The 2009 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team was the third under head coach Tim Brewster

Tim Brewster

Tim Brewster is an American football player and coach. He most recently served as the head coach of the University of Minnesota from 2007 until he was fired midway through the Golden Gophers' 2010 season.-Playing career:...

. They began play on September 5, 2009, at Syracuse

2009 Syracuse Orange football team

The 2009 Syracuse Orange football team represented Syracuse University during the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Orange was coached by Doug Marrone and played its home games in the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. The Orange finished the season 4–8 and 1–6 in Big East...

, a member of the Big East Conference

Big East Conference

The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of sixteen universities in the eastern half of the United States. The conference's 17 members participate in 24 NCAA sports...

. On September 12, the Minnesota opened the new TCF Bank Stadium

TCF Bank Stadium

TCF Bank Stadium, sometimes referred to as either "The Bank" or "The Gopher Hole," is the football stadium for the Minnesota Golden Gophers college football team at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota...

 with a 20–13 win against Air Force

2009 Air Force Falcons football team

The 2009 Air Force Falcons football team represented the United States Air Force Academy during the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Air Force competed as a member of the Mountain West Conference. The Falcons were coached by third-year head coach Troy Calhoun...

, moving from the Metrodome

Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome

The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, commonly called the Metrodome, is a domed sports stadium in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Opened in 1982, it replaced Metropolitan Stadium, which was on the current site of the Mall of America in Bloomington and Memorial Stadium on the University...

, which had been their home stadium since 1982. The Golden Gophers finished the season 6–7 and 3–5 in Big Ten play and lost 13–14 to Iowa State

2009 Iowa State Cyclones football team

The 2009 Iowa State Cyclones football team represented Iowa State University in the college football season of 2009-2010. The team was led by first year head coach Paul Rhoads. They played their home games at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa...

 in the Insight Bowl

2009 Insight Bowl

The 2009 Insight Bowl was the 21st edition of the college football bowl game, played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. The game matched the Iowa State Cyclones against the Minnesota Golden Gophers and kicked off at 6:00 PM US EST on Thursday, December 31, 2009...

. Despite the worse overall record, the Golden Gophers only suffered two blowout losses in the 2009 season (20-0 to Penn State and 38-7 to Ohio State), compared to 3 in 2008 (55-0 to Iowa, 42-21 to Kansas, 29-6 to a 3-9 Michigan team, and you could possibly also include a 34-21 loss to Ohio State that was 34-6 until the Buckeye reserves came in).

Preseason

The Golden Gophers came off a 7–6 season after starting 7–1, capped by an appearance in the 2008 Insight Bowl

2008 Insight Bowl

The 2008 Insight Bowl was a college football bowl game played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. The game, in its 20th year of existence, began at 5:30 p.m. EST on Wednesday, December 31, 2008...

. On January 6, offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar resigned and defensive coordinator Ted Roof

Ted Roof

Terrence Edwin Roof, Jr. is an American football coach and former player. Currently, he is the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Auburn University. Roof served as the head coach at Duke University from 2003 to 2007, compiling a 6–45 record...

 left Minnesota for Auburn

2009 Auburn Tigers football team

The 2009 Auburn Tigers football team represented Auburn University during the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tigers were led by first year head coach Gene Chizik...

. On January 9, former Nebraska defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove was hired as the co-defensive coordinator, a position he will share with Ronnie Lee. On January 21, Jedd Fisch was named the offensive coordinator. He had previously been the wide receivers coach for the Denver Broncos

Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

.

Schedule

Syracuse

Air Force

California

Northwestern

Wisconsin

Purdue

Penn State

Ohio State

Michigan State

Illinois

South Dakota State

Iowa

Iowa State

Rankings

Ranking Movement

Poll	Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Final
AP
Coaches
Harris	Not released
BCS	Not released