Penn State hosts Minnesota on Saturday for its 2009 Homecoming Game. The Nittany Lions have an impressive 64-20-5 record in front of the alumni audience, winning 38 of 43 Homecoming tilts under Joe Paterno. The Golden Gophers are Penn State’s Homecoming opponent for the third time. In 1997, the Nittany Lions rallied for a 16-15 win. In 1999, Minnesota kicked a field goal on the final play to beat unbeaten and No. 2 Penn State, 24-23.
The Numbers - Penn State-Minnesota Series
Penn State leads, 6-4
H: 3-2; A: 3-2; N: 0-0
Sept. 4, 1993 at Penn State 38, Minnesota 20
Sept. 3, 1994 Penn State 56, at Minnesota 3
Oct. 18, 1997 at Penn State 16, Minnesota 15
Oct. 10, 1998 Penn State 27, at Minnesota 17
Nov. 6, 1999 Minnesota 24, at Penn State 23
Oct. 7, 2000 at Minnesota 25, Penn State 16
Sept. 27, 2003 Minnesota 20, at Penn State 14
Oct. 2, 2004 at Minnesota 16, Penn State 7
Oct. 1, 2005 at Penn State 44, Minnesota 14
Oct. 7, 2006 (OT) Penn State 28, at Minnesota 27
Last Meeting – 2006
Penn State fell behind early, led most of the second half and saw host Minnesota score late to tie the game before claiming a 28-27 overtime win on Oct. 7, 2006 at the Metrodome. The Nittany Lions earned their first road win of the season and improved to 2-3 all-time in overtime. Tony Hunt ran for 144 yards on a career-best 31 attempts and two touchdowns and made his first career touchdown catch, while Anthony
Morelli was 20 of 34 for 281 yards and two scores for the Lions. Minnesota scored on a 30-yard touchdown pass on its first possession of the game, but the Nittany Lion defense shut down the Golden Gophers over the next two quarters. Joe Cianciolo recovered a fumbled punt at the UM 9 to set-up a nine-yard touchdown run by Hunt to make it 7-7 late in the first quarter. The Lions took a 14-7 lead late with :28 left in the half on a 15-yard catch by Hunt. Minnesota got the ball at its own 14 with 2:33 to play and down 21-14. On fourth-and-two from its 22, Bryan Cupito completed a short pass that Logan Payne turned into a 42-yard gain, being drug down by a hustling Paul Posluszny. A 30- yard pass to Matt Spaeth took the ball to the PSU one and the Gophers tied the game at 21-21 with 1:02 to play. In overtime, UM connected on a 25-yard TD pass, but the extra point attempt hit the upright. On first down from the UM 13, Williams ran around left end and was close to being tackled around the seven, but kept his balance and lunged forward to the two for a first down. Two plays later, Hunt barreled into the end zone from two yards and Kevin Kelly’s PAT was the game-winner.
Next Meeting – 2010
The two teams meet again on October 23, 2010 at Minneapolis.
Coach Tim Brewster
Tim Brewster is in his third season as head coach of the Golden Gophers and owns an 12-19 record. Last year, he led Minnesota to a six-win improvement from 2007 and a berth in the Insight Bowl. He is a 1983 graduate of Illinois. This is the first time that Brewster has played against Penn State.
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