The 1951 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1951 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first year under head coach Wes Fesler, the Golden Gophers compiled a 2–6–1 record and were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 258 to 162.[1] The team was ranked at No. 75 in the 1951 Litkenhous Ratings.[2]
1951 Minnesota Golden Gophers football | |
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Conference | Big Ten Conference |
Record | 2–6–1 (1–4–1 Big Ten) |
Head coach |
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MVP | Ron Engel |
Captain | Wayne Robinson |
Home stadium | Memorial Stadium |
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 4 Illinois $ | 5 | – | 0 | – | 1 | 9 | – | 0 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Purdue | 4 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 8 Wisconsin | 5 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 7 | – | 1 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Michigan | 4 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ohio State | 2 | – | 2 | – | 2 | 4 | – | 3 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northwestern | 2 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Minnesota | 1 | – | 4 | – | 1 | 2 | – | 6 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indiana | 1 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Iowa | 0 | – | 5 | – | 1 | 2 | – | 5 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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No Golden Gophers players were named any major awards, All-American, Academic All-American, All-Big Ten or Academic All-Big Ten. It was the last season that no Golden Gopher players achieved any of the awards.[3]
Halfback Ron Engel was awarded the Team MVP Award.[4]
Total attendance for the season was 255,851, which averaged to 51,170. The season high for attendance was against Nebraska.[5]
Schedule
editDate | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance | Source |
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September 29 | No. 8 Washington* | L 20-25 | 51,148 | ||
October 6 | at No. 2 California* | L 14–55 | 69,000 | ||
October 13 | Northwestern |
| L 7–21 | 51,915 | |
October 20 | Nebraska* |
| W 39–20 | 54,625 | |
October 27 | at Michigan | L 27–54 | 83,060 | [6] | |
November 3 | at Iowa | T 20–20 | 40,000 | ||
November 10 | Indiana |
| W 16–14 | 45,986 | |
November 17 | at Purdue | L 13–19 | 29,000 | ||
November 24 | No. 8 Wisconsin |
| L 6–30 | 52,177 | |
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References
edit- ^ "1951 Minnesota Golden Gophers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- ^ "Vols Top Final 1951 Litkenhous Ratings". The Nashville Banner. December 14, 1951. p. 49 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), pp. 179–182[permanent dead link ]
- ^ Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 181[permanent dead link ]
- ^ Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 160[permanent dead link ]
- ^ Lyall Smith (October 28, 1951). "M Doubles Up Gophers, 54-27". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1C, 2C – via Newspapers.com.