Northwestern at Minnesota

Written by Steve Janus

This Saturday the Minnesota Golden Gophers will host the Northwestern Wildcats, as both teams get ready to begin their Big 10 portion of their schedules. The Wildcats improved to 4-0 on the season with a nice 30-25 win over Central Michigan at home last week, while the Golden Gophers lost their third straight game of the season, as they fell 34-23 at home against Northern Illinois. If you are thinking about betting on the game this weekend, the current college football odds have the Wildcats favored by 5.5-points over the Golden Gophers on the road.

Northwestern (4-0, 0-0 Big Ten): I am not surprised at all to see the Wildcats start the season 4-0, as they had a relatively easy non-conference schedule. Northwestern will have a great shot at improving to 6-0 on the season, with their first two conference games coming against Minnesota and Purdue. The Wildcats used a strong start to the second half last week to close the door on Central Michigan, as they turned a 13-13 halftime game into a 30-13 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Quarterback Dan Persa has really got off to a great start, as he has thrown for 1,049 and eight touchdowns in the Wildcats first four games of the season. Last week against Central Michigan Persa threw for 280 yards and two touchdowns on 23 of 30 passing, and also had a nice day on the ground, running for 43 yards on 17 carries. It will be important for Persa to continue to run the ball effectively, as the Wildcats running backs have really struggled to get anything going this season. In fact Persa leads Northwestern with just 172 yards and two touchdowns.

Minnesota (1-3, 0-0 Big Ten): It hasn’t been as bad as some might have expected for the Golden Gophers in the first four games of the season, as they haven’t been completely blown out in any game this season, including a game against USC, where everyone expected the Trojans to crush the Gophers. While the offense has actually played pretty well, averaging 26.5 points per game, the defense has not been good at all this season, but that was expected with just two returning starters back from last season.

Last week against Northern Illinois the Wildcats got a big game out of quarterback Adam Weber, as he connected on 31 of 46 passes for 373 yards and two touchdowns. It was the third straight game that Weber threw for at least 220 yards and two touchdowns. Weber is going to have to be at his best this weekend if the Golden Gophers want any shot at beating Northwestern at home. The running game really looked good after the first two games of the season, as starter Duane Bennett had 291 yards and two touchdowns, but he has really struggled of late, as Bennett had just 80 yards with no touchdowns in the the Gophers last two games.

Looking at the Odds: With the way the Golden Gophers are struggling on the defensive side of the football, I think you money has to be on the Wildcats to cover the 5.5 point spread this Saturday. The figures to be close early, as Northwestern hasn’t been that great on defense either this season, but as the game goes on I look for Northwestern to pull away and win this one relatively easily on the road. My final score prediction is Northwestern 36, Minnesota 27.

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