Urban Meyer, Joel Klatt praise Gophers after statement win over Michigan

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

The Gophers beat Michigan 20-14 in Week 5 for one of the biggest wins of the P.J. Fleck era. With Big Noon Kickoff and FOX’s No. 1 broadcast crew in town, it was a statement victory on a national stage, and the country has taken notice.

College Football Hall of Famer Urban Meyer has been part of the Big Noon Kickoff crew since his NFL coaching career ended with the Jaguars in 2021. He faced the Gophers just one time in Minneapolis during his Ohio State tenure, which resulted in a hard-fought 31-24 Buckeyes win in 2014.

After complimenting Fleck’s program on Friday, Meyer continued to heap praise on the University of Minnesota’s entire football experience.

“I want to really point out the fact: we’re there; it’s an electric environment. Beautiful stadium; the fans were awesome. It’s one of the biggest crowds we’ve ever had at Big Noon (Kickoff),” Meyer said. “Then I go in this beautiful stadium, and I look over, and I am like, ‘Wait a minute.’ There’s 18 Big Ten championships on the side of the stadium, then I flip over here; there’s seven national championships.”

“In the early era, from maybe 1900 to 1960, they were maybe the Ohio State of college football. That’s how successful they were,” Meyer continued. “However, after 1961, you saw there’s not much there. Again, incredible environment. That was a recruiting showcase for P.J. Fleck and his staff. Very good football team, and they put it all over the Wolverines… Arguably the best two weeks in the modern era of Minnesota football.”

Many die-hard Gophers fans have pointed out the same things. College football has been a sport for more than 150 years, so completely ignoring Minnesota’s dominance in the early days seems silly. And hearing one of the greatest head coaches in the modern era of the sport talk about Gophers football isn’t something that happens every day.

Meyer isn’t the only influential voice at FOX. Former Colorado quarterback Joel Klatt has been the No. 1 college football color commentator at the network for more than a decade. He also left Minneapolis very impressed.

“Not everything has to be about the playoff. Not everything has to be about ranked wins… I’ve kind of lamented the fact that we have shoved the entire definition of success and meaning into those 12 spots in the College Football Playoff,” he said on his podcast.

“Saturday was awesome. Do I think Minnesota is going to go to the College Football Playoff? Probably not. Now, they’re in a position right now; that’s a great position within the Big Ten… So does it have to be about the playoff? No, it doesn’t.”

“All you have to do is listen to P.J. Fleck after the game. That was insane, right? And by the way, I believed him. I don’t think that was ‘schtick.’ That was incredibly cool, and you know how hard they had to work. They were not the most talented team on the field on Saturday, and they went out there and earned a hard-fought victory. They did so, by the way, through out-coaching their opponent.”

Minnesota is a program that isn’t talked about very often on a national scale. The magical 2019 season shined a bright light on what Fleck has built with the Gophers, but they’ve been viewed as just a solid mid-tier Big Ten team for more than five years. The win over Washington reminded people what Minnesota can be, and Saturday’s win over Michigan was a true statement. It was the type of result that will have lasting impacts on this season’s team and the program going forward.

We are in the age of big media consolidation and content networks. But even with the proliferation of AI, nothing can beat the quality and inherent knowledge of local sports journalism. Our writing room consists of a Wildcat, a Gopher, and even a Mustang. We know the Minnesota towns and the great names that played on its diamonds, courts, fields or rinks. Subscribe NOW to the new Bring Me The Sports newsletter. We would appreciate your readership and support!

Related Articles

This story was originally published by Bring Me The Sports on Oct 6, 2026, where it first appeared in the MN Gophers section. Add Bring Me The Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos