Saturday will mark the 99th game played between Michigan and Minnesota when the two schools battle for the Little Brown Jug — the oldest trophy in college football. The Wolverines have won four games in a row against the Gophers and have dominated the all-time series. Michigan has a commanding 77-25-3 lead against Minnesota.

The #12 Wolverines are coming off a major win against USC last weekend and Michigan showed it can still pound the rock to win games. With the help of Kalel Mullings, Michigan used a final drive to secure a win against the Trojans. Minnesota, on the other hand, is coming off a crushing loss at home against Iowa, The Hawkeyes ran wild on the Gophers and that will be the biggest factor in this game: how does Minnesota stop the Wolverines’ run game?

I asked some recruits to share their thoughts on the matchup this weekend and here is some insight as to what they think will happen.

The defensive lineman believes Michigan is going to be ready for the Gophers on Saturday and will get a 20-point win.

“This is the brown jug game! This is definitely a big game. Michigan will definitely go out there and ball out!”

Final score: Michigan 30, Minnesota 10

Pile is high on the Wolverines once again this week, especially with how well they played a week ago against the Trojans.

“Michigan looks good coming off a great win against USC. I’m always taking Michigan, they always come prepared.”

Conroy wants Michigan to continue to do the same thing that’s got the Wolverines to where they are now: run the football.

“Run the damn ball.”

Thomas wants to see some more out of the offense, but he has faith the Wolverines’ defense will keep Michigan in the majority of its games.

“The defense will keep BigBlue in most games. The offense just has to click. #GoBlue”

The Gophers were torched on the ground last weekend against Iowa and Patrick looks for Michigan to move the ball on the ground this week.

“I think Michigan will be able to run the ball really effectively.”

Krempin believes if the same Michigan team shows up this week as it did last week, the Wolverines will get a win on Saturday. The Gophers may have the second-ranked pass defense, but if they can’t stop the Wolverines’ run game, what matters?

“I know if the same Michigan team shows up that I saw last weekend, Michigans got it in the bag. A good pass defense doesn’t help much if you run the ball down their throat.”

Hart is extremely high on Michigan in this game due to its run game and Will Johnson on the defensive side.

“I got Michigan all the way baby!! They play hard smash-mouth football and they have the best corner in college football, Will Johnson.”

The major Michigan target thinks this game comes down to which team can run the football better. The Gophers have running back Darius Taylor who has been a very good back for the Gophers. Michigan has both Kalel Mullings and Donovan Edwards. He’s leaning toward a Michigan win.

“I think this game will be who wins the run game. You know Darius Taylor is going to be locked in playing his home state school. And it’s clear Michigan still is one of the top running schools in the country. Think Michigan pulls this out though.”

– Enjoy more Michigan Wolverines coverage on Michigan Wolverines On SI –

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In the longest, most painful and putridly played game of the season, the Minnesota Twins fell 8-6 in 13 innings to the Miami Marlins Thursday night. The loss means the Twins’ only path to the playoffs is by sweeping the Orioles Friday-Sunday and getting the Tigers or Royals to be swept as well.

The Twins had numerous chances to win and failed.

In the bottom of the ninth with Byron Buxton at second base and only one out, Trevor Larnach reached on a fielder’s choice and then with Buxton at third Royce Lewis dribbled a ball in front of the plate and was thrown out at first base to end the inning. Lewis’s nubber left his bat at 46.3 mph and traveled three feet.

He was not done failing in a big moment.

Lewis came up with the bases loaded and one out in the 11th and he hit a tapper in the infield that was fielded by the center fielder (Miami was playing a five-man infield) and the lead runner was thrown out at home.

Minnesota had Brooks Lee at second base with one out in the eighth and left him there. They had runners at first and second with one out in the ninth and they failed to score. They had the bases loaded with nobody out in the 10th and they scored only one. They had the bases loaded with one out in the 11th and they didn’t score. They had runners at first and second with nobody out in the 12th and they didn’t score.

The highlight of the putrid play was in the 12th when Ryan Jeffers bunted into a double play.

The awfulness in the ninth, 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th innings was somewhat surprising considering the Twins rallied to tie the game 4-4 in the eighth inning after trailing 4-0 most of the night.

Carlos Correa homered in the sixth to make it a 4-1 game, and a run on a Miami error in the seventh cut the deficit to twin runs. Then in the eighth inning the Twins got back-to-back doubles off the right field wall by Carlos Santana and Brooks Lee — Lee’s double drove in Lewis and Santana — to tie the game.

Minnesota will finish the regular season with three games at home against the Baltimore Orioles, who are one win or a Detroit loss from clinching the top wild-card spot in the American League. The Tigers host the White Sox, who are suddenly hot as they try to avoid an MLB record 121st loss, and the Royals are in Atlanta to face a Braves team that is fighting for its playoff life in the National League.

Minnesota was 70-53 entering play Aug. 18 and they’ve gone 12-24 since. The Tigers were 60-64 and have gone 25-10 since Aug. 18, turning a 9.5-game deficit into a three-game lead over the Twins.

The Twins and Orioles play at 7:10 p.m. CT Friday.

Ask House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer about Gov. Tim Walz, a fellow Minnesotan and Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, and the five-term Republican congressman jokingly takes a shot.

“I didn’t realize that Tim Walz and I are around the same age. He looks so much older,” the 63-year-old Emmer said about the 60-year-old Walz.

Emmer was answering a question during a Fox News Digital interview about whether Emmer was playing the role of the Minnesota governor in debate prep with GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance of Ohio because they’re both from the same state and similar ages.

Emmer, a one-time college hockey player and attorney who serves as the No. 3 Republican in the U.S. House, shared that he and Vance had not yet [as of Thursday afternoon when he spoke to Fox News Digital] conducted a mock debate.

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“We’re going to get together at some point,” he said, declining to add any details or specifics on the mock session with Vance ahead of Tuesday’s vice presidential debate in New York City.

But Emmer, who steered the House Republicans’ campaign committee in the 2020 and 2022 cycles, had plenty of criticism of Harris and Walz.

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“It’s an honor to be asked to play a very small part in helping JD and President Trump expose the failures of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.”

Emmer argued “the hardest part of playing Walz … is trying to tell lies with a straight face, because that’s what he does. He’s good at the debate game, but there isn’t substance there. There’s a lot of air.”

Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the House majority whip, speaks at a rally featuring former President Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, and U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, the Republican vice presidential nominee, at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center July 27, 2024, in St Cloud, Minn. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

Emmer and Walz overlapped for four years in the House before Walz won election in 2018 as Minnesota’s governor.

“I do know him probably as well or better than most on the Republican side. And I can tell you that Minnesotans, people at home, know better than anyone that we can’t afford four years of a Harris-Walz administration in the White House,” Emmer emphasized.

And Emmer claimed “it’s very clear today that the Tim Walz that was here in Congress was literally, he was a fraud. He was playing the character of a Greater Minnesota ag-friendly outdoorsman who really cared about the people. Since then, he’s made it very clear to people in Greater Minnesota that he has very little interest in them.

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“It doesn’t get reported enough, but under Walz, Minnesota’s taxes have skyrocketed. Violent crime is up all over, and our communities are worse off,” Emmer argued. “No amount of Minnesota nice … is going to make up for Tim Walz’s failed policy record.”

Emmer claimed that “Walz is an empty suit who has worked to turn Minnesota into Harris’ home state of California. … This guy is Gavin Newsom wearing a flannel shirt.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic Party’s 2024 vice presidential nominee, speaks onstage at a Harris-Walz campaign rally at Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pa., Sept. 21, 2024 (Caroline Gutman for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

A Republican hasn’t carried Minnesota in a presidential election since President Richard Nixon’s 1972 landslide re-election over a half century ago. It was the only state President Reagan lost in his 1984 re-election landslide.

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Asked if Minnesota is in play in the presidential race, Emmer said, “Are we going to be close enough that Donald Trump has a chance to be the first Republican presidential candidate to win Minnesota since 1972? I think the answer is yes.”

Emmer noted that polls suggest Harris’ margin in Minnesota over Trump has dropped since she named Walz as her running mate early last month.

“He’s not popular in Minnesota. I think by picking Tim Walz, they may have put Minnesota in play,” Emmer argued.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.