These stats from Minnesota's 1904 undefeated season are ridiculous
Winning the first of their seven claimed national titles, the 1904 Minnesota Golden Gophers ran through the B1G (then called the Western Conference) en route to a 13-0 record.
CFB on FOX shared a graphic depicting just how dominant Henry L. Williams’ team was:
The last time @GopherFootball was undefeated this far into the season, they defeated Twin Cities Central High School 107-0 in the season opener 😂 pic.twitter.com/oeJEtB3Zab
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 14, 2019
Relying on the strength of their 7-1-2-1 base defense, the Gophers held their opponents to just 12 points all season long. Interestingly, the Nebraska Cornhuskers scored all 12 points in a hard-fought loss on October 29, 1904.
Including their season-opener against Twin Cities Central High School, Minnesota won six of their games by at least 65 points.
Two players from the team, quarterback Sigmund Harris and guard Walton Thorp, received All-American honors. It is worth noting, however, the Golden Gophers did not play the Michigan Wolverines despite the two being members of the same conference. With Michigan also posting an unblemished record at 10-0, many experts from the time period believe a matchup between Minnesota and Fielding Yost’s group would have served as a de facto national championship game.
Ranked No. 8 by the College Football Playoff committee, the 2019 Gophers have reached heights that the program has not seen since 1967, their last conference championship.
Fresh off a victory over No. 9 Penn State on November 9, Minnesota (9-0) travels to Iowa City to battle the No. 20 Hawkeyes (6-3) on Saturday at 4:00PM ET on FOX.