Minnesota vs. No. 4 Indiana Picks, Predictions & Preview

We’ve got Minnesota at No. 4 Indiana in Bloomington on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS, and College GameDay is in town. It’s a big weekend for Bloomington, Indiana.

The Golden Gophers have won some massive college football games this year, boys. They’ve beaten Michigan and Iowa, both at home.

They’ve also been bludgeoned by Mississippi State and Purdue. I don’t really know what happened in that Purdue game, to be honest with you. They got whooped, 41-13, and it’s inexplicable.

They’ve played close, physical games against everybody else and come out on top. They’re a 5-2 football team that’s hunting glory this weekend.

Which Minnesota Run Defense Shows Up?

Here’s the key: Minnesota has allowed fewer than 100 rushing yards in all five of its wins this year.

Any guesses how many yards on the ground they’ve allowed in their losses?

They gave up over 300 yards on the ground to Purdue. They’ve held every other opponent under 100, including Iowa.

I don’t know what happened. It’s one of the weirdest game logs you’ll ever look at this year. You look at those five wins and think, “Oh my, they’re a great defense.” Then you look at what happened against Purdue.

They can’t do that this weekend.

Indiana found a little bit of success in the running game against Michigan, rushing for 131 yards. They were diligent with it. They just kept running their heads against the wall until it ultimately came down.

The Hoosiers ran for almost 300 yards against Northwestern and have had some big rushing performances this year. But they’ve struggled in some of their recent games, particularly against Nebraska and Ohio State.

I expect that to be the ultimate key to this matchup.

Does Minnesota’s good defense show up, or does Minnesota’s Swiss cheese run defense show up?

Drake Lindsey vs. IU’s Defense

I think the X-factor in this one is Drake Lindsey, the quarterback from Minnesota.

I don’t expect the Gophers to be able to rush for over 150 yards against Indiana’s defense.

Indiana’s defense is legit. They’re as good as they come in college football right about now and have been for the last two and a half years.

So it’s going to come down to whether or not Drake Lindsey can create some explosive plays.

I’m not saying he’s got to throw for 300 yards. But if he can hit four or five explosives and they can get 12 points out of it with four field goals, they actually might have a chance.

They’ll squeeze the air out of the football from a clock standpoint.

Obviously, they’ve got to be great on special teams. They’ve got to win it in an Iowa fashion.

They beat Iowa the way Iowa beats football teams last week, so they have a chance to do that this week.

Indiana vs. Minnesota Prediction

Minnesota is going to have another one of those games where they get bludgeoned on the ground.

They’re going to get run out of Bloomington. You heard it here first, unless it doesn’t happen.

Minnesota gets into field goal range just twice in this football game.

Final Score Prediction: Indiana 30, Minnesota 6.