THE ESSENTIALS
Date/Time: Oct. 12, 2024 / 8 p.m. CT
Site: Pasadena, Calif.
Stadium: Rose Bowl Stadium
Surface: Natural Grass
Capacity: 91,136
Series Overall: Minnesota leads 2-1
Series Streak: Minnesota lost 1
Series at UCLA: Minnesota trails 0-1
Streak at UCLA: Minnesota lost 1
First Meeting: Minnesota won 21-3 in the 1962 Rose Bowl (1/1/1962)
Last Meeting: Minnesota lost 17-3 in Los Angeles (9/30/1978)
PERICH PERFORMS
Gopher freshman Koi Perich of Esko was a hero last week and MNN sports director Mike Grimm chatted with him about the big win over USC and his game-sealing interception:
Koi Perich
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
1. Coming off a 24-17 upset of No. 11 USC at Huntington Bank Stadium last week, Minnesota (3-3, 1-2 B1G) heads back out on the road Saturday for its initial Big Ten matchup with UCLA (1-4, 0-3 B1G). Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT with the game airing on the Big Ten Network and the Gopher Radio Network.
2. Saturday marks Minnesota’s third all-time game in Rose Bowl Stadium and first since 1962. Minnesota’s first trip came after the 1960 regular season when it lost 17-7 to Washington in the 1961 Rose Bowl, the first bowl game in program history. The Gophers returned the following season to defeat UCLA, 21-3, in the 1962 Rose Bowl which is detailed on Page 2 of the notes. The crowd of 98,214 for that contest still stands as the largest neutral-site attendance for a Minnesota game in program history.
3. The Gophers enter Saturday’s game allowing just 114.0 passing yards per game, best in the FBS and best for Minnesota through six games since at least the 2000 season (see chart on Page 7). The next closest team this year is Texas at 121.6 yards per contest, while the No. 2 Big Ten program is Washington at 125.5 yards. USC’s 200 passing yards last week marked a season-high for a Minnesota opponent, but even that was well below the Trojans’ average of 316.0 passing yards entering the game that ranked 12th in the FBS. In fact, it was just the 11th time in Lincoln Riley’s 97 games as a head coach that his team was held to 200 passing yards or fewer. The opening to the season marks the first time since at least 2000 that Minnesota has gone six straight games holding an opponent to 200 or fewer pass yards. More on the defense can be found on Page 7 of the notes.
4. True freshman Koi Perich has made quite a tremendous impact on both special teams and defense so far this season. He’s returned six punts for a total of 135 yards this season, which is already the most by a Gopher since Craig James had 139 in 2014, while Perich’s current average of 22.5 yards per punt return would shatter the Gopher single-season record of 16.9 set by Paul Giel in 1953. At Michigan on Sept. 28, Perich returned two punts for 82 yards, the most punt return yards by a player in eight years under P.J. Fleck. One of those returns was a 60-yarder 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 of the Fleck era, and, in six career games, he’s got two of the five longest punt returns in the Fleck era including a 28-yarder against Rhode Island. Perich, who is also the team’s primary kick return with seven returns for 124 yards, is coming off a game against USC where he had a career-high six tackles, forced a fumble for the first time in his career and had a game-sealing interception, his second pick of the season. The performance earned him honors from the Shaun Alexander Award, as well as the Paul Hornung Award. Since 2000, only five other freshmen in all of FBS have recorded over 100 punt return yards, 100 kick return yards and two interceptions in one season.
5. The 2024 campaign is the eighth for head coach P.J. Fleck at Minnesota, where his record stands at 53-37. He is fifth in program history for overall wins, Big Ten wins (30) and games coached (90). Fleck’s .589 win percentage is third best among Minnesota coaches with at least 45 games under their helm behind only Henry L. Williams (.786, 1900-21) and Bernie Bierman (.716, 1932-41, ’45-50). In his 12th season overall as a college head coach, Fleck is 83-59 (.585).
(info and photos courtesy of Gopher Sports)
