Oct. 27, 2021: The Golden Gophers will look to extend their winning streak to four as they head into a potential trap game with Northwestern in Evanston, Ill.
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Broadcast Info:
- Date: Sat., Oct. 30
- TV channel: BTN
- Time of kickoff: 2:30 p.m. (CST)
- Broadcast team: Brandon Gaudin (play-by-play) & James Laurinaitis (color)
- Betting line: Minnesota (-7.5) v. Maryland; over/under (43.5)
Opponent Information (Northwestern):
- 2020 record: 7-2 (Big Ten West Champions/Citrus Bowl Champions)
- 2021 record: 3-4
- v. Michigan State 21-38 L
- v. Indiana State 24-6 W
- @ Duke 23-30 L
- v. Ohio 35-6 W
- @ Nebraska 7-56 L
- v. Rutgers 21-7 W
- @ Michigan 7-33 L
- Head Coach: Pat Fitzgerald (16th season)
- Returning starters: 8
- Players to watch: Evan Hull (RB), Ryan Hilinski (QB), Stephon Robinson Jr. (WR), Chris Bergin (LB), Samdup Miller (DE)
Northwestern season storylines:
- Rebuilding 2020 success:
For the second time in its program’s history, Northwestern won the Big Ten West title in 2020. A 6-1 regular season, with only one small hiccup against Michigan State, led the Wildcats to a Big Ten Championship meeting with Ohio State. A hard-fought 10-22 loss to the Buckeyes was a statement game for the program. A bowl game victory over an SEC school like Auburn was just a cherry on top.
Fast forward to this season, Northwestern had to replace 14 starters from a season ago. OT Rashawn Slater (opted out of 2020 season) and CB Greg Newsome II were both first-round picks, while LB Paddy Fisher, QB Peyton Ramsey and WR Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman are all gone. For a program like Northwestern, it is not easy to rebuild one of their best teams in school history. After a disappointing 1-2 start, the Wildcats have begun to respond winning two of their next four games, but 2021 has certainly looked like a rebuilding year for the program.
- Quarterback situation:
As Peyton Ramsey tried his luck in the NFL, Northwestern was tasked with replacing one of the most underrated QBs in the Big Ten a season ago. Former 5-star Clemson transfer Hunter Johnson was finally given the keys to the offense, but the once-promising talent struggled. After completing 60 % of his passes for, 424 yards and 4 touchdowns; he threw four first-half interceptions in week three against Duke. The Wildcats turned to redshirt-senior Andrew Marty as the replacement, and he almost led a second-half comeback. Unfortunately, he suffered a potentially season-ending injury and has not seen the field since.
In comes former four-star recruit and South Carolina transfer Ryan Hilinski to save the day… well not quite. In his four starts, this season Hilinski has not been much of an upgrade. Completing 55.5% of his passes for 759 yds, 3 TDs and 1 INT. The Northwestern offense as a whole this season is still averaging only 19.7 points per game, ranking 117th in the NCAA. The Wildcats certainly have talent in their quarterback room, but it has not quite led to much success on the field.
- Defensive collapse:
Much of Northwestern’s success in 2020 was thanks to its dominating defense. Allowing only 15.9 points per game, ranked 5th best in the country. It was more than just seven total starters moving on from the program, long-time defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz decided to retire after 12 seasons with the team. Linebacker Chris Bergin has done his best to control the damage, leading the team with 78 total tackles, but he and first-year DC Jim O’Neil have not been able to get things going. After allowing the 44th fewest rushing yards-per-game a season ago, the Wildcats have fallen to 9th worst in the NCAA allowing 220.4 yards on the ground per game.
Gophers’ path to victory:
This is the quintessential trap game for the Gophers. I am confident when I say that I don’t think there is something that Northwestern does better than them. In fact, the Gophers match of quite well, as the Wildcats’ putrid run defense will now have to stop a rushing offense that ranks 24th in the country.
At the end of the day, there is a reason why Pat Fitzgerald has been the head coach of Northwestern for 16 seasons — he knows what he’s doing. Although they got rolled by Nebraska and Michigan, both of those games were on the road. Evanston is always a sleepy place to play and Fitzgerald will certainly have his team prepared. Northwestern’s only home loss this season was to a Michigan State team that now ranks in the top 10 in all of the country, so this is far from a walk-through for the Gophers.
I do believe that Minnesota has the advantage in nearly every position group. Northwestern’s “strength” has been their secondary this season, allowing 199.1 passing yards per game, which ranks 30th in the NCAA. But lucky for the Gophers I don’t think they will have to pass. If Northwestern wants any chance of winning this game, they will have to slow down the Gophers’ rushing offense, which is something that has not happened all season for either side.
Minnesota defense is clicking on all cylinders right now, so if the running game is once again there offensively, I have no idea how Northwestern will be able to score enough points against this defense. The Gophers have had terrific game plans recently treating each opponent differently, but I hope that they won’t be truly one-dimensional against the Wildcats because I would imagine that they will be ready for a heavy dose of the run. I am not expecting Minnesota to significantly struggle in this game, but I would fully expect this game to be an ugly traditional Big Ten contest.