Minnesota Bye Week Viewing Guide: What games should Gophers fans watch in week four?
The Minnesota Golden Gophers football program has the week off, so what games should Gophers fans be watching on Saturday afternoon and evening?
Friday
Iowa at Rutgers – 7:00 p.m , FOX
A pair of future Minnesota opponents, the Iowa Hawkeyes (2-1) travel to Piscataway, New Jersey to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (3-0).
The Scarlet Knights are off to a great start but don’t truly have an impressive win yet on their schedule. Their best win, a 34-31 win over Ohio in week one. They’ve also beaten Miami (OH) and Norfolk State. Iowa bounced back last week to beat UMass 47-7 after losing to Iowa State in week two 16-13, they also beat Albany 34-7 in week one.
On Friday night, we’ll find out just how good both of these teams are. We know Iowa’s defense is once again good but just how good are they? Will they be able to stop a Rutgers offense that has been very good through three weeks? Will the Hawkeyes offense show any life?
Of course, the Gophers also face Rutgers next Saturday at Huntington Bank Stadium, which is just another reason to keep a close eye on this one. They’ll also head to Iowa on October 25.
Saturday
No. 17 Texas Tech at No. 16 Utah – 11:00 a.m. – FOX
A Big 12 matchup in Salt Lake City, this will be a 10:00 a.m. local time kickoff which could make it an interesting one early. Both the Red Raiders and Utes enter this game undefeated at 3-0 and the winner will have the upper hand when it comes to the Big 12 title race the rest of the season. Both of these teams look capable of making the College Football Playoffs and both their quarterbacks in Behren Morton (Texas Tech) and Devon Dampier (Utah) are dark hoses for the Heisman this season.
No. 21 Michigan at Nebraska – 2:30 p.m. , CBS
Perhaps the most intriguing game with Big Ten implications this weekend. The Nebraska Cornhuskers in their third year under Matt Rhule look for potentially a signature win against the Wolverines. Michigan (2-1) is coming off a dominant victory over Central Michigan but won’t have head coach Sherrone Moore this weekend against the Huskers, instead former Charlotte head coach Biff Poggi will lead the Wolverines (he did last week as well). The Huskers first win of the season over Cincinnati wasn’t overly impressive but have since blown two far inferior opponents in Akron and Houston Christian.
We should find out in this one just how good Nebraska’s offense is as they face a very good Michigan defense while also finding out how much Bryce Underwood and the Wolverines’ offense has improved since their loss two weeks ago against Oklahoma.
No. 22 Auburn at No. 11 Oklahoma – 2:30 p.m. , ABC
One of the few ranked versus ranked matchups of the week, the 3-0 Auburn Tigers travel to Norman, Oklahoma to face No. 11 Oklahoma. The story within the game is Tigers quarterback Jackson Arnold returning to where he started his collegiate career. He’s off to a good start this fall but will be by far his biggest test yet. We’re fairly certain that the Sooners are a legitimate contender in the SEC this season but this game should tell us just how good the Tigers are as well.
No. 9 Illinois at No. 19 Indiana – 6:30 p.m. , NBC
What could very well be the best game of the weekend, No. 9 Illinois heads to Bloomington to take on the No. 19 Indiana Hoosiers. Both of these teams are off to fantastic starts both on offense and defense and are hoping to prove they’re not just dark horses in the Big Ten but true contenders. This is also one of the best quarterback matchups of the weekend with Fernando Mendoza of Indiana and Luke Altmyer of Illinois going head-to-head. The Gophers are not slated to face Illinois nor Indiana this fall.
Michigan State at No. 25 USC – 10:00 p.m. , FOX
If you’re staying up late on Saturday, be sure to check out Michigan State vs USC on Fox. Both teams have had promising starts to their campaigns though neither team’s schedules have been overly difficult. USC quarterback Jayden Maiava has been nearly perfect this season, completing 68.6% of his passes for 969 yards and six touchdowns while Michigan State’s Aidan Chiles has also been terrific completing 71.6% of his passes for 656 yards and six touchdowns. Both teams have had quality tests in Boston College and Purdue but this is a good measuring stick game for both this weekend.
Notably, the Gophers do have a matchup later this season against Michigan State.
