am	Rutgers	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	ESPNU	W 34–32	46,096
October 29	11:00 am	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	BTN	W 40–17	40,090
November 5	2:30 pm	Purdue	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	BTN	W 44–31	42,832
November 12	6:30 pm	at No. 21 Nebraska	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE ($5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy)	BTN	L 17–24	90,456
November 19	2:30 pm	Northwestern	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	BTN	W 29–12	38,162
November 26	2:30 pm	at No. 5 Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI (Paul Bunyan's Axe)	BTN	L 17–31	77,216
December 27	6:00 pm	vs. Washington State*	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, CA (Holiday Bowl)	ESPN	W 17–12	48,704
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Game summaries

Oregon State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Beavers	7	7	9	0	23
Golden Gophers	0	17	0	13	30

Indiana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sycamores	7	0	14	7	28
Golden Gophers	14	24	10	10	58

Colorado State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	7	0	10	7	24
Golden Gophers	7	10	7	7	31

At Penn State

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Golden Gophers	3	10	0	10	3	26
Nittany Lions	0	3	17	3	6	29

Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawkeyes	0	3	3	8	14
Golden Gophers	0	0	7	0	7

At Maryland

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Gophers	0	14	3	14	31
Terrapins	0	0	0	10	10

Rutgers

	1	2	3	4	Total
Scarlet Knights	3	7	13	9	32
Golden Gophers	21	0	10	3	34

At Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Gophers	14	0	7	19	40
Fighting Illini	7	0	7	3	17

Purdue

	1	2	3	4	Total
Boilermakers	14	14	0	3	31
Golden Gophers	10	13	7	14	44

At #21 Nebraska

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Gophers	7	10	0	0	17
#21 Cornhuskers	3	7	7	7	24

Northwestern

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	0	6	6	12
Golden Gophers	6	6	3	14	29

At #6 Wisconsin

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Gophers	3	14	0	0	17
#6 Badgers	0	7	3	21	31

Washington State–Holiday Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Gophers	0	3	7	7	17
Cougars	3	3	0	6	12

Personnel

Coaching sStaff

Name	Position	Alma mater	Joined Staff
Tracy Claeys	Head coach	Kansas State (1994)	2010
Brian Anderson	Wide receivers coach	Illinois (1994)	2010
Jay Johnson	Offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach	Northern Iowa (1993)	2015
Bart Miller	Offensive line coach	New Mexico (2007)	2015
Jeff Phelps	Defensive line coach	Ball State (1997)	2010
Pat Poore	Running backs coach / co-special team coordinator	Fort Hays State (1984)	2010
Rob Reeves	H-backs coach / tight ends coach	Saginaw Valley State (1996)	2010
Jay Sawvel	Defensive coordinator	Mount Union (1993)	2010
Mike Sherels	Linebackers coach	Minnesota (2007)	2013
Dan O'Brien	Assistant Defensive Backs / co-special team coordinator / assistant head coach	St. Thomas (1987)	2010
Eric Klein	Strength and conditioning	Carleton College (1993)	2010

Roster

2016 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
RB	`1`	Rodney Smith	So
WR	`2`	Isaiah Gentry	So
WR	`5`	Melvin Holland	So
WR	`6`	Tyler Johnson	Fr
QB	`7`	Mitch Leidner (C)	Sr
QB	`8`	Mark Williams	Fr
WR	`9`	Eric Carter	Jr
QB	`11`	Demry Croft	So
WR	`12`	Hunter Register	Fr
QB	`15`	Conor Rhoda	Jr
QB	`17`	Seth Green	Fr
WR	`18`	Clay Geary	Fr
WR	`19`	Michael Conway	Jr
WR	`20`	Adam Mayer	Fr
RB	`22`	Kobe McCrary	Fr
RB	`23`	Shannon Brooks	So
WR	`24`	Drew Hmielewski	Fr
WR	`25`	Phillip Howard	Fr
WR	`26`	Brian Smith	Jr
RB	`27`	James Johannesson	Fr
RB	`28`	Jonathan Femi-Cole	Fr
RB	`29`	Carlton Djam	So
FB	`40`	Connor Mohs	Fr
TE	`42`	Ko Kieft	Fr
TE	`44`	Colton Beebe	Fr
TE	`45`	Nick Hart	Jr
TE	`49`	Bryce Witham	Fr
OL	`53`	Luke Rasmussen	So
OL	`55`	Connor Mayes	Jr
OL	`58`	Quinn Oseland	Fr
OL	`60`	Matt Leidner	Jr
OL	`61`	Bronson Dovich	Fr
OL	`62`	Jared Weyler	So
OL	`64`	Conner Olson	Fr
OL	`66`	Ted Stieber	Fr
OL	`70`	Chad Fahning	Jr
OL	`71`	Sam Schlueter	Fr
OL	`73`	Donnell Greene	So
OL	`74`	Nick Connelly	Fr
OL	`75`	Noah Kuehn	Fr
OL	`76`	Vincent Calhoun	Jr
OL	`77`	Tyler Moore	So
OL	`78`	Garrison Wright	Jr
OL	`79`	Jonah Pirsig	Sr
TE	`80`	Nate Wozniak	Jr
TE	`81`	Duke Anyanwu	Jr
WR	`82`	Drew Wolitarsky	Sr
TE	`83`	Danny Pietruszewski	Fr
WR	`84`	Will Reger	So
TE	`85`	Bryce Witham	Fr
TE	`86`	Brandon Lingen (C)	Jr
WR	`88`	Rashad Still	So
WR	`89`	Matt Morse	Fr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DB	`2`	Dior Johnson	Fr
DB	`3`	KiAnte Hardin	So
DB	`4`	Adekunle Ayinde	Jr
DB	`5`	Jalen Myrick	Sr
DB	`6`	Ace Rogers	Sr
DB	`7`	Damarius Travis (C)	Sr
DB	`8`	Duke McGhee	Jr
DL	`9`	Jerry Gibson	So
DB	`11`	Antoine Winfield Jr.	Fr
LB	`12`	Cody Poock	Jr
LB	`13`	Jonathan Celestin	Jr
DB	`14`	Zo Craighton	Fr
LB	`15`	Everett Williams	Jr
CB	`16`	Coney Durr	Fr
DB	`17`	Jacob Huff	So
DL	`19`	Gary Moore	So
DB	`20`	Julian Huff	So
DB	`21`	Ray Buford	Fr
DB	`22`	Joey Gorgen	Fr
DB	`24`	Troy Dipre	Fr
DB	`26`	Calvin Swenson	Fr
DB	`30`	Eric Amoako	Sr
DB	`31`	Kiondre Thomas	Fr
DL	`33`	Tamarion Johnson	Fr
DB	`34`	Antonio Shenault	So
LB	`35`	Jaylen Waters	Fr
DB	`36`	Blake Cashman	So
DB	`40`	Alexander Starks	Sr
LB	`41`	Thomas Barber	Fr
LB	`43`	Bailey Schoenfelder	Fr
LB	`44`	Kamal Martin	Fr
LB	`45`	Carter Coughlin	Fr
LB	`48`	Blake Weber	Jr
LB	`50`	Jack Lynn (C)	Sr
DL	`52`	Yoshoub Timms	Sr
LB	`56`	Nick Rallis	Sr
LB	`59`	Ray Dixon	Jr
DL	`87`	Gaelin Elmore	Jr
DL	`88`	Winston DeLattiboudere	Fr
DL	`90`	Sam Renner	Fr
DE	`91`	Julien Kafo	So
DL	`92`	Tai'yon Devers	Fr
DL	`93`	Merrick Jackson	Jr
DL	`95`	Hendrick Ekpe	Sr
DL	`96`	Steven Richardson	Jr
DL	`97`	Scott Ekpe	Sr
DE	`99`	Andrew Stelter	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K, P	`18`	Ryan Santoso	Jr
LS	`25`	Payton Jordahl	So
K	`33`	Andrew Harte	Jr
P	`34`	Logan McElfresh	So
K	`37`	John Mack	Fr
K	`38`	Emmit Carpenter	So
LS	`39`	Trey Hansen	Fr
K	`42`	Justin Juenemann	Jr
P	`47`	Jacob Herbers	Fr

Head coach

Tracy Claeys (head coach)

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Brian Anderson (wide receivers)
Jay Johnson (offensive coordinator / quarterbacks)
Bart Miller (offensive Line)
Dan O'Brien (asst. Defensive Backs / co-special teams coordinator / asst. to the head coach)
Jeff Phelps (defensive line)
Pat Poore (running backs / co-special teams coordinator)
Rob Reeves (H-backs / tight ends)
Jay Sawvel (defensive coordinator)
Mike Sherels (linebackers)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster
Last update: August 17, 2016

Awards and honors

Weekly Awards
Player	Award	Date Awarded
Emmit Carpenter	Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week	October 3, 2016
Rodney Smith	Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week	October 24, 2016
Emmit Carpenter	Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week	November 7, 2016
Blake Cashman	Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week	November 21, 2016

Players drafted into the NFL

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
7	222	Jalen Myrick	CB	Jacksonville Jaguars

References

"Future Schedules". Archived from the original on December 26, 2015. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
"Big Ten Football Players of the Week". Big Ten Conference. Big Ten Conference. October 3, 2016. Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
"Big Ten Football Players of the Week". Big Ten Conference. Big Ten Conference. October 24, 2016. Archived from the original on October 25, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
"Big Ten Football Players of the Week". Big Ten Conference. Big Ten Conference. November 7, 2016. Archived from the original on November 13, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
"Big Ten Football Players of the Week". Big Ten Conference. Big Ten Conference. November 21, 2016. Archived from the original on November 21, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2016.

v t e Minnesota Golden Gophers football
Venues	Athletic Park (1892–1898) University of Minnesota Armory (1892–1898) Northrop Field (1899–1923) Memorial Stadium (1924–1981) Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (1982–2008) Huntington Bank Stadium (2009–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Iowa Michigan: Little Brown Jug Nebraska Penn State: Governor's Victory Bell Wisconsin
Culture & lore	Goldy Gopher Marching band Spirit squad "Minnesota Rouser" "Minnesota March" "Go Gopher Victory" "Minnesota Fight" "Our Minnesota" "Hail! Minnesota" "Battle Hymn of the Republic" Minnesota shift T formation Smith of Minnesota
People	Head coaches Annual awards NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1882 1883 1884–1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

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