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P R E G A M E R E P O R T M I N N E S O T A @ P E N N S T A T E 3 : 3 0 P . M . , O C T . 1 B T N MINNESOTA FACTS COACH Tracy Claeys (Kansas State, '94) COACH'S RECORD 5-4 in two seasons; career record: same 2016 RECORD 3-0 (0-0 Big Ten) RECORD VS. PSU Penn State leads the all-time series, 8-5. MOST RECENT MEETING Zach Zwinak finished with 150 yards on 26 carries, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Nittany Lions from dropping a 24-10 decision to the Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium on Nov. 9, 2013. GOOD NEWS No current Gopher players have ever been to Beaver Stadium, as the team's most recent visit to Penn State was in 2009. But they've fared pretty well in road openers lately, having won 15 of their past 20. BAD NEWS Minnesota will be without a key defensive player, as freshman end Tai'yon Devers is expected to miss the game with an ankle in- jury. Devers, a 6-foot-4, 215- pound true freshman from Pompano Beach, Fla., had three sacks during the nonconference season, all of which resulted in fumbles. DID YOU KNOW? Much has been made of Penn State's youth, but the Gophers are nearly as devoid of seniors as the Nittany Lions. Minnesota has only 13 seniors on its roster, the third-lowest total in major-col- lege football. Only three of those players are on offense, which is the lowest total in the nation. Penn State has 12 seniors and is tied with Baylor for the second- fewest in the nation. M A T T   H E R B | M A T T @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M It was Tracy Claeys' first year as an assistant coach at Minnesota, and the Golden Gophers were excited to open their conference season at the Big House. But by halBime, the thrill was already gone. The Wolverines were up by 38 points, and they didn't let up the rest of the way, amassing a 580-177 edge in total yardage en route to a 58-0 shutout. Claeys, who is now in his first full season as head coach aBer spending five years as an assistant on Jerry Kill's staff, reflected on that 2011 game ear- lier this week as he discussed his team's impending Big Ten opener at Penn State. The Nittany Lions had some problems of their own in Ann Arbor last weekend, but Claeys isn't attaching too much significance to that 49-10 shellacking as he prepares to lead the Gophers into Beaver Stadium. As he was quick to note at his weekly presser on Tuesday, even good teams can have bad days in the Big House. "Sometimes things snowball," Claeys said. "I don't think any team deserves to be judged by one game. 1 DON'T LOOK BACK Penn State, Minnesota both focused on the immediate future Franklin gathers his players dur- ing a break in the action at Michigan last week- end. The Nittany Lions are looking to regroup after suffer- ing a 49-10 loss to the Wolverines. Photo by Steve Manuel

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