Excitement Builds As Gopher Fans Gear Up For Saturday's Sold-Out Football Game

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The University of Minnesota football team has a big game coming up on Saturday.

The #13 Golden Gophers are 8-0. And so is their opponent, #5 Penn State.

The last time the U was 8-0 in football was 1941.

And this is the first time the Gopher football team has faced another undefeated team this late in the season.

Last week the University got a shipment of 50,000 Gopher rally towels. They'll be given to fans at the TCF Bank Stadium gates on Saturday.

"I think everyone is going to go crazy. I'm really excited for it. I think the whole stadium will go crazy and it will be a good time," said student Alex Kroll.

"If we win -- definitely storming the field. It's going to be insane if we can pull it off," said student Ryan Miller.

The excitement stems from the fact that it's been 78 years since the Gophers were 8-0. In addition to gold rally towels, fans are encouraged to dress in maroon for a "maroon out." That's good news for the Minnesota Alumni Market who just happens to have a wide variety of maroon merchandise on campus.

"We have a Ski-U-Mom and a Ski-U-Pa and a little onesie as well," said Lisa Huber.

"It's a got a different vibe. A different energy. People are getting excited about the game," said Mike Wierzbicki, Assistant Athletic Director of Marketing.

Wierzbicki is with the marketing department at the U of M. He said ticket sales steadily picked up over the past week and they're now ready to cross the goal line on a sell-out. The last one at TCF Bank Stadium was against TCU in 2015. Wierzbicki expects to announce another sell-out by Friday afternoon.

"We are right at the finish line. We know we are going to get to a sold-out crowd and we feel great about that. And again, a credit to our fans. They've responded so well to support this team," said Wierzbicki.