Minnesota vs Maryland Prediction: Gophers look for third straight win

The Minnesota Golden Gophers look for win number five of the season and their third straight on Saturday afternoon at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The Gophers enter the game fresh off their first by week of the season with a 4-3 record, including 2-2 in conference play. On the other sideline, the Maryland Terrapins enter with an identical 4-3 record overall but are 1-3 in Big Ten play. Entering this afternoon’s game, the Gophers are a 5.5-point favorite.

Will the Gophers pick up when number five on Saturday or will they drop the fourth of the season? Gophers Nation makes our prediction below.

This is an intriguing matchup for Minnesota. These two teams match up quite well overall on both sides. It should be a fun matchup and a potential nail biter till the very end.

If the Gophers are going to win this game, it will likely be on the shoulders of Max Brosmer, the veteran transfer quarterback has been very good for the Gophers this year, and he’ll go up against a Maryland secondary that has struggled consistently this season.

Perhaps that plays in favor of a Minnesota offense that has struggled to run the ball this year, averaging just a little over 100 yards per game. Maryland’s run defense this year has been quite strong as well, allowing just over 100 yards per game. If the Gophers can find any momentum on the ground on Saturday afternoon, it would be a bonus for Minnesota.

Maryland’s offense isn’t the one that is averaging a ton of points this year, scoring 29.4 points per game, but they do have the ability to be explosive and score quickly, which will be a challenge for Minnesota on Saturday if the Gophers fall behind early.

The Terrapins offense is mostly a passing attack led by quarterback Billy Edwards, who is leading the Big Ten in yards per game this season. He’s doing it efficiently with a 70%+ completion percentage as well. In seven games this season, Edwards has 13 touchdowns to just four interceptions. Watch out for wide receivers Kaden Prather and Tai Felton, while Felton is one of the nations leaders and receiving yards this year both wideouts are dangerous and can change the game in a heartbeat.

This would arguably be the most challenging passing attack so far this season for Maryland, even considering the fact that the Gophers did play USC earlier this year. That being said the gophers were able to keep the USC pass attack in that game or this season rather in check and we’re able to slow down the run game enough in order to defeat the Trojans earlier this month. That will likely be the blueprint for another Maryland victory on Saturday.

You can’t forget about running back Roman Hemby either despite Maryland struggles running the ball, he remains one of the more underrated running backs in the conference this season.

So? Who do we have winning Saturday’s game?

We are going to take the Gophers to win, but Maryland to cover the spread in this game. Ultimately, we like the Gophers home-field advantage here on Saturday, on homecoming day for the program. Historically, the Gophers have been hard to beat at Huntington Bank Stadium while Maryland has struggled on the road under head coach Michael Locksley with a 3-17 record as road underdogs. Since 2018, that’s the fourth worst record as road underdogs in the Big Ten.

But we also believe the Gophers pass defense being as strong as it has this year is definitely in their favor when considering the level of pass attack, they will face on Saturday from the Terps. Additionally, it will be imperative for the golfers to play clean football on Saturday limiting their penalties as well as turnovers well, also get off the field on third down more often than not while on defense. This is not a Maryland offense that the Gophers will want to give too many additional opportunities to on Saturday.

Ultimately, if the Gophers are going to win this one, they’ll have to come out with a fast start on Saturday and try to dictate the pace of this game while also finishing their drives offensively. This season, the Gophers have had to settle for field goal attempts too often when near or in the red zone, they’ll have to finish off drives against this Maryland defense. We believe they can get that done on Saturday and come away with a victory.

PREDICTION: Minnesota 27 – Maryland 24