The Minnesota–Penn State football rivalry is an American college rivalry game between the Minnesota Golden Gophers of the University of Minnesota (UMN), and the Penn State Nittany Lions of the Pennsylvania State University (PSU). The winner of the game is awarded the Governor's Victory Bell.

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Penn State

Minnesota

  

Locations of Minnesota and Penn State

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Quick Facts Sport, First meeting ...

Minnesota Golden Gophers Penn State Nittany Lions
Sport	Football
First meeting	September 4, 1993 No. 17 Penn State 38–20
Latest meeting	November 22, 2022 No. 16 Penn State 45–17
Next meeting	November 23, 2024 in Minneapolis
Stadiums	Beaver Stadium Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome TCF Bank Stadium Huntington Bank Stadium
Trophy	Governor's Victory Bell
Statistics
Meetings total	16
All-time series	Penn State leads 10–6 (.625)
Largest victory	Penn State, 56–3 (1994)
Longest win streak	Penn State, 4 (1993–1998, 2005–2010) Minnesota, 4 (1999–2004)
Current win streak	Penn State, 1 (2022–present)

Close

The Governor's Victory Bell was first presented in 1993 to commemorate Penn State's entry into the Big Ten Conference, with their first league game coming against Minnesota.^[1] Penn State won the trophy during the first four matchups, Minnesota the next four, and Penn State the next four after that. In 2008, Penn State recorded the first shutout of the series when they beat Minnesota 20–0; the previous low score for each team was 3 for Minnesota in 1994 and 7 for Penn State in 2004.

In 2010, after the University of Nebraska–Lincoln joined the Big Ten as its 12th member, the conference was split into two divisions. Penn State and Minnesota were placed in different divisions^[2] and thus, beginning in 2011, the rivalry would be held only four times every ten years. In 2014, the University of Maryland, College Park and Rutgers University joined the Big Ten and in 2016, the conference increased its schedule to nine games. Currently, the two schools will play each other at least twice during every six-year scheduling cycle. Penn State leads the series 10–6.

In 2019, both teams were undefeated with Penn State ranked #4 and Minnesota #17. This was the first matchup in which both teams were ranked. The game went down to the wire and ended with a dramatic interception by the Gophers in their own end zone to win 31–26. Unlike the 1999 game, there was no post-game collapse by Penn State, their only remaining loss was to cross-state rival Ohio State.

Rankings are from the AP Poll.

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games