1981 was a fun but bittersweet season, in Gopher football history... Mike Hohensee was one of the best QBs the program had seen, as far as throwing the ball..... Chester Cooper is still one of the most underrated WRs in the history of Gopher football, IMO.. He could play in just about any generation, IMO.. Minnesota had Jim Fahnhorst and Karl Mecklenburg leading that defense... Minnesota had Jay Carroll at TE and a lot of guys that played really hard.. Jim Gallery was the kicker
This was the last year at Memorial Stadium and the Ohio State game was the next to last game played there. Funny history, the Gophers played 11 games that year and all but 2 games were played at "Memorial Stadium" as Illinois and Indiana also had that as the name of their stadiums... Minnesota was competitive in all but 2 games that year and could have easily had 8 or even 9 wins that year under Joe Salem.. THEY BEAT IOWA, WHO WAS A TOP 10 TEAM THAT YEAR, AT IOWA.. Minnesota went on to play at the Metrodome after that until TCF Stadium brought the games back to campus.
That year, Ohio State had a senior QB that had a ton of hype coming out of HS, Art Schlichter.. His partner at Ohio State at WR, Gary WIlliams, IRONICALLY was the QB of Schlichter's league archrival, Wilmington, in HS. Ohio State had TIm Spencer at RB and depth everywhere....
I was so impressed to watch how hard that Gopher team played. They blitzed quite a bit, especially in the 2nd half. Minnesota got down 21-7, came back to tie it at 21, and then went back and forth... Minnesota gained an advantage with some bad turnovers towards the end by Ohio State and a terrible punt by the Buckeyes that Minnesota had great field position on their last scoring drive. Jay Carroll had a HUGE GAME with 3 TD catches for the 35-31 win. Chester Cooper was open quite a bit of the game.
Interestingly, Carroll caught the ball on his first TD in the corner of the endzone. On the one end zone that Carroll scored, there was not much room at old Memorial Stadium in Minneapolis as it went quickly from grass to concrete before getting to the stands.. Carroll was lucky he did not break his leg after the TD as if you ever ran in cleats, you know that they are not made to run on concrete. But Hohensee moved the ball against a strong pass rush of the Buckeyes. I think if you dont remember or have not seen that game, you would have been impressed with the Gophers effort. When Ohio State moved the ball, it was because they had better athletes and not because the Gophers were not prepared. Jim Fahnhorst had some huge hits in that game and they turned Ohio State over quite a bit, that game.
Minnesota intercepted the last pass that Schlichter would ever throw against Minnesota. Minnesota ran out the clock after a personal foul call against Ohio State. It was great history for the Gophers and the last win at Memorial Stadium. If you love history, I suggest you watch the game on Youtube or wherever as that was fun Gopher history.
This was the last year at Memorial Stadium and the Ohio State game was the next to last game played there. Funny history, the Gophers played 11 games that year and all but 2 games were played at "Memorial Stadium" as Illinois and Indiana also had that as the name of their stadiums... Minnesota was competitive in all but 2 games that year and could have easily had 8 or even 9 wins that year under Joe Salem.. THEY BEAT IOWA, WHO WAS A TOP 10 TEAM THAT YEAR, AT IOWA.. Minnesota went on to play at the Metrodome after that until TCF Stadium brought the games back to campus.
That year, Ohio State had a senior QB that had a ton of hype coming out of HS, Art Schlichter.. His partner at Ohio State at WR, Gary WIlliams, IRONICALLY was the QB of Schlichter's league archrival, Wilmington, in HS. Ohio State had TIm Spencer at RB and depth everywhere....
I was so impressed to watch how hard that Gopher team played. They blitzed quite a bit, especially in the 2nd half. Minnesota got down 21-7, came back to tie it at 21, and then went back and forth... Minnesota gained an advantage with some bad turnovers towards the end by Ohio State and a terrible punt by the Buckeyes that Minnesota had great field position on their last scoring drive. Jay Carroll had a HUGE GAME with 3 TD catches for the 35-31 win. Chester Cooper was open quite a bit of the game.
Interestingly, Carroll caught the ball on his first TD in the corner of the endzone. On the one end zone that Carroll scored, there was not much room at old Memorial Stadium in Minneapolis as it went quickly from grass to concrete before getting to the stands.. Carroll was lucky he did not break his leg after the TD as if you ever ran in cleats, you know that they are not made to run on concrete. But Hohensee moved the ball against a strong pass rush of the Buckeyes. I think if you dont remember or have not seen that game, you would have been impressed with the Gophers effort. When Ohio State moved the ball, it was because they had better athletes and not because the Gophers were not prepared. Jim Fahnhorst had some huge hits in that game and they turned Ohio State over quite a bit, that game.
Minnesota intercepted the last pass that Schlichter would ever throw against Minnesota. Minnesota ran out the clock after a personal foul call against Ohio State. It was great history for the Gophers and the last win at Memorial Stadium. If you love history, I suggest you watch the game on Youtube or wherever as that was fun Gopher history.
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