Purdue @ Minnesota Prediction

A win against the Gophers will make us bowl eligible for the second straight year under Brohm

Purdue is rolling right now, coming off a last minute field-goal to win against Iowa in the final seconds and in a great spot to become bowl eligible if we can take care of things against the Gophers.

Purdue 
2018 Record: 5-4 (Won against #19 Iowa)


Purdue's offense hasn't changed as their main strength on offense is the passing game as thy average 330 yds/gm and 155 yds/gm on the ground. Blough has not played some of his best games these past couple of weeks, put he still puts up great numbers. averaging 298 yds/gm to go with 17 TD's and 7 INT's and is completing his passes at around 66% which is the best in his career.
Minnesota's defense is bad, so bad that they fired their defensive coordinator after getting pounded by the Illini. the Gopher's allow 235 yds/gm on the passing game and 188 yds/gm on the run. which is saying something after they allowed the Illini to run all over them as they rushed for 430 yds. I going to expect Knox and Moore will have a field day against the Gopher's rush defense. And I wouldn't be surprised if Zico has another big game as well as Moore and Sparks. The one thing that is concerning is turnovers as they are able to get there hand in and make a huger play, and seeing how in the Past two games Blough has thrown 5 INT's, this can hurt us if we're not careful.

Minnesota 
2018 Record: 4-5 (Lost to Illinois)


After a 3-0 start to the season and a win against a good Fresno State team, it looked like Minnesota with its stout defense would make a splash in the B1G west, but once conference play began, things have not looked good for the Gopher's. Minnesota is more of a run-centered offense with 154 yds/gm but is having more success with the passing game averaging 234 yds/gm. The Quarterback spot will be split between Annexstad and Morgan as Annexstad is suffering from a abdominal injury. Annexstad has started the first seven games for the Gopher's averaging 182 yds/gm with 9 TD's and 7 INT's with a passing rate of 52%. Tanner Morgan has split time with Annexstad in the last 5 games but has started in the last 2 averaging 162 yds/gm with 5 TD's and 3 INT's with a rate of 60%
Purdue still struggles with the pass rush allowing 296 yds/gm but has a much better run defense allowing 131 yds/gm. I would like to see the Boilermakers get pressure on Annexstad and Morgan and see them make some mistakes.

Verdict 

Minnesota has some issues on defense. With the firing of their defensive coordinator it will be interesting to see how their new coordinator can handle an offense like Purdue's. And with Purdue showing that they can play with any team in the league, I have to give this one to Purdue as Minnesota is struggling on defense and while offense is decent, Purdue has the manpower to just shut this team down.

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