The 2018 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

in the

2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2018. The regular season began on August 25, 2018, and ende ...

. The Golden Gophers played their home games at

TCF Bank Stadium Huntington Bank Stadium (formerly known as TCF Bank Stadium) is an outdoor stadium located on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The stadium opened in 2009, after three years of construction. It is ...

in Minneapolis, Minnesota and competed in the West Division of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conferen ...

. They were led by second-year head coach P. J. Fleck. Minnesota began the year by sweeping its non-conference slate against New Mexico State,

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

, and Miami (OH); but opened Big Ten Conference play with four straight losses. The team secured wins against

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

and

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

, and then secured bowl eligibility by defeating rival

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

for the first time since

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

, and the first time on the road since

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson Ma ...

. The team finished the regular season tied for fifth in the Big Ten West Division with a conference record of 3–6. They were invited to the Quick Lane Bowl where they defeated

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part o ...

to end the year with an overall record of 7–6. The team's starting quarterback was true freshman Zack Annexstad before he suffered an internal midsection injury in the game against

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the so ...

on October 20. He did not return for the rest of the season, and redshirt freshman Tanner Morgan took his place under center. Both Annexstad and Morgan finished with nine touchdowns on the year. The team's leading rusher was Mohamed Ibrahim, with 1,160 rushing yards; and the team's leading receiver was Tyler Johnson with 1,169 receiving yards and 12 receiving touchdowns, which tied for the conference lead. Johnson was named first-team All-Big Ten by the media voters. Defensive lineman

Carter Coughlin Carter Coughlin (born July 21, 1997) is an American football linebacker for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Minnesota Golden Gophers football, Minnesota, and was drafted by the Giants in t ...

and linebacker Blake Cashman each finished with 15 tackles for loss and were both named second-team All-Big Ten.

Previous season

The Golden Gophers finished the 2017 season 5–7, 2–7 in Big Ten play to finish in sixth place in the West Division.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Schedule

Source:

Roster

Game summaries

New Mexico State

Fresno State

Miami (OH)

At Maryland

Iowa

At Ohio State

At Nebraska

Indiana

At Illinois

Purdue

Northwestern

At Wisconsin

Vs. Georgia Tech (Quick Lane Bowl)

Awards and honors

Players drafted into the NFL

References

{{Minnesota Golden Gophers football navbox

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

Minnesota Golden Gophers football seasons Quick Lane Bowl champion seasons

Minnesota Golden Gophers football The Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represents the University of Minnesota in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Founded in 1882, Minnesota has been a member of the Big Ten Conference since its incep ...