2007 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team The 2007 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team was the first for new head coach Tim Brewster . They began play on September 1 , 2007 at home against Bowling Green and finished the season with a record of 1 win and 11 losses . Preseason . On January 15 , 2007 it was reported on ESPN . com that Tim Brewster was the choice of University of Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi to replace Glen Mason as the Gophers head coach . The following day , January 16 , Minnesota associate athletic director Tom Wistrcill confirmed that Brewster was indeed the University ' s choice , with the contract signed in the early morning . Brewster was officially presented as the new head coach on Wednesday , January 17 at the McNamara Alumni Center on the University of Minnesota campus . At his first press conference , Brewster stated that his immediate goals for the program were to " win the Big Ten championship " and " take the Gopher Nation to Pasadena . " Off - field incidents . On April 6 , 2007 , Gopher players Alex Daniels , Keith Massey , and E . J . Jones were arrested on suspicion of rape of an 18 - year - old Minneapolis woman at the University Village apartment complex . On April 9 , 2007 they were released without being charged pending further investigation . On July 16 , 2007 , Dominic Jones was arrested and charged in Hennepin County District Court with criminal sexual conduct after video of the incident was discovered . All four players involved were kicked off the team . Game notes . Bowling Green . In Tim Brewster ' s first game as Gopher head coach , Bowling Green flew out to a 21 – 0 first half lead . The Gophers finally got in gear midway through the third quarter , and proceeded to score four straight times , the final score being a 33 yard Jason Giannini field goal to give Minnesota a 24 – 21 lead with 2 : 12 remaining . Bowling Green then drove down the field and kicked a 35 yard field goal with 0 : 03 left in the game to tie the score at 24 – 24 and send the game to overtime . In the overtime session , the Gophers took the ball first and scored a touchdown , scoring on a 22 yard Amir Pinnix run , and converting the extra point to go up 31 – 24 . Bowling Green followed that up with a touchdown of their own , but instead of trying to tie the game with an extra point , the Falcons went for two . They converted it on a Marques Parks reception to win the game , 32 – 31 . Miami ( Ohio ) . Tim Brewster got his first win as a college head coach in a 41 – 35 , three overtime victory . After the Gophers pulled out to a 28 – 12 lead mid - way through the 4th quarter , Miami started a furious comeback , tying the game on a 36 yard Trevor Cook field goal with 11 seconds left in regulation . In the first overtime both teams traded touchdowns . In the second overtime both teams missed potentially game winning field goals . In the third overtime , Gopher cornerback Jamal Harris intercepted a Daniel Raudabaugh pass in the endzone . The Gophers then took the ball and scored the game winning touchdown on an Amir Pinnix 2 yard touchdown run . Going back to Insight Bowl last season , it was the third consecutive overtime game for the Gophers . Florida Atlantic . The Golden Gophers took their first regular season trip to Florida . Their only previous game in Florida was in the 2000 MicronPC . com Bowl . A back and forth first quarter left the score tied at 14 . FAU then scored 21 unanswered points in the second quarter , giving a 35 – 21 margin at the half . A field goal and touchdown from the Gophers in the third quarter brought the Gophers eleven points away from tying the score . The Owls scored the deciding touchdown with under 12 minutes left in the game . Minnesota scored two more touchdowns , but the lead eventually proved insurmountable . The Gophers turned over the ball seven times ( four interceptions and three fumbles ) . Purdue . Purdue scored early and often against the Golden Gophers . On the first play of the game , Purdue scored a special teams touchdown when Dorien Bryant returned the opening kickoff the distance . Later in the first quarter Purdue scored an offensive touchdown on a Curtis Painter pass , and on the first play of the second quarter the Boilermakers scored a defensive touchdown on an interception return off an Adam Weber pass . Four first half turnovers made the Gophers comeback attempts difficult . Right before the half , Gophers cornerback Jamal Harris returned a blocked field goal and dropped the ball at about the 15 yard - line . Minnesota finally got in gear in the second half , scoring 28 points , but the Gopher defense could not stop Purdue , as the Boilermakers tacked on three more touchdowns to win the game 45 – 31 . Ohio State . The Golden Gophers entered their second Big 10 game of the season against the No . 8 Ohio State Buckeyes with nothing to lose . In an attempt to gain an element of surprise , the Gophers warmed up on the field in their standard maroon home jerseys , but switched to new gold jerseys before taking the field for the game ( alternatively described by the media as " mustard " or " garish " ) . Although Minnesota played better than it had previously in the season , the outmanned team fell victim to numerous mistakes that cost the Gophers several opportunities . With the construction of the new TCF Bank Stadium scheduled to be finished by the 2009 season , the Buckeyes are assured of never losing in the Metrodome , finishing with an 11 – 0 record since the Gophers moved to the Dome in 1982 . Indiana . Minnesota entered their first Big Ten road game of the season looking for their first conference victory . The Gophers gathered 392 yards of offense in a losing effort . Gophers quarterback Adam Weber passed for 280 yards , but also had two interceptions . Indiana connected on four field goal tries , ranging from 25 to 47 yards in length . Two of Minnesota ' s drives into Indiana territory were turned over on downs . Six of Minnesota ' s 12 drives started at or behind their own 20 yard line . Northwestern . The Gophers continued Big 10 play by visiting the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field . Before a crowd of 23 , 314 , the Gophers took a 21 - point lead in the 2nd half , ahead 35 – 14 with 6 minutes , 18 seconds left in the third quarter . However , the Wildcats were able to tie the game by taking advantage of two interceptions and making the tying score with a 4 - yard touchdown pass on fourth - and - goal with 8 seconds remaining . Going into the second overtime , Tim Brewster , who turned 47 that day , elected to for a two - point conversion and the win , but the conversion failed and Northwestern pulled out the victory . The decision to gamble and go for two - points and the win instead of one - point and the next overtime period drew criticism for Brewster ; as Northwestern defense appeared unable to stop the Minnesota offense . The Gophers finished with 580 total yards while Northwestern had 589 ; they combined for 169 plays . Gopher quarterback Adam Weber finished with 25 of 38 passes for 341 yards and five touchdowns , with two interceptions , while also rushing for 89 yards and one touchdown on 13 carries ; his total yards and 5 TD passes were the second most in school history . Receiver Ernie Wheelwright had a career best seven catches for 116 yards and three touchdowns . Jay Thomas rushed for 100 yards on 22 carries . North Dakota State . The North Dakota State Bison of the Football Championship Subdivision ( formerly Division I - AA ) , led by head coach Craig Bohl , visited the Gophers for the second year in a row after nearly upseting them in a 10 – 9 decision the previous season . NDSU entered the game ranked No . 1 in I - AA ( but ineligible for the playoffs due to the its transition period from Division II ) and undefeated at 5 – 0 , including a 44 – 14 win over FBS ( D - IA ) Central Michigan . The Bison were previously 0 - 6 all - time against the Gophers . Coach Tim Brewster stated in the week before the game that he did not see the recruiting value in the Gophers playing the match - up , and referred to the Bison as " the little guys in green . " The Bison defeated the Gophers 27 – 21 in front of 63 , 088 , the most people to attend a Gopher game to that point in the season . The Gophers were dominated in every facet of the game , by a team with 22 fewer scholarship players and none with scholarship offers by Minnesota . The game was considered a low point for the program as a whole . NDSU rushed for 394 yards and totaled 585 yards with an edge in time of possession of nearly 14 minutes . Bison running back Tyler Roehl had a school - record 263 yards on 22 carries with one touchdown . The defeat put the Gophers at 1 – 7 and official out of contention for a bowl game bid . The victory extended NDSU ' s winning streak to 11 - games , then the longest in all of Division I football . Approximately 30 , 000 of those in attendance were NDSU fans . In addition , the North Dakota State received $ 300 , 000 from the University of Minnesota for appearing in the game . Michigan . In the battle for the Little Brown Jug , the Gophers held Michigan scoreless in the first quarter while building a 10 – 0 lead twelve seconds into the second quarter after a 46 - yard fumble return for a touchdown by senior safety Dominique Barber . That would be the last time the Gophers would score however , and Michigan responded by reeling off 34 unanswered points to win the game 34 – 10 . Ryan Mallett had 233 yards passing for Michigan . 162 of those yards went to Mario Manningham , who also hauled in a touchdown pass . The Wolverine running back duo of Carlos Brown and Brandon Minor combined for 289 yards on the ground . Duane Bennett had 106 yards rushing for the Gophers while Adam Weber was limited to just 99 yards through the air . Minnesota was just 2 of 13 in converting third down opportunities . Illinois . Illinois found success on offense early and often in defeating Minnesota in their homecoming game , 44 – 10 . The Illini led 14 – 0 after the first quarter , and expanded their lead to 34 – 10 at halftime . The Illini rolled up 655 yards of total offense , which included a season high 448 yards rushing . Rashard Mendenhall led the Illini attack with 201 yards on the ground , with quarterback Juice Williams adding 133 yards . Ernie Wheelwright led the Gopher attack with 9 catches for 133 yards and one touchdown . Iowa . The Hawkeyes won a defensive battle , claiming the Floyd of Rosedale and dropping Minnesota to 0 – 7 in the Big Ten . Albert Young rushed for 92 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Hawkeyes , while Jake Christensen threw a TD pass to Brandon Myers for the other score . Eric Decker caught a 22 yard touchdown pass from Adam Weber with 1 : 38 left in the fourth quarter to make the game close , but the two point conversion failed and Iowa ran out the clock for the victory . Wisconsin . The Wisconsin Badgers won the battle for Paul Bunyan ' s Axe in a game featuring a lot of offense . Minnesota led the game 13 – 10 at halftime , but after the break Wisconsin outscored Minnesota 31 – 21 to win the game by 7 . Freshman David Gilreath had two punt returns for 106 yards to spark Wisconsin . Running back Zach Brown led the Badger attack on the ground , rushing for 250 yards and two touchdowns . Led by Adam Weber ' s 352 yards passing and 87 yards rushing , Minnesota rolled up 501 ones yards in total offense in defeat . The loss completed Minnesota ' s first winless Big Ten campaign since 1983 . Awards and honors . Team awards . Bronko Nagurski Award ( Team Most Valuable Player ) Bruce Smith Award ( Outstanding Offensive Player ) Carl Eller Award ( Outstanding Defensive Player ) Bobby Bell Award ( Outstanding Special Teams Player ) Butch Nash Award ( Competitive on the field and in the classroom ) Paul Giel Award ( Unselfishness and most concern about the U of M ) Neil Fredenburg Award ( Courage and Love of the Game ) Outstanding First Year Player Outstanding Scout Team Players Coaches Award for Career Achievement Tony Dungy Character and Community Service Award