Way Too Early Michigan Football Opponent Preview: Week 5 at Minnesota

Michigan will open the season with games against Western Michigan, Oklahoma, and UTEP in non-conference play to begin the 2026 season, and their first Big Ten game will be Iowa at home. In week five it will be their first game away from home as they travel to Minnesota to take on PJ Fleck and the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Let's dive more into how that matchup looks as we head into the 2026 college football season.

2025 Recap

Minnesota finished 2025 at 8-5 overall, and 5-4 in Big Ten play. Their season was fairly unspectacular as they lost to Cal on the road, got smoked by Ohio State, Oregon, and Iowa, and also lost to Northwestern. They also needed overtime to beat Michigan State and New Mexico in their bowl game. They were 8-5 on paper, but could've easily been 6-7.

Their offense was pretty lackluster last year, ranking 102nd nationally in points scored, as well as 129th in total offense. Quarterback Drake Lindsey in his first year as a starter had a pretty good season throwing for 2,382 yards with 18 TD's and 6 interceptions. He also ran for another 4 TD's. Despite getting good quarterback play, the offense sputtered without a running game to help keep defenses honest.

On defense they were much better, ranking 50th nationally in scoring defense, and 34th in total defense. That was despite losing their defensive coordinator to Miami (FL) the previous off-season. New defensive coordinator Danny Collins stepped in and filled the defensive coordinator job after being the safeties coach the previous four seasons. He did a really nice job to keep their defense playing at a high level in 2025.

Darius Taylor of the Minnesota Gophers weaves past New Mexico defense | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Moves made for 2026

Back at quarterback to lead Minnesota once again is Drake Lindsey, who's being projected in some NFL circles as a potential first round quarterback following this season. Also back at running back is Darius Taylor, who missed some games last season but ended up with 670 yards and 4 TD's. In 2024 he had 986 yards and 10 TD's, so he'll be looking to get back to that type of level in 2026.

In terms of returning production, Minnesota ranks 7th nationally in returning production percentage at 68% overall. On offense they return 71% of their 2025 production, and on defense it is 65%. Minnesota should be a better football team in 2026 than they were in 2025 just based on how much they bring back, especially having their star quarterback back for another year. The question for them will be how much better are they than they were last season?

New Mexico Lobos wide receiver Keagan Johnson catches a pass for a two point conversion against Minnesota Golden Gophers linebacker Maverick Baranowski | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Why Michigan should be able to handle the Golden Gophers

Michigan doesn't return quite as much as Minnesota does from last year, but they do still rank 20th nationally at 63% returning production. Michigan was also just a better football last year. This game does come on the road, but Minnesota isn't exactly known for having raucous home field crowds.

Michigan also has a big upgrade on the coaching staff from 2025 to 2026 with new head coach Kyle Whittingham, along with high-level coordinators Jason Beck and Jay Hill. Michigan should be able to go on the road and win this game, but it might not be easy. At this point I'd predict something like a 27-17 Michigan win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

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