Fleck’s record against Wisconsin is now 4-4, and they are 3-1 in the last four matchups. For context, Jerry Kill, Tracy Claeys and Tim Brewster combined to go 0-10 against the Badgers during their tenures as U of M head coaches, from 2007-2016, prior to PJ ‘s arrival in 2017. Glen Mason went 2-8, in his ten attempts.

Now that the regular season is wrapped up, the Minnesota Gophers are gearing up for a bowl game, which is expected to be the Duke Mayo Bowl. We’ll find out on Sunday where they’re heading, for sure, along with their opponent. In between, the transfer portal will be active. On Wednesday, we saw the first departures of the winter portal season, two upperclassmen running backs.

Minnesota Gophers RBs Jordan Nubin and Sieh Bangura enter the transfer portal

With just one season remaining of eligibility, Jordan Nubin is taking his talents elsewhere, probably where he can find the field more often. Same goes for the other transfer RB, Sieh Bangura, who saw limited action this year, after transferring in from Ohio University last offseason.

New beginnings🙏 pic.twitter.com/YOqr0ROc0U

— Jordan Nubin (@jnubin27) December 4, 2024

pic.twitter.com/77bS3v4Xkv

— Sieh Bangura🇸🇱 (@5iehBangura) December 4, 2024

Jordan Nubin has spent his entire collegiate career at the U of M. The brother of 2024 New York Giants draft pick, Tyler Nubin, Jordan’s role in the running back room has been more of the depth variety, though he has had some impressive performances, when thrown into the fire, due to injuries suffered by those in front of him on the depth chart.

Why are Nubin and Bangura entering the portal?

Nubin’s impact in 2024 shrunk even further, thanks to a healthy Darius Taylor. Transfer running back Marcus Major (Oklahoma) got all of the RB2 carries, relegating Jordan to just 11 carries for 19 yards. Compare that to last last season, when he ran the ball 127 times for 559 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Not only was Bangura’s tenure with the Minnesota Gophers brief, but it was underwhelming too. After amassing nearly 2,000 rushing yards over three seasons at Ohio, Sieh gained only 12 total rushing yards in his single season with the Gophers.

Related: Former Golden Gophers DC Lands New MAC Head Coaching Job

While the team sees two running backs walk through the transfer portal, the offense should remain in capable hands with Darius Taylor. Entering his junior year next season, Taylor has already amassed 2,097 all-purpose yards over his first two seasons.

What’s next for Minnesota Gophers running back room?

Behind Taylor…. the Minnesota Gophers are definitely looking a bit light, entering the bowl season. Marcus Major is out of eligibility. Freshman Fame Ijeboi is a name to keep an eye on.

Other running backs on roster are all freshman, including Jaydon Wright (FR), Cortez LeGrant (FR) and Kaeden Johnson (FR). They also had some even younger running backs sign on Wednesday, which was 2025 Early National Signing Day.

Related: Minnesota Gophers Football Commitment & Early NSD Tracker – 2025

With him likely taking most of the carries, assuming he stays injury-free, the Gophers look set for another strong season on the ground. Taylor’s also eyeing an NFL shot after what might be his last year with the team next season, but as we all know, the future in college football is anything but set in stone.

For much of Saturday’s contest, I wasn’t sure this postgame blog would hold a lot of positivity. The Gophers offense made its fair share of mistakes, especially early on, and could have easily been down two touchdowns in the first quarter.

Related: Gophers Moved Practice Indoors Last Week Over Concerns that Iowa was Spying on Outdoor Fields

But, that’s not how reality unfolded. Instead, Minnesota recovered from their slow start and managed to beat the Spartans in pretty convincing 27-12 fashion and moved to 5-3 (3-2) on the season.

And that'll do it for a @GopherFootball victory. 🤩

📺: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/n3cycrmbbr

— Minnesota on BTN (@MinnesotaOnBTN) October 28, 2023

4 Takeaways from Minnesota win vs Michigan State

Even when put in really difficult spots, the defense held strong and played their most impressive game of the month. Offensively, the shorthanded Gophers found a rhythm in both the run and pass game, that they haven’t displayed in weeks.

Yes, the victory was far from perfect. Hell, they started the game off with two lost fumbles within their own 30-yard line, the first of which happened on the 2nd play of the game. And yes, lost fumbles were only two of three Golden Gopher turnovers on the day.

Quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis, who was guilty of losing the second fumble in the first quarter, threw an ugly interception in the 3rd quarter that stunted what was an effective drive, to that point.

1. Early turnovers damper otherwise effective Gopher offense

But that was kind of the story much of the game on offense, for PJ Fleck & Co., who continually shot themselves in the foot with untimely mistakes and turnovers, early on. But, as the afternoon went on, Minnesota’s offense seemed to figure something out. Saturday was far from perfect, but the Minnesota offense definitely took a stride forward.

The golden gophers have answered with the lead. 🤩@25DanielJackson x @GopherFootball

📺: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/QhiDtR7MgD

— Minnesota on BTN (@MinnesotaOnBTN) October 28, 2023

Athan made mistakes but, overall, had one of his more impressive showings of the season, throwing for 200 yards and a touchdown. But really, this game came down to yet another surprise performance from a no-name Minnesota running back (keep reading). In total, the Gophers racked up over 35 minutes with the ball and 400 yards of offense.

2. Another Minnesota Gophers running back, Jordan Nubin, goes off

After senior transfer, Sean Tyler, coughed up that first fumble early in the contest, he was benched, in favor of redshirt freshman, Jordan Nubin (Tyler’s brother), who took the opportunity and (pun intended) ran with it, racking up over 200 yards on 40 carries (yes 40), with two touchdowns to go on top.

Related: PJ Fleck Pleads Gophers Fans and Boosters for More NIL Money

At this point, one has to question whether or not the Minnesota coaching staff identifies and develops running backs better than any other staff in the country or, if more credit should fall on the offensive line and its coaches.

Either way (probably some of both), the Gophers have proven they can run the ball all over just about any defense and with just about any running back. As long as they can hold onto the football.

First career TD for @jnubin27. 🤗

📺: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/tj6iUbf9Dw

— Minnesota on BTN (@MinnesotaOnBTN) October 28, 2023

3. Joe Rossi’s Defense is back?

The improvement we’ve seen from the Minnesota Gophers defense over the past few weeks, between today and last Saturday in Kinnick, is night and day vs the three weeks prior. Seven days after holding Iowa to 10 total points, Joe Rossi’s defense surrendered just 12 points to the mess of an offense that is Michigan State.

Still, turning an opponent over 3 times while holding them under two touchdowns is impressive, even if that team’s offense isn’t. I wouldn’t expect those results in a few weeks, when the Gophers travel to the Horseshoe to play Ohio State.

But with that being said, Minnesota has games the next two weeks vs Illinois and Purdue that could continue to build their confidence. Given how they surrendered over 100 points total in their last three matchups vs Michigan, Louisiana and Northwestern to start October.

It's @GopherFootball's ball. 😤

📺: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/Qr005yqlE7

— Minnesota on BTN (@MinnesotaOnBTN) October 28, 2023

4. Zebras weren’t friends of Gophers today

After referees made the correct ruling late last week vs Iowa, when they called Cooper DeJean’s invalid fair catch back, they had no interest in making calls that favored Minnesota this weekend.

Related: PJ Fleck Very Passionate About How Noncontroversial an Invalid Fair Catch Ruling is

Whether it was a phony defensive pass interference call, that really should’ve been a penalty against the Michigan State wide receiver, or QB Athan Kaliakmanis getting thrown to the turf long after whistles blew… the zebras at Huntington Banks Stadium on Saturday kept their flags pocketed, when it may have helped the home team.

But, striped discrimination could not stop the Minnesota Gophers from finding a way to victory this weekend, moving them to 5-3 (3-2) on a season that still has hope of a Big Ten West championship.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan