University of Minnesota Athletics

Oct 5, 2024 / 6:30 pm CT
Website: Minneapolis
Stadium: Huntington Bank Stadium
Surface: FieldTurf
Capacity: 50,805
Series overall: Minnesota is 1-6-1
Series streak: Minnesota lost 5
Series at USC: Minnesota is 1-3-0
Strike at USC: Minnesota lost 3
First meeting: Minnesota lost 17:7 in Los Angeles (September 26, 1953)
Last meeting: Minnesota lost 19-17 in Los Angeles (09/03/2011)
TV: BTN // Guy Haberman (PXP), Yogi Roth (Analyst), Rhett Lewis (Reporter)
Gopher Radio: KFAN FM 100.3 | SiriusXM: 372; SXM App // Mike Grimm (PXP), Darrell Thompson (Analyst), Justin Gaard (Reporter), Tanner Hoops (Host), Dan Rowbotham (Engineer)

FIVE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
1. After traveling for the first time last week, Minnesota (2-3, 0-2 B1G) returns for its first Big Ten matchup on Saturday against No. 11/15 USC (3-1, 1-1 B1G). back home. Kick-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network and Gopher Radio Network. Saturday's contest marks the first time the Gophers will face one of the league's four new teams.

2. The Gophers enter Saturday's game averaging just 96.8 passing yards per game, which is the best performance in the FBS and the best for Minnesota in five games since at least the 2000 season (see table below). The next closest team this year is Iowa State with 102.5 yards per contest, while the next closest Big Ten program is Washington with 128.0 yards. No team has thrown for more than 117 yards against Minnesota this season. The Gophers limited Michigan to 86 yards passing, the second straight game they held an opponent under 100 yards passing, after limiting Iowa to 62 yards on Sept. 21. The last time Minnesota held consecutive opponents under 100 yards passing was in 2021, while the 148 passing yards allowed in the last two games are the best for the team since at least 2000. For more on the defense, see page 7 of the Notes.

3. Real newbie Koi Perich has been electrifying in the second leg so far this season. He has returned five punts for a total of 132 yards this season, which is already the most by a Gopher since Craig James in 2014 when he rushed for 139 yards, while Perich's current average of 26.4 yards per punt return is the Gopher record of 16.9 yards in a single season by Paul Giel in 1953. On Saturday at Michigan, Perich returned two punts for 82 yards, the most punt return yards by a player in eight years PJ Fleck. One of those returns was a 60-yard return that was Minnesota's longest since Demetrius Douglas had a 69-yard return for a TD at Wisconsin in 2018. Perich's return was the third-longest in the Fleck era, and in five career games he has now scored two of the five longest punt returns in the Fleck era, including a 28-yarder against Rhode Island. Perich also has an interception on defense and is the team's leading kick returner with six returns for 106 yards.

4. Minnesota will face an AP Top 25 team for the second straight year against the 11th-ranked Trojans. The Gophers fell to No. 12 Michigan last week in Ann Arbor and also faced North Carolina and Iowa earlier this year, both of which were receiving votes in the AP or Coaches poll at the time of the game and accounted for all three of the Gophers' losses. Minnesota will face top-12 teams in consecutive weeks for the first time since playing both No. 1 Ohio State and No. 8 Iowa State in November 2015. USC is now ranked in eight of the nine all-time meetings with the Gophers. The Gophers' last win over a team ranked 11th or better came against No. 9 Auburn in the 2020 Outback Bowl and the last such home win was against No. 5 Penn State in 2019. Specifically against the AP's No. 11 team, Minnesota 2-4 all time.

5. The 2024 season will be the eighth for the head coach PJ Fleck in Minnesota, where his record is 52-37. He is fifth in program history for total wins, Big Ten wins (29) and games coached (89). Fleck's .574 winning percentage is third-best among Minnesota coaches with at least 45 games under their belt, behind only Henry L. Williams (.786, 1900-21) and Bernie Bierman (.716, 1932-41, '45-50). In his 12th season as a collegiate head coach, Fleck is 82-59 (.582).

You can read Minnesota's full game notes here.