Minnesota vs. Purdue
Both Minnesota and Purdue have had a forgettable season to this point. Purdue is 2-2, but they were thrashed by Notre Dame at home last week, and they lost at Rice earlier this year.
The Boilermakers two wins have come over Middle Tennessee State and Southeast Missouri State. Minnesota almost pulled off an upset in their season opener against USC, but the Golden Gophers have looked terrible in the last couple weeks.
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Ross-Ade Stadium
Saturday October 8, 12:00 PM EST
NCAA Football Odds from BetOnline
Moneyline: Purdue (-400) Minnesota (+330)
College Football Spread: Purdue -11 (-110) Minnesota +11 (-110)
Over/Under: 47.5
Both teams will be looking for a win to try to help give them some positive momentum.
Jerry Kill is a first-year coach for Minnesota. Kill inherited a program that was absolutely in shambles thanks to Tim Brewster’s tenure with the school. Kill has been a proven winner in the past, and I think he will help the team in the future. It has been a tough time for Kill this year, as he continues to battle health problems. It can’t make it any easier that he has a team that simply doesn’t have the weapons necessary to keep up in the Big Ten. Last week, this team was decimated 58-0 by Michigan.
MarQueis Gray was the starting quarterback at the beginning of the season, but Max Shortell has been under center since Gray picked up a toe injury a couple weeks ago. Gray is a play maker, but he has yet to develop as a passer at this level. Shortell is a freshman who shows promise, but he is very raw. The Golden Gophers defense is allowing 33 points per game this year, and they must play better if this team is going to be competitive.
Purdue was blasted 38-10 in a key home night game against Notre Dame last week. The Boilermakers were simply outclassed in that game. Rob Henry was supposed to be the starting quarterback this year, but he tore an ACL before the season started. Danny Hope has decided to play two quarterbacks. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Caleb TerBush is the starter, but Robert Marve will also see playing time again this week. The strength of this Purdue offense is their running game. Ralph Bolden and Akeem Shavers are both quality runners, and both are averaging more than five yards per carry this year. Through four games the Boilermakers have just five passing touchdowns, and there is a lack of play makers on the outside right now.
The Purdue defense badly misses Ryan Kerrigan at the defensive end spot. This is a defense that allowed Notre Dame to pick up 34 first downs last week. The secondary is pretty good, but the front seven struggle to pressure the quarterback since Kerrigan is gone. The defensive line generally gets beaten off the line of scrimmage, which gives opponents plenty of room to run.
Neither of these teams will get in the win column much at all during Big Ten play this year. Purdue is the better team here, but I expect Kill and the Gophers to put up a much better effort after being embarrassed last weekend. This should be an ugly game, and I think it will stay close.
Free College Football Pick: Minnesota +11
Score Prediction: Purdue 27 Minnesota 20
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