2016 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

The 2016 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Tracy Claeys and played their home games at TCF Bank Stadium. They were a member of the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 9–4, 5–4 in conference play to finish in fourth place in the West Division. They were invited to the Holiday Bowl where they defeated Washington State.

2016 Minnesota Golden Gophers football
Holiday Bowl champion
Holiday Bowl, W 17–12 vs. Washington State
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Division	West Division
Record	9–4 (5–4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Tracy Claeys (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Jay Johnson (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Jay Sawvel (1st season)
Captain	Mitch Leidner, Brandon Lingen, Jack Lynn, Damarius Travis
Home stadium	TCF Bank Stadium
Seasons ← 2015 2017 →

2016 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
No. 7 Penn State xy$		8	–	1					11	–	3
No. 6 Ohio State x^		8	–	1					11	–	2
No. 10 Michigan		7	–	2					10	–	3
Indiana		4	–	5					6	–	7
Maryland		3	–	6					6	–	7
Michigan State		1	–	8					3	–	9
Rutgers		0	–	9					2	–	10
West Division
No. 9 Wisconsin xy		7	–	2					11	–	3
Iowa		6	–	3					8	–	5
Nebraska		6	–	3					9	–	4
Minnesota		5	–	4					9	–	4
Northwestern		5	–	4					7	–	6
Illinois		2	–	7					3	–	9
Purdue		1	–	8					3	–	9
Championship: Penn State 38, Wisconsin 31
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Minnesota faced all six West Division opponents: Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue, and Wisconsin. The Gophers also faced East Division opponents Maryland, Penn State, and Rutgers.^[1] Minnesota played three non-conference games: Oregon State of the Pac-12 Conference, Indiana State of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, and Colorado State of the Mountain West Conference. Minnesota had one bye week during the season between their games against Indiana State and Colorado State.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	8:00 pm	Oregon State*	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	BTN	W 30–23	44,582
September 10	11:00 am	Indiana State*	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	ESPNews	W 58–28	41,026
September 24	11:00 am	Colorado State*	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	ESPNU	W 31–24	44,854
October 1	2:30 pm	at Penn State	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (Governor's Victory Bell)	BTN	L 26–29 OT	95,332
October 8	11:00 am	Iowa	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	ESPN2	L 7–14	49,145
October 15	11:00 am	at Maryland	Maryland Stadium College Park, MD	ESPNU	W 31–10	41,465
October 22	11:00 am	Rutgers	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	ESPNU	W 34–32	46,096
October 29	11:00 am	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	BTN	W 40–17	40,090
November 5	2:30 pm	Purdue	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	BTN	W 44–31	42,832
November 12	6:30 pm	at No. 21 Nebraska	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	BTN	L 17–24	90,456
November 19	2:30 pm	Northwestern	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	BTN	W 29–12	38,162
November 26	2:30 pm	at No. 5 Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI (rivalry)	BTN	L 17–31	77,216
December 27	6:00 pm	vs. Washington State*	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, CA (Holiday Bowl)	ESPN	W 17–12	48,704
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Game summaries

Oregon State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Beavers	7	7	9	0	23
Golden Gophers	0	17	0	13	30

See also: 2016 Oregon State Beavers football team

Indiana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sycamores	7	0	14	7	28
Golden Gophers	14	24	10	10	58

See also: 2016 Indiana State Sycamores football team

Colorado State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	7	0	10	7	24
Golden Gophers	7	10	7	7	31

See also: 2016 Colorado State Rams football team

At Penn State

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Golden Gophers	3	10	0	10	3	26
Nittany Lions	0	3	17	3	6	29

See also: 2016 Penn State Nittany Lions football team and Governor's Victory Bell

Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawkeyes	0	3	3	8	14
Golden Gophers	0	0	7	0	7

See also: 2016 Iowa Hawkeyes football team and Iowa–Minnesota football rivalry

At Maryland

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Gophers	0	14	3	14	31
Terrapins	0	0	0	10	10

See also: 2016 Maryland Terrapins football team

Rutgers

	1	2	3	4	Total
Scarlet Knights	3	7	13	9	32
Golden Gophers	21	0	10	3	34

See also: 2016 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team

At Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Gophers	14	0	7	19	40
Fighting Illini	7	0	7	3	17

See also: 2016 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

Purdue

	1	2	3	4	Total
Boilermakers	14	14	0	3	31
Golden Gophers	10	13	7	14	44

See also: 2016 Purdue Boilermakers football team

Purdue at Minnesota

At #21 Nebraska

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Gophers	7	10	0	0	17
#21 Cornhuskers	3	7	7	7	24

See also: 2016 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team and Minnesota–Nebraska football rivalry

Northwestern

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	0	6	6	12
Golden Gophers	6	6	3	14	29

See also: 2016 Northwestern Wildcats football team

At #6 Wisconsin

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Gophers	3	14	0	0	17
#6 Badgers	0	7	3	21	31

See also: 2016 Wisconsin Badgers football team and Minnesota–Wisconsin football rivalry

Washington State–Holiday Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Gophers	0	3	7	7	17
Cougars	3	3	0	6	12

See also: 2016 Washington State Cougars football team and 2016 Holiday Bowl

Personnel

Coaching Staff

Name	Position	Alma mater	Joined Staff
Tracy Claeys	Head coach	Kansas State (1994)	2010
Brian Anderson	Wide receivers coach	Illinois (1994)	2010
Jay Johnson	Offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach	Northern Iowa (1993)	2015
Bart Miller	Offensive line coach	New Mexico (2007)	2015
Jeff Phelps	Defensive line coach	Ball State (1997)	2010
Pat Poore	Running backs coach / co-special team coordinator	Fort Hays State (1984)	2010
Rob Reeves	H-backs coach / tight ends coach	Saginaw Valley State (1996)	2010
Jay Sawvel	Defensive coordinator	Mount Union (1993)	2010
Mike Sherels	Linebackers coach	Minnesota (2007)	2013
Dan O'Brien	Assistant Defensive Backs / co-special team coordinator / assistant head coach	St. Thomas (1987)	2010
Eric Klein	Strength and conditioning	Carleton College (1993)	2010

Roster

2016 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 1 Rodney Smith  So WR 2 Isaiah Gentry  So WR 5 Melvin Holland  So WR 6 Tyler Johnson Fr QB 7 Mitch Leidner (C)  Sr QB 8 Mark Williams Fr WR 9 Eric Carter  Jr QB 11 Demry Croft So WR 12 Hunter Register  Fr QB 15 Conor Rhoda  Jr QB 17 Seth Green Fr WR 18 Clay Geary Fr WR 19 Michael Conway  Jr WR 20 Adam Mayer  Fr RB 22 Kobe McCrary Fr RB 23 Shannon Brooks So WR 24 Drew Hmielewski Fr WR 25 Phillip Howard Fr WR 26 Brian Smith  Jr RB 27 James Johannesson  Fr RB 28 Jonathan Femi-Cole  Fr RB 29 Carlton Djam  So FB 40 Connor Mohs Fr TE 42 Ko Kieft Fr TE 44 Colton Beebe  Fr TE 45 Nick Hart  Jr TE 49 Bryce Witham  Fr OL 53 Luke Rasmussen  So OL 55 Connor Mayes Jr OL 58 Quinn Oseland  Fr OL 60 Matt Leidner  Jr OL 61 Bronson Dovich  Fr OL 62 Jared Weyler  So OL 64 Conner Olson Fr OL 66 Ted Stieber  Fr OL 70 Chad Fahning  Jr OL 71 Sam Schlueter Fr OL 73 Donnell Greene  So OL 74 Nick Connelly  Fr OL 75 Noah Kuehn  Fr OL 76 Vincent Calhoun Jr OL 77 Tyler Moore So OL 78 Garrison Wright Jr OL 79 Jonah Pirsig  Sr TE 80 Nate Wozniak  Jr TE 81 Duke Anyanwu  Jr WR 82 Drew Wolitarsky Sr TE 83 Danny Pietruszewski Fr WR 84 Will Reger  So TE 85 Bryce Witham  Fr TE 86 Brandon Lingen (C) Jr WR 88 Rashad Still So WR 89 Matt Morse  Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 2 Dior Johnson  Fr DB 3 KiAnte Hardin So DB 4 Adekunle Ayinde  Jr DB 5 Jalen Myrick Sr DB 6 Ace Rogers  Sr DB 7 Damarius Travis (C)  Sr DB 8 Duke McGhee  Jr DL 9 Jerry Gibson  So DB 11 Antoine Winfield Jr. Fr LB 12 Cody Poock  Jr LB 13 Jonathan Celestin Jr DB 14 Zo Craighton  Fr LB 15 Everett Williams Jr CB 16 Coney Durr Fr DB 17 Jacob Huff So DL 19 Gary Moore  So DB 20 Julian Huff So DB 21 Ray Buford  Fr DB 22 Joey Gorgen  Fr DB 24 Troy Dipre  Fr DB 26 Calvin Swenson Fr DB 30 Eric Amoako  Sr DB 31 Kiondre Thomas Fr DL 33 Tamarion Johnson Fr DB 34 Antonio Shenault So LB 35 Jaylen Waters  Fr DB 36 Blake Cashman So DB 40 Alexander Starks  Sr LB 41 Thomas Barber Fr LB 43 Bailey Schoenfelder Fr LB 44 Kamal Martin Fr LB 45 Carter Coughlin Fr LB 48 Blake Weber Jr LB 50 Jack Lynn (C)  Sr DL 52 Yoshoub Timms  Sr LB 56 Nick Rallis  Sr LB 59 Ray Dixon  Jr DL 87 Gaelin Elmore Jr DL 88 Winston DeLattiboudere  Fr DL 90 Sam Renner  Fr DE 91 Julien Kafo  So DL 92 Tai'yon Devers Fr DL 93 Merrick Jackson Jr DL 95 Hendrick Ekpe Sr DL 96 Steven Richardson Jr DL 97 Scott Ekpe  Sr DE 99 Andrew Stelter Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K, P 18 Ryan Santoso  Jr LS 25 Payton Jordahl  So K 33 Andrew Harte  Jr P 34 Logan McElfresh  So K 37 John Mack Fr K 38 Emmit Carpenter  So LS 39 Trey Hansen  Fr K 42 Justin Juenemann  Jr P 47 Jacob Herbers  Fr	Head coach Tracy Claeys (head coach) Coordinators/assistant coaches Brian Anderson (wide receivers) Jay Johnson (offensive coordinator / quarterbacks) Bart Miller (offensive Line) Dan O'Brien (asst. Defensive Backs / co-special teams coordinator / asst. to the head coach) Jeff Phelps (defensive line) Pat Poore (running backs / co-special teams coordinator) Rob Reeves (H-backs / tight ends) Jay Sawvel (defensive coordinator) Mike Sherels (linebackers) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: August 17, 2016

Awards and honors

Weekly Awards

Player	Award	Date Awarded	Ref.
Emmit Carpenter	Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week	October 3, 2016	[2]
Rodney Smith	Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week	October 24, 2016	[3]
Emmit Carpenter	Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week	November 7, 2016	[4]
Blake Cashman	Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week	November 21, 2016	[5]

Players drafted into the NFL

See also: 2017 NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
7	222	Jalen Myrick	CB	Jacksonville Jaguars