Gopher football returns to Huntington Bank Stadium on Saturday as the team hosts its spring game, free for fans to attend.
"We're excited, it's been a handful of years as our fans know since we've had a spring game," said Mike Wierzbicki, Deputy Athletics Director for External Affairs with Gopher Athletics. "That's the fun of Minnesota weather. We're crossing our fingers that it will be a gorgeous spring day on Saturday."
Weather mixed with college football's changing landscape have made it difficult for spring games to become tradition at the University of Minnesota in recent years. According to Wierzbicki, the timing simply worked out this year for a late-April game.
"From the recruiting calendar and schedules, to weather impacts that have moved us inside, with just the evolution and how things have evolved with when the transfer portal's open, when we can have our spring practices, really things just started to align a little bit better for it to be later in the year, which naturally helps us from the weather perspective," Wierzbicki said. "We've gone through those days of planning for a beautiful Saturday, we get a snowstorm, and then we have to move it inside which just isn't a great experience for our fans or student-athletes. Now that the schedule aligns for it to be later in year, it really opened-up the opportunity to bring it back and something we hope we can continue to go forward with in the future."
Saturday's spring game goes beyond football, with a couple of key initiatives fans are asked to consider taking part in, including bringing a decorated oar that the team can hang inside Huntington Bank Stadium.
"One of the last thing our team sees before they take the field is a wall of oars customized by friends, family, alumni, donors, or season ticket holders to honor their own families or a lost loved one, but also showcase their support for Gopher football. Our players see those oars as motivation as they take the field."
Fans are also asked to bring diapers as part of a team diaper drive benefitting the Diaper Bank of Minnesota. Gopher fans have donated nearly 130,000 diapers since the team first started collecting them once a year in 2017.
Gate A will open at 10:30 a.m. Saturday for fans who will sit on the north side of the stadium. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m.
New this year, the the Prince Lombardi Trophy which replaces the iconic Goldy's Cup. According to Gopher football, the silver trophy looks familiar to the NFL's Vince Lombardi Trophy, but Minnesota's version has a wooden base and pays homage to the legendary Minnesota musician Prince.
