PHOENIX (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 The Minnesota Golden Gophers and New Mexico Lobos will play in the Rate Bowl at Chase Field on Friday afternoon, prompting street closures and traffic restrictions in downtown Phoenix.<\/p>\n
Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Phoenix police said 4th Street and Jackson Street will be closed for the Rate Bowl\u2019s pregame party. Minor restrictions on Jefferson Street will begin at 11 a.m.<\/p>\n
Officers are ready for both teams to bring large numbers of fans to downtown Phoenix. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn combination with Phoenix PD and the Maricopa County Sheriff\u2019s Office, we\u2019ll probably have around 100 in both uniform and nonuniform doing both traffic, patrol and security type details,\u201d police said.<\/p>\n
Phoenix police expect around 20,000 people in attendance for the game.<\/p>\n
Bowling Gophers<\/p>\n
Minnesota still finds plenty of reasons to embrace the bowl experience, even when the chase for a national championship ended long before the postseason starts.<\/p>\n
The Gophers are pretty good at it, too, heading into Friday\u2019s Rate Bowl against New Mexico on an eight-game bowl winning streak. That\u2019s the FBS\u2019 longest active streak, the longest ever by a Big Ten Conference team and fourth-longest in college football history, three behind Florida State\u2019s record of 11 from 1985-95.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur players take the bowl games very, very seriously. They love football, and they want to play football,\u201d said coach P.J. Fleck, who is 6-0 in bowl games and in his ninth season with the Gophers. \u201cWe take a lot of pride in developing that type of mindset here at the University of Minnesota. I just respect the game wholeheartedly. You want to coach players who respect the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
The majority of bowl games this century have long been second-tier events, and the advent of the 12-team College Football Playoff has further cemented that status. The constant December upheaval around the game with coaching staff changes and transfer-portal entries has made the bowls even more of an afterthought.<\/p>\n
But not if the Gophers (7-5) can help it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just another opportunity to spend another month with the guys, and travel, and go to a cool place, spend some time together and celebrate the season that we put together,\u201d Minnesota linebacker Maverick Baranowski said. \u201cAll the bowls have been a blast so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rising Lobos<\/p>\n
New Mexico has gone through three coaches and eight seasons since its last bowl appearance, in the 2016 New Mexico Bowl.<\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/JJLH2U7YGREFRFUZUAVM3CMFU4.jpg\")
New Mexico running back Damon Bankston (1) runs with the ball in front of Boise State kicker Colton Boomer (35) on a 100 yard kick off return and touchdown at the start of the second quarter of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Boise, Idaho. (AP Photo\/Steve Conner)(Steve Conner | AP)<\/p>\n
The Lobos appear to be on the rise in their first season under coach Jason Eck.<\/p>\n
Picked to finish 11th in the 12-team Mountain West Conference, New Mexico (9-3) won nine games for the second time since 2008 and closed the season on a six-game winning streak \u2014 the longest since 1997.<\/p>\n
The Lobos set a school record for total offense at 484.5 yards per game and their defense is allowing 113.4 yards rushing per game, nearly 100 yards less than last season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been able to break down some walls and break down some barriers for the University of New Mexico that they haven\u2019t been able to do for a while,\u201d Eck said.<\/p>\n
Lindsey stays committed<\/p>\n
Drake Lindsey had a solid debut at quarterback in place of Max Brosmer, now with the Minnesota Vikings<\/a> as an undrafted free agent.<\/p>\n The 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman ranked in the middle of the pack in most passing statistics in the 18-team Big Ten, but he had six touchdown passes and two rushing scores without a turnover over the final six games.<\/p>\n It would have been easy for Lindsey to opt out of the bowl game, but he wasn\u2019t having any of it.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you have relationships with the coaches that are so good, and they\u2019re continuing to pour into me, pour into the players around me, it\u2019s an easy decision,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Minnesota](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/T6MSFTKGDBH65OUTC6NTTUHIWY.jpg\")
Minnesota quarterback Drake Lindsay plays against Ohio State during an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo\/Jay LaPrete)(Jay LaPrete | AP)<\/p>\n