Minnesota Football vs Wisconsin Gameday Central: Keys to victory, predictions, and more
The Minnesota Golden Gophers will play their final game of the regular season on Saturday afternoon when they host the Wisconsin Badgers at Huntington Bank Stadium. Gophers Nation below goes over how you can watch, listen, and follow along with Saturday’s game.
Minnesota vs Wisconsin: Game time and details
Where: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Stadium: Huntington Bank Stadium
Time: 2:30 p.m. CT
Odds: Minnesota is a 1.5-point underdog for Saturday’s game with a total of 37.5 points according to BetMGM.
How to watch, stream Minnesota Football vs Wisconsin
Saturday’s game will be televised on FS1. Noah Reed will be handling the play-by-play, and Robert Smith will serve as the analyst. Fans can also listen to the game on KFAN 100.3 with Mike Grimm, Darrell Thompson, and Justin Gaard on the call.
Weather
It will be a cold November day at Huntington Bank Stadium on Saturday, with a high of 25°F and a low of 15°F. Snow is expected in the area from late Friday night through Sunday morning, with accumulations of 2-5 inches. Flurries are expected throughout the game with little accumulation. Wind gusts will be upwards of 20 mph.
Keys to Victory
KEY TO VICTORY #1: Have a heartbeat defensively
The Gophers’ defense has been struggling for much of the last seven weeks, allowing 450+ yards five times. Last week, they faced a bad Northwestern offense, but it didn’t matter; the Wildcats posted 525 yards of total offense and 38 points. This week, they’ll face another poor offense in the Wisconsin Badgers. They can’t possibly have another poor performance against a team that struggled to move the ball season? Right. We’ll find out soon. Either way, the Gophers’ front seven will need to be strong in this one to slow down the Wisconsin rushing attack; the Badgers’ passing attack should not be much of a threat.
KEY TO VICTORY #2: ESTABLISH THE RUN GAME
It’s the last regular-season game of the year, and there’s never been a better time to get the run game going. It’s going to be a cold, windy game inside Huntington Bank Stadium. It’s going to be tough to throw the ball consistently. If the Gophers have ever needed Darius Taylor, Fame Ijeboi, and Cam Davis to get going on the ground, today would be the day. That being said, the Badgers’ run defense has been strong in their last three games, allowing just 3.2, 2.2, and 1.7 yards per carry.
KEY TO VICTORY #3: GETTING AFTER CARTER SMITH
The Gophers’ defensive line needs a big day on Saturday. Not just in slowing down the Wisconsin rushing attack, but the Gophers’ defensive line will need to get into the backfield quite a bit on Saturday and keep Wisconsin off schedule and behind the sticks. This will be the biggest game of young Carter Smith’s career so far, and the Badgers likely won’t ask him to throw a ton but when he does, the Gophers’ pass rushers need to be in his lap every time. If they can get consistent pressure on Smith, they’ll have a great chance of forcing a turnover or two in this game.
Prediction
It’s a rivalry game, so you know what that means. Throw EVERYTHING out the window. Nothing matters. The records, the stats, none of it matters. The only thing that will decide this game, as cliché as it is, is whoever wants it more on Saturday afternoon at Huntington Bank Stadium.
That being said, we have to consider the level of play from both teams in recent weeks. Minnesota, since its loss to Iowa, hasn’t exactly been playing strong football. They barely escaped against a poor Michigan State team; they were dominated by a top-10 Oregon team, that’s fine. Then they were beaten last week by Northwestern, surrendering over 500 yards and 38 points to one of the worst offenses in the Power Four. The offense has been sluggish at times throughout the season, but it has had its moments. The defense, however, has allowed 450+ yards in three straight games and five of their last seven overall.
Wisconsin, with one of the toughest schedules in the country, lost six straight earlier this season but is 2-1 in its last three games with wins over Washington and Illinois. While the Wisconsin offense is still by no means good, totaling just 205, 168, and 301 in their last three games, their defense has done a strong job against both Washington and Illinois, and also battled Indiana quite well.
On the surface, it’s really hard to pick the Gophers right now, just with their recent play. That being said, I do think the defense will have a bounce-back performance. If they struggle again against this Wisconsin offense that hasn’t totaled more than 301 yards against a Power Four opponents, then Danny Collins’ seat is going to be a lot warmer, and it’s already pretty warm, though we do think there’s a good chance he returns as defensive coordinator in 2026.
It’s also worth noting that Minnesota has been very good at home this season with a 6-0 record and is 10-2 since the start of last season. P.J. Fleck also tends to always have the Gophers ready to go for the Axe game.
We expect the Gophers’ offense to carry over some of their success from last week against Northwestern, albeit we don’t think they’ll put up 35 points this week. However, if they can get to 23-24 points, it should be enough to win this game. We’ll take Drake Lindsey, Darius Taylor, and Javon Tracy to get the job done while the defense has a solid day.
Prediction: Minnesota 23, Wisconsin 17
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