Indiana returns home to face a respectable Minnesota squad for a late afternoon Halloween matchup at Memorial Stadium.
With ESPN’s College GameDay on site, the Hoosiers will need to turn in a strong performance before they get a much needed week off.
No. 4 Indiana (7-1) will take on Minnesota (5-2) Saturday in Bloomington (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS).
Interestingly, this will be the first meeting between IU and Minnesota since 2021. The Golden Gophers won that meeting 35-14, and they lead the all-time series 40-26-3. Indiana has last four straight against Minnesota, with its last win coming in 2007. Minnesota is one of just three Big Ten teams that IU doesn’t have an active winning streak against. USC and Ohio State are the other two.
Minnesota is led by 10th-year head coach P.J. Fleck. He is 101-68 as a head coach, including four years at Western Michigan before he arrived in Minneapolis. Fleck has led the Gophers to five-straight bowl games, and seven in the last eight years. They’ve won all seven. He currently has a winning record in the Big Ten (42-41).
How dangerous is Minnesota? They beat Iowa 13-10 over the weekend. They also defeated Michigan (20-14) and won at Washington (27-24). But there are some head scratchers on their resume too — a 28-point loss at Purdue, and a 25-point home loss to Mississippi State.
Greg Harbaugh, Jr. is in his fourth season as the Minnesota offensive coordinator. He’s been with Fleck off-and-on for more than a decade. The offense has been inconsistent, especially in the running game. The Gophers are just 83rd in scoring offense at 26.6 points per game. The rushing offense is just No. 132, and passing is No. 75.
Minnesota has co-defensive coordinators in Danny Collins and Nick Monroe. They’re in their second and fourth years, respectively. The Gophers rank No. 34 in scoring defense at 20.1 points per game. They’ve been more susceptible against the run (No. 44) than the pass (No. 11).
PFF grades Minnesota as having the No. 95 offense and No. 39 defense in the country.
Drake Lindsey is in his second year as the starting quarterback for Minnesota. The 6-foot-5 Lindsey has completed 63.5% of his throws for 1,472 yards. He has nine TDs and six INTs. Lindsey has rushed 19 times for negative 24 yards including sack adjustment. Minnesota has allowed just seven sacks for 44 yards. Lindsey has not scored a rushing touchdown.
So what’s the outlook for this Saturday in Bloomington? The oddsmakers and computers like Indiana by a wide margin.
As of Monday morning, the gambling forecast is calling the Hoosiers around a 19.5-point favorite.
ESPN’s FPI model gives IU an 96% chance to win. The Hoosiers are No. 6 in FPI while Minnesota is No. 65. ESPN’s SP+ model projects a 34-11 Indiana win, and gives it a 92% probability to pull it out.
The early weather forecast for Saturday is calling for a cloudy day with light wind, a 10% chance of rain, a high temperature of 72 and a low of 57. Obviously you’ll want to check back on that later in the week.
We will of course have much more on this game in the days to come.
GAMEDAY TIMELINE
- 9 a.m. Tailgating & Parking Lots Open
- 12:30 p.m. AAA Championship Tailgate Opens
- 1:05 p.m. The Walk & Gameday Rally
- 2 p.m. Stadium Gates Open
- 3 p.m. Marching Hundred Pregame Show
- 3:30 p.m. Kickoff vs. Minnesota
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