1951 Minnesota Golden Gophers football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record2–6–1 (1–4–1 Big Ten)
Head coach
MVPRon Engel
CaptainWayne Robinson
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1950
1952 →
1951 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Illinois $ 5 – 0 – 1 9 – 0 – 1
Purdue 4 – 1 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
No. 8 Wisconsin 5 – 1 – 1 7 – 1 – 1
Michigan 4 – 2 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Ohio State 2 – 2 – 2 4 – 3 – 2
Northwestern 2 – 4 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Minnesota 1 – 4 – 1 2 – 6 – 1
Indiana 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Iowa 0 – 5 – 1 2 – 5 – 2
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1951 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1951 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first year under head coach Wes Fesler, the Golden Gophers compiled a 2–6–1 record and were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 258 to 162.[1] The team was ranked at No. 75 in the 1951 Litkenhous Ratings.[2]


No Golden Gophers players were named any major awards, All-American, Academic All-American, All-Big Ten or Academic All-Big Ten. It was the last season that no Golden Gopher players achieved any of the awards.[3]

Halfback Ron Engel was awarded the Team MVP Award.[4]

Total attendance for the season was 255,851, which averaged to 51,170. The season high for attendance was against Nebraska.[5]

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 29No. 8 Washington*
L 20-2551,148
October 6at No. 2 California*
L 14–5569,000
October 13Northwestern
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Minneapolis, MN
L 7–2151,915
October 20Nebraska*dagger
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)
W 39–2054,625
October 27at Michigan
L 27–5483,060[6]
November 3at Iowa
T 20–2040,000
November 10Indiana
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Minneapolis, MN
W 16–1445,986
November 17at Purdue
L 13–1929,000
November 24No. 8 Wisconsin
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)
L 6–3052,177
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

References

  1. ^ "1951 Minnesota Golden Gophers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  2. ^ "Vols Top Final 1951 Litkenhous Ratings". The Nashville Banner. December 14, 1951. p. 49 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), pp. 179–182[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 181[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 160[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ Lyall Smith (October 28, 1951). "M Doubles Up Gophers, 54-27". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1C, 2C – via Newspapers.com.
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