New Mexico State at Minnesota 9/1/22 - College Football Picks & Predictions

The New Mexico State Aggies visit Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Thursday to play the Minnesota Golden Gophers. New Mexico State opened its regular season on Saturday with a 23-12 loss to the Nevada Wolf Pack. New Mexico State fell behind 17-2 at halftime, but played much better during the second yet could not make up the difference and lost by 11.

Dino Maldonado has passed for 143 yards with one touchdown and one interception after taking over for Diego Pavia, who passed for 75 yards but was intercepted three times. The leading rusher is Pavia with 32 yards while Jamoni Jones has rushed for 28 yards. The leading receiver is Justice Powers with 74 yards and Kordell David has the only touchdown reception for New Mexico State.

Minnesota will open its regular season at home against New Mexico on Saturday. The Golden Gophers last season were 9-4 overall and 4-3 in the Big Ten. Tanner Morgan returns as the starting quarterback for Minnesota and last season passed for 3,253 yards with 30 touchdowns.  Morgan's favorite target will be Chris Autman-Bell, who last season caught a team-high 36 receptions and six touchdowns.

The running attack will be the key to Minnesota’s success. Mohamed Ibrahim returns following a season in which he tore his Achilles in the first game against Ohio State but is 100% and will be the star of the Golden Gophers offense. Bryce Williams and Trey Potts will also see plenty of action at running back, especially when the Golden Gophers are on passing downs.