University of Minnesota Athletics
Saturday, September 26
Seattle, WA
10:00 PM
University of Minnesota
at
Washington
Photo by: Dane Kuhn
Game 4 Preview: Minnesota at Washington
9/23/2026 8:56:00 AM | Football
THE ESSENTIALS
Date/Time: Sept. 26, 2026 / 10 p.m. CT
Site: Seattle, Wash.
Stadium: Husky Stadium
Surface: AstroTurf
Capacity: 70,138
Series Overall: Minnesota leads 10-7
Streak vs. Washington: Minnesota won 1
Series in Washington: Series tied 4-4
Streak in Washington: Minnesota lost 2
First Meeting: Minnesota won, 14-7, in Seattle (9/26/1936)
Last Meeting: Minnesota won, 19-17, in Minneapolis (10/1/1977)
Television: FOX // Jack Kizer (PXP), Mark Helfrich (Analyst)
Gopher Radio: KFAN FM 100.3 | SiriusXM: 267 or 977; SXM App // Mike Grimm (PXP), Darrell Thompson (Analyst), Justin Gaard (Reporter), Tanner Hoops (Host), Dan Rowbotham (Engineer)
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
1. Ninety years to the day of their first ever meeting, Minnesota (2-1) opens Big Ten play with a visit to RV/23 Washington (3-0) on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 10 p.m. CT on FOX and the Gopher Radio Network. It'll be the first meeting between the schools as conference foes, as well as the first matchup in the series since 1977 and the first contest featuring the two teams in Seattle since 1976. The 10 p.m. kickoff will be the latest for the Gophers since a 10 p.m. kickoff at UNLV in 2012.
2. Minnesota is 66-56-8 all-time in Big Ten openers (4-5 under head coach P.J. Fleck) and 45-74-8 in conference road openers (3-6 under Fleck). The Gophers have won three of their past four conference openers, winning at Michigan State in 2022 and at home over Nebraska in 2023, losing at home to Iowa in 2024 and topping Rutgers at home last season. The last time Minnesota won four B1G openers in a five-year span was 1986-90. Minnesota is also 61-68-9 all-time in road openers, including a 4-5 mark under Fleck. Saturday will mark the ninth time in program history that the Huskies will serve as Minnesota's road opener with the teams splitting the previous eight contests, 4-4. The only teams Minnesota has faced more times in a road opener are Nebraska and Northwestern at 15 times each.
3. Drake Lindsey has continued his stellar play into his junior season. Through three games, he's 67-of-103 for 747 yards with four touchdown and one interceptions for a rating of 136.8. Lindsey ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 18th nationally with 22.3 completions per game. Last Saturday versus Akron, Lindsey finished 17-of-31 for 204 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. It was his third career game with three or more passing touchdowns, while the pick thrown snapped his streak of passes without an interception end at a school-record 232 attempts. He had gone each of the last seven games without throwing a pick. In less than two full seasons as the Gophers starter, Lindsey already holds the school record for career TD-to-INT ratio (3.29) and interception percentage (1.4) and ranks 10th in completions (317). More on Lindsey can be found on Pages 4-5 of the notes.
4. Under the tutelage of new coordinator Daniel Da Prato, Minnesota's special teams is thriving in 2026. Javon Tracy's 251 punt return yards are more than any other team in the nation so far this year, and he is tied for the FBS lead in punt return touchdowns after taking two back against Eastern Illinois in the season opener, becoming the first Gopher ever with two punt return scores in one game. Tracy is also tied for third in the nation in punt return average (27.89). He's got three punt returns this year of at least 60 yards, tied for the most by an FBS player in a season since at least 2020, and the only Gopher to accomplish the feast since at least 1962. In addition to Tracy, Quayd Hendryx is averaging 31.0 yards on three kick returns, which would rank eighth in the nation if he had enough returns to qualify. As a team the Gophers are fourth in the nation in punt return average (27.7) and 23rd in kick return average (26.00). Luke Drzewiecki is 4-of-4 on field goals, including three makes from 40+ yards. Tom Weston is averaging 43.0 yards per punt, good for fifth in the Big Ten. For good measure, the Gopher special teams unit also has a blocked field goal by Naiim Parrish.
5. The 2026 campaign is the 10th for P.J. Fleck at Minnesota. He is the tied for the fourth-longest tenured coach in program history, is the second-longest active tenured coach in the Big Ten and the 11th-longest tenured head coach overall in the FBS. Fleck's Minnesota record stands at 68-45, putting him fourth in program history in overall wins. He's also fourth in Big Ten wins (39) and fifth in games coached (113). Fleck's overall win percentage of .602 is third best among Minnesota coaches with more than 40 games under their helm behind only Henry L. Williams (.786, 1900-21) and Bernie Bierman (.716, 1932-41, '45-50). In his 14th season overall as a college head coach, Fleck is 98-67 (.594). He is two wins away from becoming the 19th active head coach to reach 100 wins at the FBS level.
You can read Minnesota's complete game notes here.
Date/Time: Sept. 26, 2026 / 10 p.m. CT
Site: Seattle, Wash.
Stadium: Husky Stadium
Surface: AstroTurf
Capacity: 70,138
Series Overall: Minnesota leads 10-7
Streak vs. Washington: Minnesota won 1
Series in Washington: Series tied 4-4
Streak in Washington: Minnesota lost 2
First Meeting: Minnesota won, 14-7, in Seattle (9/26/1936)
Last Meeting: Minnesota won, 19-17, in Minneapolis (10/1/1977)
Television: FOX // Jack Kizer (PXP), Mark Helfrich (Analyst)
Gopher Radio: KFAN FM 100.3 | SiriusXM: 267 or 977; SXM App // Mike Grimm (PXP), Darrell Thompson (Analyst), Justin Gaard (Reporter), Tanner Hoops (Host), Dan Rowbotham (Engineer)
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
1. Ninety years to the day of their first ever meeting, Minnesota (2-1) opens Big Ten play with a visit to RV/23 Washington (3-0) on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 10 p.m. CT on FOX and the Gopher Radio Network. It'll be the first meeting between the schools as conference foes, as well as the first matchup in the series since 1977 and the first contest featuring the two teams in Seattle since 1976. The 10 p.m. kickoff will be the latest for the Gophers since a 10 p.m. kickoff at UNLV in 2012.
2. Minnesota is 66-56-8 all-time in Big Ten openers (4-5 under head coach P.J. Fleck) and 45-74-8 in conference road openers (3-6 under Fleck). The Gophers have won three of their past four conference openers, winning at Michigan State in 2022 and at home over Nebraska in 2023, losing at home to Iowa in 2024 and topping Rutgers at home last season. The last time Minnesota won four B1G openers in a five-year span was 1986-90. Minnesota is also 61-68-9 all-time in road openers, including a 4-5 mark under Fleck. Saturday will mark the ninth time in program history that the Huskies will serve as Minnesota's road opener with the teams splitting the previous eight contests, 4-4. The only teams Minnesota has faced more times in a road opener are Nebraska and Northwestern at 15 times each.
3. Drake Lindsey has continued his stellar play into his junior season. Through three games, he's 67-of-103 for 747 yards with four touchdown and one interceptions for a rating of 136.8. Lindsey ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 18th nationally with 22.3 completions per game. Last Saturday versus Akron, Lindsey finished 17-of-31 for 204 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. It was his third career game with three or more passing touchdowns, while the pick thrown snapped his streak of passes without an interception end at a school-record 232 attempts. He had gone each of the last seven games without throwing a pick. In less than two full seasons as the Gophers starter, Lindsey already holds the school record for career TD-to-INT ratio (3.29) and interception percentage (1.4) and ranks 10th in completions (317). More on Lindsey can be found on Pages 4-5 of the notes.
4. Under the tutelage of new coordinator Daniel Da Prato, Minnesota's special teams is thriving in 2026. Javon Tracy's 251 punt return yards are more than any other team in the nation so far this year, and he is tied for the FBS lead in punt return touchdowns after taking two back against Eastern Illinois in the season opener, becoming the first Gopher ever with two punt return scores in one game. Tracy is also tied for third in the nation in punt return average (27.89). He's got three punt returns this year of at least 60 yards, tied for the most by an FBS player in a season since at least 2020, and the only Gopher to accomplish the feast since at least 1962. In addition to Tracy, Quayd Hendryx is averaging 31.0 yards on three kick returns, which would rank eighth in the nation if he had enough returns to qualify. As a team the Gophers are fourth in the nation in punt return average (27.7) and 23rd in kick return average (26.00). Luke Drzewiecki is 4-of-4 on field goals, including three makes from 40+ yards. Tom Weston is averaging 43.0 yards per punt, good for fifth in the Big Ten. For good measure, the Gopher special teams unit also has a blocked field goal by Naiim Parrish.
5. The 2026 campaign is the 10th for P.J. Fleck at Minnesota. He is the tied for the fourth-longest tenured coach in program history, is the second-longest active tenured coach in the Big Ten and the 11th-longest tenured head coach overall in the FBS. Fleck's Minnesota record stands at 68-45, putting him fourth in program history in overall wins. He's also fourth in Big Ten wins (39) and fifth in games coached (113). Fleck's overall win percentage of .602 is third best among Minnesota coaches with more than 40 games under their helm behind only Henry L. Williams (.786, 1900-21) and Bernie Bierman (.716, 1932-41, '45-50). In his 14th season overall as a college head coach, Fleck is 98-67 (.594). He is two wins away from becoming the 19th active head coach to reach 100 wins at the FBS level.
You can read Minnesota's complete game notes here.
Players Mentioned
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