Minnesota fired coach Ben Johnson after four years of repeatedly rebuilding rosters at his alma mater.

Minnesota defensive coordinator Joe Rossi has accepted the same job at Michigan State under new head coach Jonathan Smith, according to a person with knowledge of the move.

Football Bowl Subdivision newcomers James Madison and Jacksonville State along with five-win Minnesota are bound for bowls because of a shortage of six-win teams.

Will Johnson returned an interception 36 yards for a Michigan score on Minnesota’s second snap of the game to spark the second-ranked Wolverines to a 52-10 victory over the Gophers.

Reggie Lutz scored to break a second-period tie and Minnesota State scored three times in the third in the Frozen Four semifinal on Thursday night to beat big-city rival Minnesota 5-1 and advance to the national championship game.

Ky Thomas ran for 144 yards and a touchdown, Mar’Kiese Irving added 129 yards rushing and Minnesota shut down West Virginia on defense to win the Guaranteed Rate Bowl 18-6.

Jamison Battle scored a season-high 27 points — with 21 coming after halftime — as Minnesota launched a ferocious rally in the second period to beat Michigan 75-65.

Ninth-ranked Michigan heads to No. 23 Penn State for a key Big Ten game Saturday.

The ground-oriented, weather-proof offense has long been preferred by Big Ten teams.

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7 Michigan on Saturday, handing the Wolverines their first loss. Minnesota never trailed, holding the best shooting team in the conference to a season-low score and a season-high 20 turnovers. The Gophers were back in their happy place after five days to recuperate and refocus from decisive defeats last week at Michigan and Iowa. The Wolverines had seven turnovers in the first seven minutes and just never established a rhythm in their half court. Minnesota, the sixth Big Ten team ranked, will undoubtedly slide up several spots.

EAST LANSING, MI - NOVEMBER 25: Head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans looks on during warm ups before the game against the Eastern Michigan Eagles at Breslin Center on November 25, 2020 in East Lansing, Michigan. 17 Michigan State 81-56 on Monday night while holding the Spartans to 25.7% shooting. “It confirmed that we’re a tough team and a determined team,” Robbins said. This was Minnesota's largest margin of victory ever over Michigan State, matching a Jan. 4, 1997 game later vacated by the NCAA. Minnesota: Johnson, who made eight of nine 3-pointers against the Hawkeyes, had nine points and seven rebounds.

Iowa guard Joe Wieskamp (10) and Minnesota guard Gabe Kalscheur (22) vie for the ball in overtime of an NCAA college basketball game Friday, Dec. 25, 2020, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)MINNEAPOLIS – Brandon Johnson made all four his 3-point attempts in overtime and finished with 26 points and nine rebounds, leading Minnesota's late surge to upset No. They trailed by seven points with 44 seconds left in regulation and outscored the Hawkeyes 29-15 the rest of the way. Then Carr hit the tying 3-pointer with 5.7 seconds remaining, bringing the Gophers bench players leaping onto the court. Garza started gobbling up rebounds and turning them into gimme putbacks, and Iowa looked like it was in control.

When that bowl game was called off because there was not another team available, it suddenly left Army looking for a postseason opponent. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger, File)At a time when team after team had opted out of bowl games, Army found itself in a different sort of situation — left out. “It was a difficult day for all of college football,” said Nick Carparelli, the executive director of Bowl Season, the renamed Football Bowl Association. For the Hokies, the decision ended a 27 straight bowl game run. Some of the canceled bowl games — 15 in all, including three on Sunday alone — included the Bahamas Bowl, Celebration Bowl, Hawaii Bowl, Holiday Bowl, Las Vegas Bowl, LA Bowl, Pinstripe Bowl, Quick Lane Bowl, Redbox Bowl and Sun Bowl.

Maryland celebrate after defeating Minnesota during overtime of an NCAA college football game, Friday, Oct. 30, 2020, in College Park, Md. Maryland won 45-44 in overtime. Minnesota's Brock Walker sent an extra-point try wide right after the potential tying touchdown, giving Maryland a stunning 45-44 comeback victory Friday night. Never in school history had Maryland won after trailing by 17 points in the fourth quarter. Jake Funk ran for a career-best 221 yards, and Maryland totaled a whopping 675 yards of offense.

Minnesota wide receiver Seth Green (17), left, runs the ball as he is tackled by Iowa defensive back Jack Koerner during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019, in Iowa City, Iowa. 7 Minnesota 23-19 on Saturday, handing the Gophers their first loss while hurting their playoff prospects. Minnesota got to 23-19 with 3:27 to play when Rodney Smith scored on a 1-yard dive. Minnesota plays at Northwestern next week and closes the season at home against Wisconsin, the second-place team in the division. Iowa: This was the Hawkeyes fifth home win on Oct. 30 or late over a team with serious national title aspirations since 2008.

Tanner Morgan passed for 339 yards and three touchdowns to direct a dismantling of Penn State's staunch defense, as Minnesota (9-0, 6-0, No. 17 CFP) not only remained undefeated but stayed on track for its first trip to the Big Ten championship game. The Gophers scrambled the College Football Playoff picture, too, after Penn State (8-1, 5-1, No. 4 CFP) emerged with a top-four spot in the first edition of the rankings. ___More AP college football coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

We're undefeated, and we're playing Penn State, and everybody's talking about us. The College Football Playoff field will be influenced, too, with Penn State landing in the top four in the first edition of the rankings. "It just takes a lot of stress off you," Penn State running back Journey Brown said. The only way to continue to have that is keep having success in these big games, big moments." Penn State has allowed just 77 points, the second-fewest in the FBS.

The Minnesota Gophers dance on the bench as they await a kick against the Georgia Southern Eagles during the game at TCF Bank Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 16 Minnesota looks to keep its perfect record intact when it hosts Maryland in Big Ten play on Saturday. "They're playing with a great amount of confidence because they've won the close games that we haven't." Maryland has forced a turnover in 19 straight games, which is the second-longest streak in the nation. PREDICTION: Minnesota 38, Maryland 20More college football scoresCopyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.

The Minnesota Gophers dance on the bench as they await a kick against the Georgia Southern Eagles during the game at TCF Bank Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Minnesota has scored at least 28 points in each of its first six contests for the first time since 1905. The Scarlet Knights have dropped 16 consecutive conference games and scored seven or fewer points in 11 of them. The Gophers are attempting to go 4-0 in Big Ten play for the first time since 1967. PREDICTION: Minnesota 38, Rutgers 3More college football scoresCopyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.

The 20th-ranked Golden Gophers attempt to move to 7-0 for the first time since 1960 on Saturday when they pay a visit to Rutgers for the first time in program history. Minnesota has scored at least 28 points in each of its first six contests for the first time since 1905. The Scarlet Knights have dropped 16 consecutive conference games and scored seven or fewer points in 11 of them. The Gophers are attempting to go 4-0 in Big Ten play for the first time since 1967. PREDICTION: Minnesota 38, Rutgers 3More college football scores

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - After flirting with danger in each of its first four games, Minnesota finally delivered the kind of complete performance expected from a team that owns one of the longer winning streaks in the country. The 25th-ranked Golden Gophers seek an eighth straight victory overall Saturday when they host a Nebraska team that could be without at least two of its most important offensive players. Minnesota's 78 points through its first two Big Ten games are its most since 1986. The Gophers last week held a Big Ten opponent without an offensive touchdown for the first time since 2012. PREDICTION: Minnesota 31, Nebraska 21More college football scoresCopyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.

The Minnesota Gophers dance on the bench as they await a kick against the Georgia Southern Eagles during the game at TCF Bank Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by HannahMINNEAPOLIS - After a run of close games to start the season, Minnesota will be in search of an emphatic win when it hosts Illinois on Saturday in a Big Ten contest. 18 Michigan next on the docket, the Fighting Illini are in must-win mode against the Gophers after letting two wins slip away. Minnesota, which has won six of the last eight games with Illinois to take a 38-30-3 lead in the series, needs one win to become the 28th school to reach 700 victories. PREDICTION: Minnesota 47, Illinois 34More college football scoresCopyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.

The Minnesota Gophers dance on the bench as they await a kick against the Georgia Southern Eagles during the game at TCF Bank Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It doesn't matter who we are missing or not, we have to play better," Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said. A Minnesota victory over Purdue would give the Gophers four straight road wins for the first time since 2003. The last time the Gophers won four one-score games in a season was 1990. PREDICTION: Minnesota 31, Purdue 20More college football scoresCopyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.

Fleck when it hosts Georgia Southern in the final game of its non-conference slate on Saturday. Minnesota is 10-0 all-time against Sun Belt Conference opponents and hopes to stay perfect by notching its 12th consecutive home win in non-conference play. "It was kind of nerve-wracking at first but as I got into the game things started to slow down for me." Gophers RB Rodney Smith needs 124 yards to move past Chris Darkins (3,235) for fifth place on the program's all-time rushing list. PREDICTION: Minnesota 41, Georgia Southern 17More college football scoresCopyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.

Instead, he's looking for an improved effort Saturday when the Gophers visit Fresno State, which opened with a 31-23 loss at USC. Minnesota handed Fresno State one of its two losses last season when safety Antoine Winfield Jr. sealed a 21-14 victory with a late interception in the end zone. Fresno State is 11-1 at home under coach Jeff Tedford including 6-0 last season. Fresno State has not started a season 0-2 since 2014. PREDICTION: Fresno State 27, Minnesota 24More college football scoresCopyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.