THE PERTINENT INFO
When: Saturday, October 13, 2018
Where: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
TV: Noon // FS1
Announcers: Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt and Jenny Taft
This will be the 53rd* time Ohio State and Minnesota have faced each other in football. The Buckeyes hold a 45–7* advantage in the all-time series and are 23–3 when playing the Gophers in Columbus.
PJ Fleck's team lost to Iowa (48-31) last week Rutgers (24-17) last week and enters this contest with a 3–2 record.
Last week, Dwayne Haskins finished 3 yards short of Ohio State's single-game passing record. However, he did accumulate 462 yards of total offense and passed JT Barrett's 423 yards against Penn State (2017) as the program's best individual game performance.
Below, you will find some interesting facts about the teams, key offensive player stats, coach information, and team stats.
THE LAST TIME...
- Ohio State played Minnesota, the Buckeyes beat the Gophers 28-14 in Game 9 of the 2015 season.
- Ohio State was ranked No. 3 against Minnesota was 1984, the Scarlet and Gray won 35-22 in Minneapolis.
- These schools faced each other in the seventh game of the season was 1990. John Cooper's team defeated John Gutekunst's squad 52-23 in Ohio Stadium.
- The Buckeyes played against Minnesota on the 13th of October was...never.
- Ohio State was ranked in the top 5 and played a game on October 13th was 1973. The No. 1 ranked Bucks defeated Wisconsin (24-0) in Camp Randall Stadium.
- The Buckeyes lost on 10/13 was 1990. Barry Alvarez and unranked Wisconsin came to Ohio Stadium and beat No. 21 Ohio State 20-17.
- Minnesota defeated Ohio State was October 14, 2000. Glen Mason beat the Buckeyes 29-17 in John Cooper's last season as head coach.
ON THE HORIZON
- Ohio State has defeated Minnesota nine-straight times (10 if you count 2010). This is the longest winning streak the Buckeyes have had against the Gophers.
- The 1968 team is having a 50th anniversary reunion this week.
- J.K. Dobbins needs 135 rushing yards to reach 2,000 for his career. When he does, it will be the first time in program history that there will be two running backs with 2,000 rushing yards on the same team.
- Ohio State has the nation's second-longest winning streak (11 games) in the FBS. When/if UCF loses, the Buckeyes will take over the top spot.
University of Minnesota
GET TO KNOW MINNESOTA
- UM is located in Minneapolis, MN.
- The university was established in 1851.
- Minnesota is in its 135th season of playing football.
- Goldy Gopher made its first appearance in 1952.
- The Gophers played their first football game in 1882.
- Freshmen make up 51.7 percent of Minnesota's roster, highest number in the country.
- Minnesota is 45–37 (.549) since 2012.
TODAY'S TRIVIA QUESTIONS:
- Minnesota has had 67 home games played in TCF Bank Stadium, what was the coldest of the 67 games played there?
- Dwayne Haskins has earned Big Ten Player of the Week four times this season. Can you name the player who won the award a record five times?
- Minnesota and Wisconsin started their rivalry in 1890. The teams have played each other every year since 1907 and it is the longest running uninterrupted series in FBS football. What U.S. president suspended all college football rivalry games in 1906 (the last year these teams didn't play) due to player injuries and fatalities on the field?
Answers at the bottom of today's article.
 |
 |
|||
| OFFENSIVE LEADERS | ||||
| DWAYNE HASKINS | 1,919 YDS // 25 TD // 4 INT | PASSING | ZACK ANNEXSTAD | 924 YDS // 8 TD // 5 INT |
| J.K. DOBBINS | 462 YDS // 4.7 YPC // 4 TD | RUSHING | BRYCE WILLIAMS | 311 YDS // 3.9 YPC // 1 TD |
| PARRIS CAMPBELL | 501 YDS // 7 TD | RECEIVING | TYLER JOHNSON | 402 YDS // 6 TD |
| DEFENSIVE LEADERS | ||||
| JORDAN FULLER | 27 | TACKLES | BLAKE CASHMAN | 34 |
| DRE'MONT JONES | 4.5 | SACKS | CARTER COUGHLIN | 5.0 |
| KENDALL SHEFFIELD AND 3 OTHERS | 1 | INTERCEPTIONS | ANTONIO SHENAULT AND 4 OTHERS | 1 |
| SPECIAL TEAMS | ||||
| DEMARIO McCALL | 10.7 YPR | PUNT RETURNER | SAM RENNER | 34.0 |
| DEMARIO McCALL | 26.0 YPR | KICKOFF RETURN | DEMETRIUS DOUGLAS | 22.9 |
| DRUE CHRISMAN | 44.4 | PUNTING | JACOB HERBERS | 41.5 |
| 6 | EDGE | 4 | ||
THE COACHES
Urban Meyer
- 76–8 (.905) at Ohio State
- 180–31 (.853) overall
Meyer was born in Toledo and grew up in Ashtabula. He attended the University of Cincinnati where he played football. He started his coaching career as a defensive backs coach at St. Xavier in 1985. Meyer then took a GA position with Ohio State between 1986 and 1987. His next stops were Illinois State (1988-89), Colorado State (1990-95) and Notre Dame (1996-2000).
Bowling Green (2001-02) was his first stop as a head coach. He then had stints in Utah (2003-04) and Florida (2005-10) before coming back to the great state of Ohio.
PJ Fleck
- 8–9 (.471) at Minnesota (2nd year)
- 38–31 (.551) overall as a college coach (6th year)
PJ Fleck played high school football for Kaneland High School in Maple Park, Illinois. His team won back-to-back state titles and he caught a state record 95 passes for 1,548 yards and 16 touchdowns his senior season. Fleck played college football at Northern Illinois where he led the team with 77 receptions for 1,028 yards and 6 TDs his senior season. The 77 catches ranks second all-time for a season at NIU.
Fleck started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Ohio State in 2006. After a season with the Buckeyes, he was hired by Northern Illinois as wide receivers coach. In 2010, Greg Schiano hired Fleck for the same position at Rutgers.
On February 3, 2012, he was hired to return to Northern Illinois as offensive coordinator. However, one day later, Fleck bounced and joined Schiano's staff as WR coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After one season in Tampa, he was offered the head coaching position with Western Michigan. Fleck coached the Broncos between 2013-16 before taking his current position with Minnesota on January 6, 2017.
CLIFF CLAVEN'S LITTLE KNOWN FACTS CORNER
- 69-18. The 1983 score is Ohio State's largest margin of victory over Minnesota.
- Dwayne Haskins leads the nation with 25 passing touchdowns.
- The Buckeyes have won 11 straight games.
- Ohio State has one player from Minnesota on its roster: Jashon Cornell.
- The Buckeyes' defense has recorded at least 6 tackles for loss in every game this season.
- Parris Campbell (7) is sixth and Terry McLauren (6) is 10th in the nation in touchdown receptions.
- Haskins leads the Big Ten in passing yards per game (319.8), passing touchdowns (25), pass efficiency rating (190.8), and total offense (327.0).
- Ohio State's defense leads the Big Ten with 22 sacks.
- Since 1969, Ohio State is 38–2 against Minnesota.
- The Buckeyes are ranked second nationally in number of 1,000-yard rushers (69).
- Sean Nuernberger has made 216 consecutive extra points. He has never missed as a Buckeye.
- 2013 was the last time an Ohio State TE had over 100 yards receiving. Jeff Heuerman had 116 receiving yards in the 56-0 rout of Purdue.
- Urban Meyer is 42–3 in Ohio Stadium.
- The Buckeyes are 12–5 against Top 10 teams with Urban Meyer as head coach.
- Ohio State leads the Big Ten in total offense, passing offense, passing efficiency, first downs, punting average, PATs made, offensive 3rd down conversions, defensive 3rd down conversions and sacks by.
- Since 2012, the Buckeyes are 22–1 in the month of October.
- Ohio State has scored 443 touchdowns since 2012, that is the most in the Big Ten during that time frame.
- Mike Weber's 24 points scored against Oregon State is the most by a B1G player, in a single game, this season.
|
|
|
|||
| OFFENSE | ||||
| 49.0 | 6th | POINTS FOR | 27.8 | 80th |
| 201.0 | 41st | RUSHING OFFENSE | 145.0 | 95th |
| 364.7 | 3rd | PASSING OFFENSE | 196.4 | 99th |
| 565.7 | 5th | TOTAL OFFENSE | 341.4 | 113th |
| .500 | 13th | 3rd DOWNS | .343 | 109th |
| .828 | 81st | RED ZONE | .810 | 92nd |
| DEFENSE | ||||
| 20.0 | 29th | POINTS ALLOWED | 23.4 | 41st |
| 143.0 | 53rd | RUSH DEFENSE | 127.4 | 39th |
| 222.2 | 60th | PASS DEFENSE | 196.8 | 36th |
| 121.1 | 41st | PASS EFFICIENCY DEFENSE | 116.7 | 35th |
| 365.2 | 56th | TOTAL DEFENSE | 324.2 | 21st |
| .303 | 17th | 3rd DOWNS | .365 | 59th |
| .923 | 106th | RED ZONE | .889 | 95th |
| SPECIAL TEAMS | ||||
| 6.7 | 91st | PUNT RETURN | 32.0 | 1st |
| 21.6 | 59th | KICKOFF RETURN | 21.3 | 67th |
| 43.8 | 3rd | NET PUNTING | 41.1 | 21st |
| MISCELLANEOUS | ||||
| +0.7 | 28th | TURNOVER MARGIN | -0.6 | 106th |
| 8.5 | 118th | PENALTIES | 4.0 | 7th |
| 11 | EDGE | 7 | ||
TODAY'S TRIVIA ANSWERS
Minnesota has had 67 home games played in TCF Bank Stadium, what was the coldest of the 67 games played there?
Answer: The temperature was a bone-chilling 15 degrees when Ohio State took on the Gophers on November 15, 2014.
Dwayne Haskins has earned Big Ten Player of the Week four times this season. Can you name the player who won the award a record five times?
Answer: Troy Smith earned the award five times during his Heisman winning 2006 season.
Minnesota and Wisconsin started their rivalry in 1890. The teams have played each other every year since 1907 and it is the longest running uninterrupted series in FBS football. What U.S. president suspended all college football rivalry games in 1906 (the last year these teams didn't play) due to player injuries and fatalities on the field?
Answer: Theodore Roosevelt.
