1970 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

1970 Minnesota Golden Gophers football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	3–6–1 (2–4–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Murray Warmath (17th season)
MVP	Jeff Wright
Captain	Jeff Wright
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium

1970 Big Ten Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 Ohio State $	7	–	0	–	0			9	–	1	–	0
No. 9 Michigan	6	–	1	–	0			9	–	1	–	0
Northwestern	6	–	1	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Iowa	3	–	3	–	1			3	–	6	–	1
Wisconsin	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	5	–	1
Michigan State	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Minnesota	2	–	4	–	1			3	–	6	–	1
Purdue	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Illinois	1	–	6	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
Indiana	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1970 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1970 Big Ten Conference football season. In their 17th year under head coach Murray Warmath, the Golden Gophers compiled a 3–6–1 record and were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 237 to 180.

Defensive back Jeff Wright received the team's Most Valuable Player award. Linebacker Bill Light and Wright were named All-Big Ten first team. Offensive tackle Alvin Hawes, running back Barry Mayer and safety Walt Bowser were named All-Big Ten second team. Mayer was named an Academic All-American. Mayer was also named Academic All-Big Ten. The team included offensive lineman, Richard Fliehr, better known as professional wrestler Ric Flair.

Total attendance at five home games was 225,468, which averaged to 45,093. The largest crowd was against Nebraska. 1970 was the first season Memorial Stadium had a Tartan Turf surface.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 19	at No. 10 Missouri*	Faurot Field Columbia, MI	L 12–34	57,200
September 26	Ohio*	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 49–7	39,593
October 3	No. 6 Nebraska*	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	L 10–35	52,287
October 10	Indiana	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 23–0	40,220
October 17	at No. 1 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OHN	L 8–28	86,667
October 24	at No. 5 Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (Little Brown Jug)	L 13–39	83,496
October 31	Iowa	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	T 14–14	51,345
November 7	at Northwestern	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 14–28	33,437
November 14	Michigan State	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 23–13	42,834
November 21	at Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI (rivalry)	L 14–39	50,167
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1970 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 10 Craig Curry Jr OT 72 Matt Herkenhoff Fr TE 83 Doug Kingsriter So	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 33 Tom MacLeod So DB 27 Jeff Wright Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Murray Warmath Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt