In order to win at NW, the Gophers are going to have to either 1) get more passing yards, or 2) get good opportunities from special teams, or 3) get good opportunities from the defense, or 4) some combination of the three. NW has been very consistent at keeping our rushing offense to modest levels over the past four years:
Year Yards Yards per Carry
2013 176 3.6
2014 121 3.1
2015 74 2.2
2016 131 3.1
The earliest two games were very close Minnesota wins. The winning score in one of them was a touchdown kick return. The third was a NW blowout. The most recent was a more-comfortable-than-expected Minnesota win but Mitch threw for 197 yards in that one.