Minnesota @ Purdue 2021: Media Predictions Thread

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IceBoxGopher

IceBoxGopher

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Alright let's get this week underway.
Picks and Parlays is taking the Boilermakers 28-17
Purdue comes into this game playing much better as of late and it will show in this game. Minnesota will struggle in this game after loss to Bowling Green giving Purdue a huge upper hand. Look for the home crowd to be the difference in week 5 leading to a home win for the Boilermakers.
 

IceBoxGopher said:
Alright let's get this week underway.
Picks and Parlays is taking the Boilermakers 28-17
Purdue comes into this game playing much better as of late and it will show in this game. Minnesota will struggle in this game after loss to Bowling Green giving Purdue a huge upper hand. Look for the home crowd to be the difference in week 5 leading to a home win for the Boilermakers.
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I mean they won last week but playing "much better" feels like a bit of a stretch when they just got done beating Illinois 13-9 at home. If you look at the last 2 weeks for both teams a strong case could be made that we are playing better overall in spite of our crap performance against Bowling Green.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I mean they won last week but playing "much better" feels like a bit of a stretch when they just got done beating Illinois 13-9 at home. If you look at the last 2 weeks for both teams a strong case could be made that we are playing better overall in spite of our crap performance against Bowling Green.
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Really? They played Notre Dame tough, who may be overrated but is undefeated and just beat Wisconsin 41-13, and despite the score being 13-9 against Illinois they won. I agree playing "much better" may be a reach, but to say we are playing better overall is a significant stretch as well. Two of the past three weeks we didn't look good, and we lost to Bowling Green. It will be interesting to see what team shows up this week for the Gophers.
 

Ozzy&Ray said:
Really? They played Notre Dame tough, who may be overrated but is undefeated and just beat Wisconsin 41-13, and despite the score being 13-9 against Illinois they won. I agree playing "much better" may be a reach, but to say we are playing better overall is a significant stretch as well. Two of the past three weeks we didn't look good, and we lost to Bowling Green. It will be interesting to see what team shows up this week for the Gophers.
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We played Ohio State tough, didn't stop us from losing to Bowling Green. Colorado played Texas A&M tough, didn't stop them from getting stomped by us. I wouldn't put much credence in their performance against ND.
 

Purdue will be throwing the ball all night with a smallish but enthusiastic night crowd. We will run all night and Morgan will throw better than last week. Gophers should win unless absolutely flat again.
 




College Football News has Purdue winning 23-20
Purdue is known for its offense, but the defense is playing great.

The win over Oregon State is looking much, much better now after the Beavers rolled USC, the close battle against Notre Dame isn’t anything to be ashamed of, and overall the D has allowed just 57 points in four games.

There’s that, and there’s the anger factor after Purdue gagged/was robbed in last year’s game – a questionable pass interference call was the big hubbub in the 34-31 loss.

Be floored if this is any sort of a shootout.

Minnesota is just flaky enough to pull a brilliant game out of its Gopher hole and turn its season right back around, but the Purdue run defense is playing just well enough to hold on.
 

Athlon Sports has Purdue winning 17-14
Minnesota will want to prove all of the skeptics wrong after playing so poorly against Bowling Green, but the Gophers will be on the road against a Purdue team that is very stout defensively. Purdue has issues of their own offensively, but the poor Minnesota passing game may be too much for the Golden Gophers to overcome in this Big Ten West divisional contest.

The Omaha World-Herald has the Gophers winning 20-14
Expect lots of punts, not so many points, and a Gopher rebound from a strange loss to Bowling Green. The Boilermakers play better D, but can’t break an egg in their run game.

MLive is split, two writers taking Minnesota, three for Purdue.
The good news for Minnesota is that things can’t get much worse than losing at home as a 30-point favorite to Bowling Green. Its passing game needs a serious jolt after just five completions last week. Purdue turned to backup Aidan O’Connell to close out its win over Illinois and could be starting a new quarterback this week.

At Buckeyes Wire, the consensus pick is Minnesota

At Spartans Wire, the consensus pick is Purdue
 




IceBoxGopher said:
Athlon Sports has Purdue winning 17-14
Minnesota will want to prove all of the skeptics wrong after playing so poorly against Bowling Green, but the Gophers will be on the road against a Purdue team that is very stout defensively. Purdue has issues of their own offensively, but the poor Minnesota passing game may be too much for the Golden Gophers to overcome in this Big Ten West divisional contest.

The Omaha World-Herald has the Gophers winning 20-14
Expect lots of punts, not so many points, and a Gopher rebound from a strange loss to Bowling Green. The Boilermakers play better D, but can’t break an egg in their run game.

MLive is split, two writers taking Minnesota, three for Purdue.
The good news for Minnesota is that things can’t get much worse than losing at home as a 30-point favorite to Bowling Green. Its passing game needs a serious jolt after just five completions last week. Purdue turned to backup Aidan O’Connell to close out its win over Illinois and could be starting a new quarterback this week.

At Buckeyes Wire, the consensus pick is Minnesota

At Spartans Wire, the consensus pick is Purdue
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The OSU site writers seem to be consistently among the kindest towards us in the Big Ten, possibly because we're not considered a rival. I noticed that none of them took Michigan against Wisconsin.
 

Taji34 said:
We played Ohio State tough, didn't stop us from losing to Bowling Green. Colorado played Texas A&M tough, didn't stop them from getting stomped by us. I wouldn't put much credence in their performance against ND.
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+1

I never buy into evaluating teams based on how tough they play a good team they lose to, or how much they dominate against a bad team. Plenty of teams "hang with" good teams through several quarters every now and again. Only way it moves the needle for me is if they actually complete the upset.
 

IceBoxGopher said:
College Football News has Purdue winning 23-20


Minnesota is just flaky enough to pull a brilliant game out of its Gopher hole and turn its season right back around, but the Purdue run defense is playing just well enough to hold on.
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I did enjoy the first part of this sentence. How true. In the last three games, the Gophers have been true contrarians. Expected to win fairly easily at home against Miami Ohio, they struggled to close out the game. Judged a slight underdog on the road against Colorado, they had an absolutely dominating performance. Expected to dominate at home against a team judged to be their easiest opponent of the season, they actually lost. I hope that trend continues at least for this game as we are once again a slight underdog on the road.
 



MaizenBrew (Michigan SB Nation) is picking Purdue to win
The Golden Gophers lost at home to Bowling Green last week. Really, that’s all that needs to be said. Just in case you’re not convinced, Purdue is averaging 314 passing yards per game between Jack Plummer and Aidan O’Connell — nearly three times Tanner Morgan’s output for Minnesota.

Off Tackle Empire (Big Ten SB Nation) has 11 writers picking Minnesota, to nine going with Purdue.

Blake Ruane of The Daily Gopher (Minnesota SB Nation) has Minnesota winning 16-13
I have a feeling this is going to be ugly. The hope is that Minnesota takes the field with a massive chip on their shoulder after an embarrassing loss to Bowling Green, but the issues last week were as much with the coaching staff as they were with the players. Have both of them learned the appropriate lessons from that game? We’ll find out on Saturday. In the meantime, I’ll go with the Gophers to win a slopfest, because why not.

Gopher Illustrated (Minnesota 247 Sports) has Minnesota winning 24-21
It's going to be a turning point week for PJ Fleck and OC Mike Sanford with this offense. The passing game needs to get off the ground to compliment this running attack. I'd love to see some quick hitting stuff happen early to get your quarterback in rhythm, and then we'll see how many of these Purdue skill-position players are back as well.

I do believe Minnesota will play up their level of opponent this week on the road, and that they'll get the win going into the bye week. You'll see enough from the passing game and Rossi's defense gets a turnover late to seal it.
 

Here are the rest of the staff predictions from The Daily Gopher (Minnesota SB Nation)
GoAUpher has Minnesota winning 24-17. Hell, I don’t know. I just feel like being optimistic. Don’t look for an explanation, I still don’t know what team is showing up each week.

GopherGuy05 takes Minnesota, 20-17. Another close game between these schools that come down to field goals in the end.

GopherNation has the Gophers winning 31-17. I’m expecting a big bounce back on the road.

HipsterGopher picks Minnesota, 21-20. These two programs have tied three times. and if that were still possible it would be the most fitting outcome in my humble opinion.

Mowe0018 has Minnesota winning 23-20. One game does not a season make. I think the Gophers will look more like a middling Big Ten team this week, which means they will beat another middling Big Ten team away because I am a optimistic homer.

White Speed Receiver picks the Gophers, 31-20. Fuck them trains.

WildCatToo have Minnesota winning 21-17. Heck if I know. /shrug

ZipsofAkron has Purdue winning 21-17. Football is life. Life is pain. Therefore, football is pain. This prediction is more me steeling myself for a loss rather than thinking it will happen. It will be painful, regardless.

Here are the staff predictions at Hammer and Rails (Purdue SB Nation)
Jumbo Heroes predicts a 21-17 Purdue win. Minnesota can run the football but that’s really about it. Their passing game has been inconsistent and they’ve given up 8 sacks. To top it off they lost to Bowling Green last weekend despite being a 30 point favorite. I’m trusting in Brohm here and playing the homer card despite some of my better judgment.

Travis has Minnesota winning 21-13. Minnesota is a lot better than they have shown so far, especially in the passing game, and they have the running game to grind us into fine powder. It is going to be worse if David Bell and Payne Durham are out, too.

Ideally, Purdue finds a way to win in 13-9 ugly fashion again if Bell and Durham are out and both get the bye week to heal up before the stretch run. Unfortunately, Purdue has no running game at all right now and that is a big reason the offense is not moving at all. I expect punts. I expect incomplete passes. I expect stuffed runs on 3rd and 1.

Jace has Purdue winning 20-17. The way Jeff Brohm and staff have been talking, I expect to see Aidan O’Connell as the starting quarterback Saturday but that remains to be seen. It also appears David Bell, Payne Durham, King Doerue, and Cam Craig could be held out as well.

That is not a good recipe for winning. Minnesota has struggled more-so than Purdue and I think the Boilers can squeak out a win at home, but it will be close.

Kyle picks Purdue to win 28-17. Our defensive line has struggled against the giant Minnesota Offensive Line in previous years, they are still huge. But, their star RB is out for the season. But, I am predicting they will still have a 100 yard rusher.

Coach Fleck will force the run as much as he has too. I see Aidan O'Connell starting and Coach Brohm airing it out early. I like Purdue by 2 scores as long as we have David Bell healthy.

Holmes predicts a 27-14 Purdue win. Purdue’s weaknesses are generally Minnesota’s strengths, but after last year we damn well better pull this one out.

Casey has Minnesota winning 32-21. Dark Days are ahead. I'm assuming Aidan O'Connell gets the call and hopefully he doesn’t continue to turn the ball over. But I have a suspicion the defense cracks Saturday. Too many short fields. Too much play action. And the game gets away from Brohm and company.

Drew picks Purdue in a 31-24 win. There is a hole in the Minnesota boat and the Brohmfence is missing a few boards. This game hinges on which Minnesota and Purdue team show up to play tomorrow. Are we getting the Minnesota team that shut out Colorado in Boulder or are we getting the Minnesota team that lost as a 30 point favorite last week?

Are we getting the Purdue team that knocked off a solid Oregon State team or are we getting the Purdue team that struggled against Illinois? Furthermore, which Purdue team is going to take the field? I think O’Connell is going to start at QB and Bell is going to play...but who knows...certainly not this lowly blogger.
 


cjbfbp said:
The OSU site writers seem to be consistently among the kindest towards us in the Big Ten, possibly because we're not considered a rival. I noticed that none of them took Michigan against Wisconsin.
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they are fools I will continue to bet against Graham Mertz and eventually end up in Tahiti on a yacht
 

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