[jwplayer PkCtjTd4-boEY74VG]
Minnesota vs. Northwestern fearless prediction and game preview.
Minnesota vs. Northwestern Broadcast
Date: Saturday, November 23
Game Time: 12:00 ET
Live Stream: fuboTV (click to watch for free)
Venue: Ryan Field, Evanston, IL
Network: ABC
– All of the CFN Fearless Predictions
Minnesota (9-1) vs. Northwestern (2-8) Game Preview
If want in on this week’s games, sign up with BetMGM
Why Minnesota Will Win
UMass has the worst defense in college football by a mile.
New Mexico currently has the second-worst D in the country, and it’s allowing 492 yards per game. UMass is giving up 555.
Everyone is getting stat-fat on the Minutemen, with Army finally getting its offense going for 63 points right after Liberty hung up 63. Conn – easily in the team Worst Team In College Football team photo – put up 56.
Louisiana Tech scored 69, Coastal Carolina put up 62, and Charlotte scored 52.
With 14 minutes to play last week, Northwestern was up 24-6, and six of those points came on a blocked field goal for a score.
The Wildcats ended up winning 45-6, but the offense continues to be really, really, really bad. How bad?
QB Aidan Smith completed 7-of-13 passes for 76 yards and two interceptions against a historically bad defense. Northwestern is dead last in the nation in yards per throw, averaging just 8.8 yards per completion.
Minnesota is going to still need to be hyper-focused. It can still make the College Football Playoff by winning out, and it can win the Big Ten West with a win and a stunning Wisconsin loss to Purdue.
For now, it’s all about taking care of business and not giving the Wildcats anything easy. Turnovers haven’t been a problem for the Gophers, and they don’t commit penalties. Get up early, don’t screw up, and all will be fine.
– “Go to the bank!” Today’s top pick of the day just released
Why Northwestern Will Win
Evan Hull?
There might not be any passing game, but the Wildcats have a few excellent young running backs to get excited about for the future. Out of the blew against UMass, Hull – a Minnesota native who ran eight times for 15 yards on the year – ripped off 220 yards and four scores on 24 carries.
Drake Anderson hasn’t had a game like that, but he did run for 141 yards earlier in the year as part of a ground attack that hasn’t been all that bad.
The Northwestern defense has done what it can considering it’s not getting any help from the other side of the ball. The D is giving up well over 200 yards through the air on regular basis, but few offense are ripping it up against this group through the air.
Ohio State had fun, and so did Michigan State, but the secondary doesn’t give up a whole slew of big plays. Minnesota’s new-star QB Tanner Morgan suffered a concussion against Iowa and is still questionable to play. The offense should be able to at least run the ball well without him, but the Wildcats could use all the help they can get.
[lawrence-related id=500899]
What’s Going To Happen
It’s going to take a little bit.
Minnesota won’t suffer a hangover from the Iowa loss, but this is the game of the year now for a Northwestern team in its home finale – it’s going to play at a whole other level.
For a quarter.
The Gopher running game will take over, the defense will settle in, and there won’t be any problems over the final 45 minutes on the way to a showdown for the Big Ten West against Wisconsin next week.
Minnesota vs. Northwestern Prediction, Line
Minnesota 30, Northwestern 13
Bet on UM vs. NU with BetMGM, or for latest line
Minnesota -13.5, o/u: 39.5
Live Stream: fuboTV (click to watch for free)
ATS Confidence out of 5: 4
– Get Tickets For This Game
Must See Rating: 2
5: Citizen K
1: Frozen II
Bowl Projections | CFN Rankings
Predicting The Rest of the Season
[protected-iframe id=”361699434b6d70baf15f631ed2408ac1-97672683-92922408″ info=”https://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js” ]