It has been a long time in coming -- the return of Gopher football to the University of Minnesota campus.
Decades after an early 1980s move off-campus to the Metrodome, Gopher football returns home today to open their home schedule at their new stadium, known as TCF Bank Stadium.
Nearly a decade after the Metrodome opened; a 1992 wrecking ball arrived to knock down old Memorial Stadium, the site of a number of Gopher football national championships. Many thought this was the end of Gopher football on campus.
By mid-afternoon today, more than 50,000 fans will show up for this inaugural game in the new stadium and watch as a new chapter in legacy of Gopher football unfolds.
All can expect to see a new wave of enthusiasm and cheering as Goldy the Gopher leads the Maroon and Gold out onto their new field.
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However, as one senior newspaper columnist often notes, teams must continue a winning record on the field to keep fans buying tickets.
Today's game against the Air Force Academy will not be a cakewalk. It should be a good game to open this new Gopher football chapter.
We welcome this new chapter in the Gopher football legacy.
