Northwestern
vs.
Minnesota
College Football Pick
11/19/16
By Jason Green
Northwestern has 2 fewer wins than Minnesota and are on the road and they are the betting favorite? Well, looking and the Wildcats Schedule that is not hard to understand, as they have played the ranked teams in the Big 10 close and they have a solid defense. Still, they need 1 more win to be bowl eligible and even if they lose this Game they face a 3-win Illinois team at home in their finale.
Minnesota had their 4 Game winning streak snapped in their last Game losing to a ranked Nebraska team by a TD. They did not have to face Ohio State this season and they face a top 10 Wisconsin team on the road in their season finale. Oh yea, last season at Northwestern the Wildcats blanked the Golden Gophers winning 27-0.
Minnesota is 8-3 ATS in their last 11 Games facing Northwestern.
Northwestern laid a 45-17 beat down on Purdue in their last Game easily covering as a 13.5-point favorite on the road.
Minnesota lost their last Game 24-17 on the road to Nebraska with the Game a Pick since they were a 7-point underdog.
In their blowout win over Purdue, Northwestern racked up 605 yards and their D forced 4 turnovers. QB Clayton Thorson passed for 352 yards with 3 TD, but did have 2 picks, and Justin Jackson rushed for 172 yards and John Moten IV rushed for 119 yards. They will face a Golden Gophers D that is better against the run (24th) than the pass (68th).
Minnesota did not get much going on offense in the loss to Nebraska, only gaining 265 total yards and while they kept it close for a while they could not Scoreafter the half while the Huskers scored a TD in the 3rd and 4th quarter.
QB Mitch Leidner passed for 180 yards with 0 TD and 1 INT and Rodney Smith only rushed for 53 yards only averaging 3.1 yards per carry. Smith may be the guy that the NW defense has to worry about the most, as before the Nebraska Game he had rushed for at least 100 yards in 4 straight Games.
Still, the Golden Gophers may want to go to the air in this Big 10 match up facing a Wildcats’ pass defense that only ranks 97th in the nation. Their run D ranks 42nd, but they did give up 130 yards on the ground facing Purdue.
Northwestern is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 road Games, 5-1 ATS in their last 6 Games overall, and in their last 5 road Games the posted total has gone Over 4 times.
Minnesota is 7-1 ATS in their last 8 Games following a straight up loss, 0-4 ATS in their last 4 home Games, and in their last 14 Big 10 Games the posted total has gone Over 10 times.
Bettorsworld Pick – Northwestern +1