Northwestern at Minnesota 11/17/18 - College Football Picks & Predictions

The Northwestern Wildcats (6 - 4, 6 - 1 CONF) are on the road this week in order to take on the hometown Minnesota Golden Gophers (5 - 5, 2 - 5 CONF). Minnesota will be hosting this game at the TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MN.

Northwestern comes into this game a week removed from an upset win over #21 Iowa. Minnesota just scored a big win over Purdue, rolling to a 41 - 10 victory. Northwestern will be the mild favorites here while Minnesota still retains some solid upset potential. The Northwestern Wildcats come into this game scoring 24 PPG on offense while generating 352 yards of offense per game. Northwestern hasn't been a world-beater with the ball on offense but the Wildcats are consistent enough on defense to make up for their shortcomings. Northwestern is giving up just 23 PPG to opposing teams on defense so far this season. Northwestern's biggest shortcoming this season has been their lack of consistency at QB with QB Clayton Thomas tossing 12 interceptions to his 12 touchdowns. If Thomas can keep his head on straight then Northwestern can probably expect to roll to an easy win.

The Minnesota Golden Gophers have a tough task ahead of them against a sturdy Northwestern team. Minnesota is scoring 29 PPG on offense while racking up nearly 400 yards of total offense. Minnesota likes to bruise opponents with their ground game so our player to highlight is running back Mohamed Ibrahim (717 yards, 5 TD). Minnesota is surrendering 30 PPG to opposing teams on defense so far this year.