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2019 Minnesota

11–⁠2 (7–⁠2 Big Ten), coached by P.J. Fleck, finished No. 10 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Minnesota in 2019, game by game: won vs. South Dakota State 28–21; won at Fresno State 38–35; won vs. Georgia Southern 35–32; won at Purdue 38–31; won vs. Illinois 40–17; won vs. Nebraska 34–7; won at Rutgers 42–7; won vs. Maryland 52–10; won vs. No. 5 Penn State 31–26; lost at No. 23 Iowa 19–23; won at Northwestern 38–22; lost vs. No. 13 Wisconsin 17–38; won vs. No. 9 Auburn 31–24+42−21Won 28–21 vs. South Dakota State+7South Dakota St…Won 38–35 at Fresno State+3Fresno StateWon 35–32 vs. Georgia Southern+3Georgia SouthernWon 38–31 at Purdue+7PurdueWon 40–17 vs. Illinois+23IllinoisWon 34–7 vs. Nebraska+27NebraskaWon 42–7 at Rutgers+35RutgersWon 52–10 vs. Maryland+42MarylandWon 31–26 vs. No. 5 Penn State+5No. 5 Penn StateLost 19–23 at No. 23 Iowa-4No. 23 IowaWon 38–22 at Northwestern+16NorthwesternLost 17–38 vs. No. 13 Wisconsin-21No. 13 WisconsinWon 31–24 vs. No. 9 Auburn+7No. 9 Auburn
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 29vsSouth Dakota StateW 28–⁠2166%
Sep 7atFresno StateW 38–⁠3534%
Sep 14vsGeorgia SouthernW 35–⁠3265%
Sep 28atPurdueW 38–⁠3154%
Oct 5vsIllinoisW 40–⁠1779%
Oct 12vsNebraskaW 34–⁠770%
Oct 19atRutgersW 42–⁠783%
Oct 26vsMarylandW 52–⁠1079%
Nov 9vs5Penn StateW 31–⁠2643%
Nov 16at23IowaL 19–⁠2346%
Nov 23atNorthwesternW 38–⁠2270%
Nov 30vs13WisconsinL 17–⁠3854%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs9AuburnOutback BowlW 31–⁠2443%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Auburn 31–⁠24 in the Outback Bowl; No. 10 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 20th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 8: 20
  2. Wk 9: 17
  3. Wk 10: 13
  4. Wk 11: 13
  5. Wk 12: 7
  6. Wk 13: 11
  7. Wk 14: 9
  8. Wk 15: 15
  9. Wk 16: 16
  10. Final: 10

Big Ten West champions7–⁠2 in the conference, shared with Wisconsin

Consensus All-AmericanAntoine Winfield Jr., DB

Record
11–⁠2
Conference
7–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Big Ten
AP final
No. 10 peak No. 7
Points
443–⁠293
Coach
P.J. Fleck
Elo
1672 +129 this season
SP+ rating
19.4 No. 13 of 130; offense No. 7, defense No. 26, special teams No. 83
SRS
12.3 No. 19 of 130 in FBS
Returning
100% of last season’s EPA, No. 2 of 130
Recruiting class
No. 45 roster talent No. 46 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Kirk Ciarrocca
Defensive coordinator
Joe Rossi
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense8th of 130
  • Defense24th of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted6th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted32nd of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2548%1.278th of 130
Defense0.0140%1.1824th of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.25 off
0.04 def		49% off
40% def		—6th off
32nd def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense4.2own 2919% allowed
Defense3.3own 2922% caused

CORE rating 16.0, 13th of 130 (offense 13.6, defense -2.4).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsTanner Morgan QB3,253 yds
Passing touchdownsTanner Morgan QB30 TD
Rushing yardsRodney Smith RB1,163 yds
Rushing touchdownsRodney Smith RB8 TD
Receiving yardsTyler Johnson WR1,318 yds
Receiving touchdownsTyler Johnson WR13 TD
TacklesKamal Martin LB66 tkl
SacksSam Renner DL5 sacks
InterceptionsAntoine Winfield Jr. DB7 INT

Top recruits in the 2019 class

Tyler Nubin CB★★★★No. 379
Jacob Clark PRO★★★No. 447
Rashad Cheney DT★★★No. 515
J.J. Guedet OT★★★No. 625
Nnamdi Adim-Madumere WR★★★No. 635

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2019 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks23.00.872
Running backs13.00.856
Receivers33.00.855
Offensive line33.00.852
Defensive line43.00.869
Linebackers23.00.866
Defensive backs23.50.873
Athletes and specialists52.60.822
Whole class223.00.854

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2020

The 2020 draft
Rd 2Antoine Winfield Jr. STampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 5Tyler Johnson WRTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 5Kamal Martin ILBGreen Bay Packers
Rd 7Carter Coughlin OLBNew York Giants
Rd 7Chris Williamson CBNew York Giants

Roster 116

The 2019 roster

116 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2019 line; 60 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

3 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2019 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2019 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State9–⁠013–⁠13
Penn State7–⁠211–⁠29
Minnesota7–⁠211–⁠210
Wisconsin7–⁠210–⁠411
Iowa6–⁠310–⁠315
Michigan6–⁠39–⁠418
Indiana5–⁠48–⁠5
Michigan State4–⁠57–⁠6
Illinois4–⁠56–⁠7
Nebraska3–⁠65–⁠7
Purdue3–⁠64–⁠8
Maryland1–⁠83–⁠9
Northwestern1–⁠83–⁠9
Rutgers0–⁠92–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.