2016 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

American college football season August 2023 February 2026 2016 Minnesota Golden Gophers football Minnesota Golden Gophers logo.svg 125 Big Ten Conference West Division Big Ten 9–4 5–4 Tracy Claeys 1st Jay Johnson 1st Multiple Jay Sawvel 1st 4–3 Mitch Leidner Brandon Lingen Jack Lynn Damarius Travis TCF Bank Stadium Holiday Bowl champion Holiday Bowl W 17–12 vs. Washington State The 2016 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They played home games at TCF Bank Stadium. They were a member of the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 9–4, 5–4 in conference play to finish in fourth place in the West Division. They were invited to the Holiday Bowl where they defeated Washington State. The Golden Gophers were led by Tracy Claeys in his first and only season as head coach. Claeys was fired by the university on January 3 after he publicy backed a player-led boycott of the Holiday Bowl, following the suspension of ten players that were accused of sexual assault.ESPN https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/20436794/fired-minnesota-golden-gophers-football-coach-tracy-claeys-defends-leadership-report Ex-Gophers coach Tracy Claeys defends leadership after report August 23, 2017 April 8, 2026 Schedule Minnesota faced all six West Division opponents: Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue, and Wisconsin. The Gophers also faced East Division opponents Maryland, Penn State, and Rutgers.http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/future-schedules.html Future Schedules 2015-12-01 2015-12-26 https://web.archive.org/web/20151226134259/http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/future-schedules.html dead Minnesota played three non-conference games: Oregon State of the Pac-12 Conference, Indiana State of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, and Colorado State of the Mountain West Conference. Minnesota had one bye week during the season between their games against Indiana State and Colorado State. 2016 AP Central September 1 8:00 pm w y Oregon State TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN BTN 30–23 44,582 September 10 11:00 am w y Indiana State TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN ESPNews 58–28 41,026 September 24 11:00 am w y Colorado State TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN ESPNU 31–24 44,854 October 1 2:30 pm l y Penn State Beaver Stadium University Park, PA Governor's Victory Bell BTN 26–29 OT 95,332 October 8 11:00 am l Iowa TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN rivalry ESPN2 7–14 49,145 October 15 11:00 am w y Maryland Maryland Stadium College Park, MD ESPNU 31–10 41,465 October 22 11:00 am w y Rutgers TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN ESPNU 34–32 46,096 October 29 11:00 am w y Illinois Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL BTN 40–17 40,090 November 5 2:30 pm w Purdue TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN BTN 44–31 42,832 November 12 6:30 pm l y Nebraska 21 Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE rivalry BTN 17–24 90,456 November 19 2:30 pm w Northwestern TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN BTN 29–12 38,162 November 26 2:30 pm l y Wisconsin 5 Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI rivalry BTN 17–31 77,216 December 27 6:00 pm w y y Washington State Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, CA Holiday Bowl ESPN 17–12 48,704 Game summaries Oregon State Beavers 7 7 9 0 Golden Gophers 0 17 0 13 2016 Oregon State Beavers football team Indiana State Sycamores 7 0 14 7 Golden Gophers 14 24 10 10 2016 Indiana State Sycamores football team Colorado State Rams 7 0 10 7 Golden Gophers 7 10 7 7 2016 Colorado State Rams football team At Penn State Golden Gophers 3 10 0 10 3 Nittany Lions 0 3 17 3 6 2016 Penn State Nittany Lions football team Governor's Victory Bell Iowa Hawkeyes 0 3 3 8 Golden Gophers 0 0 7 0 2016 Iowa Hawkeyes football team Iowa–Minnesota football rivalry At Maryland Golden Gophers 0 14 3 14 Terrapins 0 0 0 10 2016 Maryland Terrapins football team Rutgers Scarlet Knights 3 7 13 9 Golden Gophers 21 0 10 3 2016 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team At Illinois Golden Gophers 14 0 7 19 Fighting Illini 7 0 7 3 2016 Illinois Fighting Illini football team Purdue Boilermakers 14 14 0 3 Golden Gophers 10 13 7 14 2016 Purdue Boilermakers football team thumb|left|Purdue at Minnesota At #21 Nebraska Golden Gophers 7 10 0 0 #21 Cornhuskers 3 7 7 7 2016 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team Minnesota–Nebraska football rivalry Northwestern Wildcats 0 0 6 6 Golden Gophers 6 6 3 14 2016 Northwestern Wildcats football team At #6 Wisconsin Golden Gophers 3 14 0 0 #6 Badgers 0 7 3 21 2016 Wisconsin Badgers football team Minnesota–Wisconsin football rivalry Washington State–Holiday Bowl Golden Gophers 0 3 7 7 Cougars 3 3 0 6 2016 Washington State Cougars football team 2016 Holiday Bowl Personnel Coaching staff Name Position Alma mater Joined Staff Tracy Claeys Head coach Kansas State (1994) 2010 Brian Anderson Wide receivers coach Illinois (1994) 2010 Jay Johnson Offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach Northern Iowa (1993) 2015 Bart Miller Offensive line coach New Mexico (2007) 2015 Jeff Phelps Defensive line coach Ball State (1997) 2010 Pat Poore Running backs coach / co-special team coordinator Fort Hays State (1984) 2010 Rob Reeves H-backs coach / tight ends coach Saginaw Valley State (1996) 2010 Jay Sawvel Defensive coordinator Mount Union (1993) 2010 Mike Sherels Linebackers coach Minnesota (2007) 2013 Dan O'Brien Assistant Defensive Backs / co-special team coordinator / assistant head coach St. Thomas (1987) 2010 Eric Klein Strength and conditioning Carleton College (1993) 2010 Roster 2016 Minnesota Golden Gophers y Rodney Smith 1 RB SO y y Rodney Smith (running back) Isaiah Gentry 2 WR SO y Melvin Holland 5 WR SO y Tyler Johnson 6 WR FR y Tyler Johnson (American football) Mitch Leidner 7 QB SR y y C Mark Williams 8 QB FR Eric Carter 9 WR JR y Demry Croft 11 QB SO Hunter Register 12 WR FR y Conor Rhoda 15 QB JR y Seth Green 17 QB FR Clay Geary 18 WR FR Michael Conway 19 WR JR y Adam Mayer 20 WR FR y Kobe McCrary 22 RB FR Shannon Brooks 23 RB SO Drew Hmielewski 24 WR FR Phillip Howard 25 WR FR Brian Smith 26 WR JR y James Johannesson 27 RB FR y Jonathan Femi-Cole 28 RB FR y Carlton Djam 29 RB SO y Connor Mohs 40 FB FR Ko Kieft 42 TE FR Colton Beebe 44 TE FR y Nick Hart 45 TE JR y Bryce Witham 49 TE FR y Luke Rasmussen 53 OL SO y Connor Mayes 55 OL JR Quinn Oseland 58 OL FR y Matt Leidner 60 OL JR y Bronson Dovich 61 OL FR y Jared Weyler 62 OL SO y Conner Olson 64 OL FR Ted Stieber 66 OL FR y Chad Fahning 70 OL JR y Sam Schlueter 71 OL FR Donnell Greene 73 OL SO y Nick Connelly 74 OL FR y Noah Kuehn 75 OL FR y Vincent Calhoun 76 OL JR Tyler Moore 77 OL SO Garrison Wright 78 OL JR Jonah Pirsig 79 OL SR y Nate Wozniak 80 TE JR y y Duke Anyanwu 81 TE JR y Drew Wolitarsky 82 WR SR y Danny Pietruszewski 83 TE FR Will Reger 84 WR SO y Bryce Witham 85 TE FR y Brandon Lingen 86 TE JR C Rashad Still 88 WR SO Matt Morse 89 WR FR y Dior Johnson 2 DB FR y KiAnte Hardin 3 DB SO Adekunle Ayinde 4 DB JR y Jalen Myrick y 5 DB SR Ace Rogers 6 DB SR y Damarius Travis 7 DB SR y C Duke McGhee 8 DB JR y Jerry Gibson 9 DL SO y Antoine Winfield Jr. y 11 DB FR Cody Poock 12 LB JR y Jonathan Celestin 13 LB JR Zo Craighton 14 DB FR y Everett Williams 15 LB JR Coney Durr 16 CB FR Jacob Huff 17 DB SO Gary Moore 19 DL SO y Julian Huff 20 DB SO Ray Buford 21 DB FR y Joey Gorgen 22 DB FR y Troy Dipre 24 DB FR y Calvin Swenson 26 DB FR Eric Amoako 30 DB SR y Kiondre Thomas 31 DB FR Tamarion Johnson 33 DL FR Antonio Shenault 34 DB SO Jaylen Waters 35 LB FR y Blake Cashman 36 DB SO y Alexander Starks 40 DB SR y Thomas Barber 41 LB FR Bailey Schoenfelder 43 LB FR Kamal Martin y 44 LB FR Carter Coughlin 45 LB FR y Blake Weber 48 LB JR Jack Lynn 50 LB SR y C y Jack Lynn (American football) Yoshoub Timms 52 DL SR y Nick Rallis 56 LB SR y Ray Dixon 59 LB JR y Gaelin Elmore 87 DL JR Winston DeLattiboudere 88 DL FR y y Winston DeLattiboudere III Sam Renner 90 DL FR y Julien Kafo 91 DE SO y Tai'yon Devers 92 DL FR Merrick Jackson 93 DL JR Hendrick Ekpe 95 DL SR Steven Richardson 96 DL JR Scott Ekpe 97 DL SR y Andrew Stelter 99 DE JR Ryan Santoso 18 K P JR y y Payton Jordahl 25 LS SO y Andrew Harte 33 K JR y Logan McElfresh 34 P SO y John Mack 37 K FR Emmit Carpenter 38 K SO y Trey Hansen 39 LS FR y Justin Juenemann 42 K JR y Jacob Herbers 47 P FR y http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/minn-m-footbl-mtt.html August 17, 2016 Tracy Claeys (head coach) Brian Anderson (wide receivers) Jay Johnson (offensive coordinator / quarterbacks) Bart Miller (offensive Line) Dan O'Brien (asst. Defensive Backs / co-special teams coordinator / asst. to the head coach) Jeff Phelps (defensive line) Pat Poore (running backs / co-special teams coordinator) Rob Reeves (H-backs / tight ends) Jay Sawvel (defensive coordinator) Mike Sherels (linebackers) Awards and honors Weekly AwardsMinnesota Golden Gophers Player Award Date Awarded unsortable Ref. Emmit Carpenter Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week October 3, 2016 http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/100316aaa.html Big Ten Football Players of the Week October 3, 2016 Big Ten Conference Big Ten Conference November 16, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20161005093537/http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/100316aaa.html October 5, 2016 dead Rodney Smith Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week October 24, 2016 http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/102416aaa.html Big Ten Football Players of the Week October 24, 2016 Big Ten Conference Big Ten Conference November 16, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20161025111916/http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/102416aaa.html October 25, 2016 dead Emmit CarpenterBig Ten Special Teams Player of the WeekNovember 7, 2016http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/110716aaa.html Big Ten Football Players of the Week November 7, 2016 Big Ten Conference Big Ten Conference November 16, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20161113140829/http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/110716aaa.html November 13, 2016 dead mdy-all Blake Cashman Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week November 21, 2016 http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/112116aaa.html Big Ten Football Players of the Week November 21, 2016 Big Ten Conference Big Ten Conference November 21, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20161121235300/http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/112116aaa.html November 21, 2016 dead mdy-all Players drafted into the NFL 2017 NFL draft Minnesota Golden Gophers Round Pick Player Position NFL Club 7 222 Jalen Myrick CB Jacksonville Jaguars References Minnesota Category:Minnesota Golden Gophers football seasons Category:Holiday Bowl champion seasons Minnesota Golden Gophers football