On February 21, 2008, it was announced that Ted Roof, the previous head coach of Duke, would replace Everett Withers as the Gophers new defensive coordinator.

After receiving the opening kickoff, Minnesota compiled a 16-play, 90-yard drive that chewed 8:50 off the clock and ended with an 8-yard TD pass from Adam Weber to Eric Decker.

Northern Illinois responded early in the 2nd quarter with a 2-yard TD run from Justin Anderson, and a pair of field goals knotted the halftime score at 10–10.

Weber led a methodical drive down the field, completing all 5 of his pass attempts until the Gopher offense stalled in the red zone, bringing up 4th and 1 from the NIU 3.

After putting the ensuing kickoff out of bounds and giving the Huskies the ball on their own 40, the Minnesota defense batted away a Hail Mary pass into the endzone as time expired to preserve the 31–27 victory.

Bowling Green hosted a Big Ten opponent for the first time ever as Minnesota traveled to Doyt L. Perry Stadium for a Saturday night game.

Despite being road underdogs, Minnesota showed no sign of nerves as they once again scored a TD on their first drive and never relinquished the lead, cruising to an easy 42–17 victory over the home Falcons.

Just when it appeared that Minnesota may have begun to put the game out of reach, Montana State's Demetrius Crawford returned a kickoff 100 yards for a TD.

The defense continued to show its vast improvement over the 2007 version, holding FAU to a mere 3 points, the lowest total by a Minnesota opponent since a 62–0 rout of Temple in 2006.

QB Adam Weber continued his solid, steady play, but did tally his first interception of the season on an ill-advised throw into triple coverage in an attempt to force the ball to WR Eric Decker in the end zone.

Eric Decker continued his outstanding junior campaign, catching a school-record 13 receptions for 190 yards, leading host Minnesota to a 16–7 victory over the visiting Indiana Hoosiers.

Minnesota's defense was stalwart the entire game, not allowing a first down until just before the half, with their only lapse being a 77-yard TD pass to RB Marcus Thigpen on a blown coverage play.

It turned out to be a rather nondescript affair overall, with K Joel Monroe's three-second-half field goals staking the Gophers out to a 9-point lead, which ended up being the final margin of victory.

The referee initially signaled a touchdown on a scramble by Williams, but the call was overturned on a challenge, and firmly shifted the momentum in the Gophers' favor.

The Minnesota defense forced four Purdue turnovers and held the Boilermaker offense to just 226 total yards as they lost their homecoming game in coach Joe Tiller's final season.