1959 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

The 1959 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1959 Big Ten Conference football season. In their sixth year under head coach Murray Warmath, the Golden Gophers compiled a 2–7 record and were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 159 to 98.[1]

1959 Minnesota Golden Gophers football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record2–7 (1–6 Big Ten)
Head coach
MVPTom Moe
CaptainMichael W. Wright
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1958
1960 →
1959 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 6 Wisconsin $ 5 2 0 7 3 0
Michigan State 4 2 0 5 4 0
Purdue 4 2 1 5 2 2
No. 13 Illinois 4 2 1 5 3 1
Northwestern 4 3 0 6 3 0
Iowa 3 3 0 5 4 0
Michigan 3 4 0 4 5 0
Indiana 2 4 1 4 4 1
Ohio State 2 4 1 3 5 1
Minnesota 1 6 0 2 7 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

End Tom Moe received the team's Most Valuable Player award. Tackle Michael W. Wright was named an Academic All-American and Academic All-Big Ten. Offensive lineman Jerome Shetler was also named Academic All-Big Ten.[2]

Total attendance at five home games was 263,983, an average of 52,796 per game. The largest crowd was against Michigan.[3]

Schedule

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DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 26Nebraska*L 12–3250,951
October 3Indiana
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Minneapolis, MN
W 24–1452,927
October 10at No. 2 NorthwesternL 0–641,211
October 17at No. 13 IllinoisL 6–1457,485
October 24Michigan
L 6–1457,354[4]
October 31Vanderbilt* 
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Minneapolis, MN
W 20–649,284[5]
November 7at IowaL 0–3357,000
November 14at PurdueL 23–2934,655
November 21No. 9 Wisconsin
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)
L 7–1153,467
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

References

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  1. ^ "1959 Minnesota Golden Gophers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  2. ^ Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), pp. 179–182[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 160[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ Charles Johnson (October 25, 1959). "Michigan Trips Minnesota 14-6: 2 Quick TDs in 3rd Period Beat Gophers". Minneapolis Sunday Tribune. p. S1 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Gophers win before grads". Omaha World-Herald. November 1, 1959. Retrieved October 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.