2008 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team The 2008 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team was the second under head coach Tim Brewster . They began play on August 30 , 2008 at home against Northern Illinois from the Mid - American Conference , and finished the regular season against Iowa , on November 22 . It was the Golden Gophers ' final season in the Metrodome , as they moved into TCF Bank Stadium in 2009 . The Gophers accepted a bid to the Insight Bowl and played Kansas on December 31 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe , Arizona . Preseason . On February 21 , 2008 , it was announced that Ted Roof , the previous head coach of Duke , would replace Everett Withers as the Gophers new defensive coordinator . Withers had previously announced that he was taking the defensive coordinator job at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . Schedule . Game notes . Northern Illinois . The Golden Gophers opened the 2008 season hosting a Saturday night game against Northern Illinois . After receiving the opening kickoff , Minnesota compiled a 16 - play , 90 - yard drive that chewed 8 : 50 off the clock and ended with an 8 - yard TD pass from Adam Weber to Eric Decker . Northern Illinois responded early in the 2nd quarter with a 2 - yard TD run from Justin Anderson , and a pair of field goals knotted the halftime score at 10 – 10 . Two big plays by the Golden Gophers set the tone through the 3rd quarter — a 53 - yard TD catch by Jack Simmons and 61 - yard TD run by Duane Bennett that staked Minnesota to a 24 – 13 lead . The Huskies answered with two long TD bombs of 91 and 52 yards from Chandler Harnish to Nathan Palmer . As Minnesota began their final drive of the game on their own 26 yard line with 5 : 25 on the clock , they trailed NIU 27 – 24 . Weber led a methodical drive down the field , completing all 5 of his pass attempts until the Gopher offense stalled in the red zone , bringing up 4th and 1 from the NIU 3 . Rather than electing to kick the field goal and send the game into overtime , coach Brewster put the offense back out on the field , and they rewarded his aggressiveness . Bennett converted the 1st down on a short run , and the Gophers immediately ran the same play for a 1 - yd TD . After putting the ensuing kickoff out of bounds and giving the Huskies the ball on their own 40 , the Minnesota defense batted away a Hail Mary pass into the endzone as time expired to preserve the 31 – 27 victory . Bowling Green . Bowling Green hosted a Big Ten opponent for the first time ever as Minnesota traveled to Doyt L . Perry Stadium for a Saturday night game . Bowling Green was confident after coming off a 27 – 17 upset at # 25 Pittsburgh the previous week . Despite being road underdogs , Minnesota showed no sign of nerves as they once again scored a TD on their first drive and never relinquished the lead , cruising to an easy 42 – 17 victory over the home Falcons . The story of this game was turnovers . After a relatively uneventful first half that ended with a Gophers lead of 14 – 10 , Bowling Green ' s Roger Williams fumbled the opening kickoff of the second half . Starting the drive at the BGSU 23 , Minnesota promptly marched in for the score . After a Falcon touchdown made it 21 – 17 , BGSU turned the ball over on each of their next three possessions , each turnover ultimately resulting in a touchdown for the Golden Gophers . The 28 points off turnovers proved to be the difference , as Minnesota won consecutive games for the first time since November 2006 . This was also the first road victory for the Gophers under coach Tim Brewster . Montana State . Montana State traveled to Minneapolis to take on the Gophers for each team ' s 3rd game of the season . Despite being heavily favored over an FCS opponent , Minnesota played in a lackluster fashion from the get - go , and actually trailed 6 – 0 at the end of the first quarter . The Golden Gophers ' offense woke up in the 2nd quarter , and put 14 points on the board on consecutive drives . Just when it appeared that Minnesota may have begun to put the game out of reach , Montana State ' s Demetrius Crawford returned a kickoff 100 yards for a TD . Minnesota was able to answer with another touchdown to make the halftime score 21 – 13 in their favor . In the second half , the Gophers returned to their power running game of old , and their offense consisted mostly of true freshman DeLeon Eskridge toting the rock , and adding two more scores to his one from the first half . He finished the game with 114 yards and 3 TDs , proving himself a capable replacement for previous starter Duane Bennett , who was lost for the remainder of the season after suffering a knee injury during the Bowling Green game . Despite their less - than - spectacular performance , the Gophers managed to hold on for a 35 – 23 victory , and began a season 3 – 0 for the first time since 2005 . Florida Atlantic . The Gophers hosted the Owls for a Saturday morning game in Minneapolis . Minnesota looked to be the better team almost from the beginning , and finished with a 37 – 3 rout of Florida Atlantic . The defense continued to show its vast improvement over the 2007 version , holding FAU to a mere 3 points , the lowest total by a Minnesota opponent since a 62 – 0 rout of Temple in 2006 . The Golden Gophers forced 4 interceptions by Owl QB Rusty Smith , widely considered to be a potential pro prospect . The offense was formidable as well , gaining a season - high 441 total yards . QB Adam Weber continued his solid , steady play , but did tally his first interception of the season on an ill - advised throw into triple coverage in an attempt to force the ball to WR Eric Decker in the end zone . The Gophers entered Big Ten play with a 4 – 0 record for the first time since 2005 . Ohio State . Minnesota traveled to Columbus , Ohio for a Saturday morning showdown with the # 13 Ohio State Buckeyes . The Gophers had not defeated OSU since a 29 – 17 upset victory in 2000 , and this contest would end no differently . Preseason Heisman hopeful Chris Wells and freshman phenom Terrelle Pryor started in the backfield for the first time ever , as Wells returned from a foot injury . The two combined for 203 yards rushing , and Ohio State led wire - to - wire for a 34 – 21 victory . After coming off the worst season in school history , the Gophers could at least take solace in the fact that they were competitive with the Buckeyes , and that their loss in the Big Ten season opener put them at a much - improved 4 – 1 record . Indiana . Eric Decker continued his outstanding junior campaign , catching a school - record 13 receptions for 190 yards , leading host Minnesota to a 16 – 7 victory over the visiting Indiana Hoosiers . The Saturday morning tilt started slow , as neither team scored until the 2nd quarter , with the halftime score being knotted at 7 – 7 . Minnesota ' s defense was stalwart the entire game , not allowing a first down until just before the half , with their only lapse being a 77 - yard TD pass to RB Marcus Thigpen on a blown coverage play . It turned out to be a rather nondescript affair overall , with K Joel Monroe ' s three second - half field goals staking the Gophers out to a 9 - point lead , which ended up being the final margin of victory . This was the first Big Ten win of Tim Brewster ' s career , and put Minnesota at 1 – 1 in conference play . Indiana fell to 0 – 2 against conference foes . Illinois . Minnesota traveled to Champaign , Illinois for an 11 am contest with the Fighting Illini . Though they were double - digit underdogs entering the game , the Gophers showed they were not intimidated , and led 7 – 3 at halftime . Once again , the Minnesota defense was the story of the game . Despite allowing 462 passing yards to standout QB Juice Williams , the swarming Gopher defense sacked him five times , forcing three turnovers and returning a Williams fumble for a touchdown . Minnesota held Illinois out of the endzone on a memorable goal line stand in the 3rd quarter . The referee initially signaled a touchdown on a scramble by Williams , but the call was overturned on a challenge , and firmly shifted the momentum in the Gophers ' favor . DE Willie VanDeSteeg was named Walter Camp national player of the week after his 3 sack , 5 tackle performance . He was also named Big Ten defensive player of the week . Coming off their horrible 1 – 11 performance the previous year , Minnesota became bowl - eligible with a 6 – 1 ( 2 – 1 ) record , while Illinois fell to 3 – 3 ( 1 – 2 ) . Minnesota held a winning conference record for the first time since 2005 . Later in the weekend , both AP and coaches voters put the Gophers in the top 25 , also for the first time since 2005 . Purdue . Minnesota , ranked # 24 in the initial 2008 BCS rankings and # 25 AP / Coaches , traveled to West Lafayette , Indiana for a Saturday morning game against the Purdue Boilermakers . Sophomore QB Adam Weber led the way for the Gopher offense , throwing for one TD and adding one on the ground as he accumulated 212 yards passing and 60 yards rushing . The Minnesota defense forced four Purdue turnovers and held the Boilermaker offense to just 226 total yards as they lost their homecoming game in coach Joe Tiller ' s final season . Purdue ( 2 – 6 , 0 – 4 ) lost for the 18th consecutive time to a ranked opponent , while the Gophers ( 7 – 1 , 3 – 1 ) won at Ross – Ade Stadium for the first time since 1990 . Michigan . The Michigan Wolverines , under first - year had coach Rich Rodriguez , entered the game already guaranteed of missing their first bowl game in 35 seasons . They were able to come out strong against the Gophers , prevailing 29 – 6 in the 91st battle for the Little Brown Jug . With the loss and the Gophers ' move to the new TCF Stadium for the 2009 season , the Michigan Wolverines closed the Metrodome - era of the series having never lost in the stadium in 12 tries . Iowa . In their final game at the Metrodome , the Gophers were embarrassed by the rival Iowa Hawkeyes , 55 – 0 , in front of 64 , 071 in the battle for Floyd of Rosedale . It was the fifth - worst loss in school history , the second - worst at home , and the worst ever in conference play .