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Gophers football gets national audience for Rutgers clash

Minnesota will face the Scarlet Knights at 11 a.m. on NBC on Nov. 9.
Nolan O'Hara|
Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck during the second half against Illinois at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill., on Nov. 2, 2024.
Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck during the second half against Illinois at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill., on Nov. 2, 2024. | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

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Minnesota Golden Gophers

The Gophers football team has won four straight following its 25-17 victory over No. 24 Illinois in Champaign, Ill., on Saturday, and it’ll be looking to extend it to five when it takes on Rutgers on Nov. 9 in Piscataway, N.J. 

The Gophers and Scarlet Knights will get a national audience for the game. After the U’s win on Saturday, it was revealed the Minnesota-Rutgers game will kick off at 11 a.m. and it will be televised on NBC on Nov. 9. 

With the win over Illinois, the Gophers improved to 6-3 and earned bowl eligibility. Including the game against the Scarlet Knights, Minnesota has three games remaining, and if the U can knock off Rutgers on Nov. 9, that would set up a very intriguing matchup between a 7-3 Gophers team and a 7-1 Penn State team currently ranked No. 3 in the nation.

That takes place on Nov. 23 at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

The Scarlet Knights didn’t play on Saturday and will be looking to snap a four-game losing skid against the Gophers. They’re 4-4 overall, but just 1-4 in the Big Ten. They most recently got crushed 42-20 by Southern Cal on Oct. 25. 

The Minnesota-Rutgers game will be the fifth nationally televised game for the Gophers, and their third in a row. Their two most recent wins over Maryland and Illinois were televised on FS1; their game against Iowa on Sept. 21 was broadcast on NBC; and the nail-biter against Michigan on Sept. 28 was on FOX. They'll likely be on national TV the rest of the year.

The game against the Nittany Lions does not yet have a time or network set, but if the U beats Rutgers, that game likely gets national TV treatment, too. Minnesota's season finale at Wisconsin at 11 a.m. on Nov. 29 will be carried by CBS.

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Nolan O'Hara
NOLAN O'HARA

Nolan O'Hara covers all things Minnesota sports, primarily the Timberwolves, for Bring Me The News and Sports Illustrated's On SI network. He previously worked as a copy editor at the St. Paul Pioneer Press and is a graduate of the University of Minnesota's Hubbard School of Journalism. His work has appeared in the Pioneer Press, Ratchet & Wrench magazine, the Minnesota Daily and a number of local newspapers in Minnesota, among other publications.

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