Minnesota Gopher Football vs. Northwestern preview and prediction

Minnesota Gopher Football vs. Northwestern is on BTN. Minnesota leads the series 55-36-5.

Minnesota Gopher Football vs. Northwestern is a betting line of 17.5 points.

30 degrees with west winds at 10-15 mph and sun.

Minnesota (6-3, 3-2 B1G) begins its final quarter of the regular season Saturday when it hosts Northwestern (1-8, 1-5). Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. on BTN with radio coverage on KFAN.

Mohamed Ibrahim has rushed 202 times in eight games this season for 1,083 yards and 15 touchdowns. Ibrahim's streak of 100-yard rushing games is the longest by any FBS player since 2000. He's had three games of more than 200 yards during his streak.

Minnesota's defense ranks seventh in the country in terms of total yards per game. The Golden Gophers also have the No. 4 defense in scoring (14.2 ppg), passing yards allowed (162.9) and the 19th rush defense (110.7).

Matthew Trickett was named Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week after his performance in Minnesota's 20-13 road win at Nebraska. Tricket made his two longest field goals of this season and two of his career. He also went 2-of-2 on point-after attempts, scoring eight of Minnesota’s 20 points in the game.

The 2022 season is the sixth for head coach P.J. Fleck at Minnesota. He is fifth in program history for wins and sixth in Big Ten wins (24) and games coached (67). Flell's .612 win percentage is third best among the 11 Minnesota coaches with at least 45 games under their helm.