Gophers won’t hold spring football game, but fans have two chances to watch spring practice

For the second consecutive year, there will be no spring game for the Gophers football program, but coach P.J. Fleck’s squad will hold one practice that is open to Dinkytown Athletes members and one open to the general public.

Spring practice opens March 20, and the practice open to Dinkytown Athletes members will be at 4:15 p.m. March 25 at the Athletes Village Indoor Facility. The practice open to the general public will be at 4:15 p.m. on April 15, also at the indoor facility. Times and locations of both practices are subject to change.

Minnesota, coming off an 8-5 season that included a victory over Virginia Tech in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, didn’t hold a spring game last year. Fleck listed past weather issues and the shifting landscape of college football with the transfer portal and name, image and likeness opportunities as reasons for his decision.

This year, there are 19 Power Four schools that will not have a spring game, according to ESPN. Nebraska, which drew 60,452 to its spring game last year, will not hold one this spring. Cornhuskers coach Matt Rhule mentioned the possibility of losing players to another program that scouted Nebraska’s spring game as a reason to discontinue the game.

The Gophers last held a spring game that fell on a Saturday and was open to the public at Huntington Bank Stadium in 2017.

The 2018 game was moved up to a Thursday because of the forecast of a blizzard. In, 2019, 2022 and 2023, the games were moved to the indoor facility because of weather. The 2020 game was canceled because of COVID-19, and the 2021 game was played in front of a reduced crowd.

Both open practices this year will feature a diaper drive in which fans can donate diapers to the Diaper Bank of Minnesota.