Time: Noon EST, Saturday
Spread: NW -3
Total: 51
M/L: NW -165, MIN +145
Odds from Bookmaker
Northwestern suffered their first loss of the season last year, dropping a contest to Penn State by 11. Prior to last week, they had defeated Syracuse, Vandy, Boston College, South Dakota and Indiana.
They were dominated by the Nittany Lions on both ends of the field. They managed only 14 first downs to Penn State’s 30, while managing only 247 yards offensively and giving up 443. The Wildcats were ineffective at controlling both the rush and the pass, and sophomore running back Zach Zwinak rushed for 121 yards, while PSU QB Matt McGloin threw for 282 yards with a 68 percent completion ratio.
They won’t be tested as hard by the Minnesota Golden Gophers this week, who do it with defense. The Gophers rank 75th in the nation in pass yardage and 61st in rushing yardage, but allow just 19.6 points per game. That defense has enabled them to score victories over UNLV (3 OT), New Hampshire, Western Michigan and Syracuse. They fell last week to Iowa 31-13. The rush defense was particularly ineffective, as Mark Weisman of Iowa ran all over them, managing 177 yards on 21 carries.
Venric Mark will try to expose that weakness. Mark has 610 yards on the season and has rushed 114 times for an average of 5.4 yards per carry. He’s joined by Kain Colter, who also has rushed for nearly 400 yards and scored seven TDs, while Mark has six of his own. That tandem should prove to be a lot for the Minnesota defense, and college football oddsmakers agree, setting the line three points in favor of Northwestern in this showdown of Big Ten Rivals.
Northwestern Betting Trends:
Wildcats are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games after accumulating less than 275 total yards in previous game, 4-0 ATS in their last 4 after allowing 280+ passing yards, 5-1 ATS in their last 6 overall, 4-1 ATS in their last 5 on turf, and just 2-10 ATS in their last 12 in October.
Minnesota Betting Trends:
Golden Gophers are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 following an SU loss, 6-0 ATS in their last 6 at home, 5-0 ATS in their last 5 vs teams with winning records, 8-2 ATS in their last 10 overall, and 1-6 ATS in their last 7 in October.
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