THE PERTINENT INFO
When: Thursday, September 2, 2021
Where: Huntington Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN
TV: 8:00 // FOX
Announcers: Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt and Jenny Taft
This is the 54th time Ohio State and Minnesota have faced each other on the football field. The Buckeyes hold a 46–7* advantage in the all-time series and are 22–4 when playing in Minneapolis.
P.J. Fleck's team is currently unranked and finished 2020 with a 3–4 record.
Prior to last season, the last time the Gophers had a losing record was P.J. Fleck's first with the program (2017). Minnesota is 96–35–6 in season openers and have won four of the team's last five home openers.
Below, you will find some interesting facts about the teams, coach information, and team stats.
THE LAST TIME...
- The Scarlet and Gray started the season in Minneapolis was 1974.
- Ohio State lost a season-opening game was against Miami in 1999.
- The Buckeyes played on a Thursday was 2017. The team defeated Indiana, 49-21, in Bloomington.
- The Scarlet and Gray played a Thursday game on the second of September was 2010. Jim Tressel's team defeated visiting Marshall 45-7.
- The Buckeyes began a season with a shutout victory was 2011 (Akron 42-0).
- The program lost to an unranked opponent in the season opener was against Arizona (14-7) in 1967.
- Ohio State opened the season with a loss to an unranked opponent on the road was 1893, Otterbein won 22-16 in Westerville.
- The Buckeyes were ranked No. 4 when facing the Gophers was 1995, the Columbus kids won 49-21 in the Metrodome.
ON THE HORIZON
- Saturday will be the start of Ohio State's 132nd football season.
- A victory will earn the Buckeyes their 22nd straight opening game win and 51 out of the last 54*.
- This will be the 83rd time Ohio State has opened the season in September. The Buckeyes are 74–8–4 (.884) in September season-opening games.
- Chris Olave is two touchdown catches away from tying Brian Robiskie (24) for fifth on the all-time career touchdown list.
- Ohio State has defeated Minnesota ten-straight times (11 if you count 2010). This is the longest wining streak the program has had against the Gophers.
- This will be the eleventh time the Buckeyes have played a season opener in a true away game. The team is 8–2 and has won seven consecutive in this scenario.
*NCAA sanctions be damned.
University of Minnesota
GET TO KNOW MINNESOTA
- UM is located in Minneapolis, MN.
- The university was established in 1851.
- The Gophers are beginning their 138th season of playing football.
- Goldy Gopher made its first appearance in 1952.
- The Gophers played their first football game in 1882.
- Mohamed Ibrahim won the Ameche-Dayne Running Back of they Year last season. He is 160 yards away from 3,000 career rushing yards.
- Notable alumni are Loni Anderson (WKRP in Cincinnati), Laura Coates (CNN, next Jeopardy! host?), Erica, Jaclyn and Nicole Dahm (Playboy triplets) Tony Dungy (Super Bowl winning coach) Boby Dylan (mumbler who did not graduate), Ric Flair (Wrassler) Henry Fonda (actor, Jane's dad), Hubert H. Humphrey (vice president), Garrison Keillor (author, satirist) Jessica Lange (Oscar, Emmy and Tony Award winner), Walter Mondale (vice president), Dale Snodgrass (bad-ass fighter pilot) and Dave Winfield (MLB Hall of Fame and basketbrawler)
STRANGE MINNESOTA LAWS
No person may be charged with or convicted of the offense of drunkenness or public drunkenness. The people of Minnesota recognize the importance of alcohol during their hard winter months.
If you are in St. Cloud, it is illegal to eat hamburgers on Sunday. You can walk around town drunk, but you better not be eating a slider on Sunday.
There is a 10 cent bounty for each rat's head brought into a town office.
Minnesota must have had a real rodent problem back in the day.
It is illegal to allow animals to sleep in a bakery in Duluth. Was this the result from the rat law above?
TODAY'S TRIVIA QUESTIONS:
- When was the last time Ohio State lost to Minnesota?
- The last time the Buckeyes were defeated in Minneapolis?
- Ryan Day has won back-to-back conference titles to start his Ohio State career. How many other coaches have started their Buckeye careers with two Big Ten championships?
Answers at the bottom of today's article.
THE COACHES
Ryan Day
- 23–2 (.920) at Ohio State (3rd year)
- 23–2 (.920) overall
Day's hometown is Manchester, NH. He attended Manchester High School and attended college at New Hampshire. Day has been in coaching for 20 years and is Ohio State's 25th head coach.
During his two seasons, Ryan Day and the Buckeyes have outscored their B1G opponents 777-266. That is an average victory of 46-16.
After 25 games with Day as head coach, Ohio State has put up a program record 1,104 points. Urban Meyer's teams had 1,048 points after 25 games.
P.J. Fleck
- 26–19 (.578) at Minnesota (5th year)
- 56–41 (.577) overall as a college coach (9th year)
On January 6, 2017, P.J. Fleck became Minnesota's 30th head coach. The Gophers finished with a losing record last year, but Fleck does have three winning seasons during his five years in Minneapolis.
Minnesota had a 3.3 GPA last season, which is a program record. Off the field, Gopher players often visit patients at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital.
Fleck started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Ohio State in 2006. He was at Northern Illinois (2007-09) as a receivers coach and recruiting coordinator. Fleck then had stops at Rutgers (2010-11) and Tampa Bay (2012) coaching receivers before taking the head coaching job at Western Michigan (2013-16).
As a player, Fleck suited up for Northern Illinois between 1999 and 2003. During his senior season, the Huskies were ranked No. 10, finished the year with a 10–2 record and defeated Alabama, Iowa State and Maryland. He holds the school record with 87 punt returns.
CLIFF CLAVEN'S LITTLE KNOWN FACTS CORNER
- 0.....number of QBs on Ohio State's roster with a pass attempt
- 1......times P.J. Fleck has faced the Buckeyes.
- 2......this is the second time Ohio State has started the season at Minnesota.
- 3......returning starters on the o-line.
- 4......consecutive B1G titles.
- 6......captains for the 2021 team.
- 8.......number of Buckeye national championships.
- 11.....Big Ten titles since 2000.
- 12.....starters returning to play in 2021.
- 13.....starters from last year are not on this year's team.
- 14.....the Buckeyes are 14-0 when starting the season against B1G foes.
- 15.....straight conference wins.
- 18.....times Ohio State has finished a season with at least 11 wins.
- 20.....years Ryan Day has been a coach.
- 21.....consecutive season-opening victories.
- 25.....bowl wins for Ohio State.
- 33.....straight seasons ranked in the AP preseason Top 25.
- 40.....the number of Big Ten titles the football team has won.
- 41.....wins in the last 44 season opening games.
- 46.....returning letterman are on the 2021 roster.
- 75.....former Ohio State players on preseason NFL rosters.
- 85.....Buckeyes selected in the first round of the NFL Draft.
- 89.....Consensus All-Americans.
- 100...this is the 100th season the Scarlet and Gray have played in Ohio Stadium.
- 132....number of years for Buckeye football.
- 152...the number of years The Ohio State University has been in the education business.
- 160...number of passing touchdowns since 2017 (Ryan Day's arrival).
- 453...victories for the Buckeyes in Ohio Stadium.
- 461...Ohio Stadium victories for the Buckeyes when including the 2010 season.
- 931...number of official wins for the program (we know it's actually 943).
- 934...times Ohio State has been ranked in the AP poll.
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| OFFENSE | ||||
| 41.0 | 11th | POINTS FOR | 27.3 | 71st |
| 256.9 | 8th | RUSHING OFFENSE | 191.9 | 42nd |
| 262.5 | 37th | PASSING OFFENSE | 199.1 | 92nd |
| 519.4 | 7th | TOTAL OFFENSE | 391.0 | 69th |
| .491 | 10th | 3rd DOWNS | .477 | 18th |
| .773 | 100th | RED ZONE | .800 | 78th |
| DEFENSE | ||||
| 25.8 | 43rd | POINTS ALLOWED | 30.1 | 70th |
| 97.6 | 6th | RUSH DEFENSE | 207.1 | 102nd |
| 304.0 | 122nd | PASS DEFENSE | 208.7 | 36th |
| 143.1 | 87th | PASS EFFICIENCY DEFENSE | 141.7 | 86th |
| 401.6 | 59th | TOTAL DEFENSE | 415.9 | 72nd |
| .371 | 35th | 3rd DOWNS | .408 | 69th |
| .862 | 84th | RED ZONE | .765 | 28th |
| SPECIAL TEAMS | ||||
| 6.2 | 72nd | PUNT RETURN | 0.8 | 123rd |
| 13.3 | 126th | KICKOFF RETURN | 17.3 | 110th |
| 39.9 | 39th | NET PUNTING | 35.9 | 102nd |
| MISCELLANEOUS | ||||
| +1.3 | 3rd | TURNOVER MARGIN | +0.0 | 60th |
| 6.1 | 73rd | PENALTIES | 4.6 | 15th |
| 12 | EDGE | 6 | ||
TODAY'S TRIVIA ANSWERS
When was the last time Ohio State lost to Minnesota?
Answer: 2000, John Cooper's last season as head coach. Glen Mason's Gophers defeated the host Buckeyes 29-17 on the 14th of October. The win gave some momentum for Mason to become Cooper's successor, but thankfully that did not come to pass.
The last time the Buckeyes were defeated in Minneapolis?
Answer: November 7, 1981. In the last game Ohio State played at Memorial Stadium, Joe Salem's squad shocked Earle Bruce's Buckeyes, 35-31.
Ryan Day has won back-to-back conference titles to start his Ohio State career. How many other coaches have started their Buckeye careers with consecutive Big Ten championships?
Answer: Zero. Day is the only Ohio State coach to start his career with back-to-back championships. Carroll Widdoes and Earle Bruce won titles in their first seasons, but failed to do so in their second.
