Game 1 of the 2016 season was filled with mistakes for both the Oregon State Beavers and the Golden Gophers of Minnesota Fumbles and penalties and bad snaps...oh my! Eventually it was the Gophers who executed in the second half and won the game to start their season with a 30-23 win.
Offensively it was not an efficient or dominating performance but the Gophers fared well on the ground. Rodney Smith rushed for 125 yards and 2 touchdowns while Mitch Leidner mastered the zone-read and occasionally caught the Beavers off-guard gaining 76 rushing yards with 2 scores of his own.