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The West Virginia Mountaineers and Minnesota Golden Gophers will face off in the 2021 Guaranteed Rate Bowl, per Brett McMurphy. The game will take place at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. Kickoff is currently scheduled for 10:15 p.m. ET on Tuesday, December 28th. The game will air on ESPN and will be available via live stream at WatchESPN.
The Mountaineers snuck into bowl eligibility with a final-week win over the Kansas Jayhawks to go to 6-6 on the season. WVU had plenty of opportunities to have a 9-3 season, but close losses to Maryland, Oklahoma and Texas Tech prevented that. Coach Neal Brown expected a better season from veteran QB Jarret Doege, who threw for under 3,000 yards and 20 TDs, underperforming by throwing 11 INTs and being sacked 30 times in 12 games. The bright spot on the offense was RB Leddie Brown, who ran for over 1,000 yards with 13 TDs.
The Golden Gophers fell a game short of the top spot in the Big Ten West, but they closed their regular season on a high note with a road win over their rival Wisconsin Badgers. Minnesota had a very confusing season as they hung with the Ohio State Buckeyes in Week 1 but lost games to the Bowling Green Falcons and Illinois Fighting Illini, scoring a combined 16 points in those two contests. The Gophers are led by their play on the defensive side of the ball.