BTN taps Tanner Morgan for analyst role in Gophers’ week 2 matchup
The Minnesota football team will look to improve to 2-0 this upcoming Saturday when it hosts the Northwestern State Demons at Huntington Bank Stadium. The game will air on the Big Ten Network, with kickoff scheduled for 11:00 a.m. CT.
On Wednesday, with the release of the game notes, it was made public who would be calling the game for the Big Ten Network this weekend.
Former Gophers set to be on call
On the call for BTN will be Jason Ross Jr, handling the play-by-play duties.
His analyst?
None other than former Gophers great Tanner Morgan. Ross and Morgan will also be joined by Emma Carpenter as the sideline reporter.
Morgan ranks second all-time in Minnesota history with 9,454 passing yards and 65 touchdowns. His career passer rating of 151.0 is the highest of any Gophers quarterback with at least 10 attempts.
Carpenter herself is a former Gopher as well. From 2019 through 2024, she was a part of the Gophers’ women’s golf team, competing in 39 tournaments.
Both programs are coming off week one wins
The Gophers, in their week one season opener, took down the Buffalo Bulls 23-10, a hard-fought victory over one of the MAC’s top programs this season.
Northwestern State, for the first time in over a year-and-half have a winning record. They used a 20-10 win over Alcorn State last weekend to snap a 20-game losing streak.
While no spread has been released yet by Bet MGM for this weekend’s matchup, the Massey ratings project Minnesota to defeat Northwestern State 49-0.
Gophers’ historic success against FCS opponents
This will be the first-ever matchup between the Golden Gophers and Demons. Since the 1978 season, when NCAA Division I was split into I-A and I-AA, Minnesota has only lost to an FCS opponent three times since 1978, most recently in 2011 against North Dakota State.
On Monday, during his weekly press conference, Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck discussed with the media about avoiding a letdown game on Saturday.
“I know that they’re going to be really, really excited to come in here and play,” Fleck said about Northwestern State. “They’re going to be really, really confident coming in here. They’re a very different team than they were last year, a lot of turnover in their roster, but the focus is us.”
“The focus is on improving on the things that we weren’t very good at in game one to go to game two,” he continued. “It’s simply about us. It would be the same way, no matter who we play.”
The game for the Gophers will also offer the opportunity to get plenty of depth and inexperienced players on the field as the game progresses. With several notable players out last week, including wide receiver Cristian Driver, cornerback Mike Gerald, and safety Darius Green, Fleck is hopeful that the Gophers will be healthier come Saturday.
“I expect to get some guys back, which will be great.”
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