Nebraska (5-1, 2-1) remains on the road following a 34-31 nail-biting win over Maryland. The Huskers go from the East Coast to the north, taking on Minnesota (4-2, 2-1) in a Friday night Big Ten showdown. 

The Golden Gophers escaped the Purdue Boilermakers 27-20 last week, despite a somewhat inconsistent night. Purdue tallied nearly 200 more yards than Minnesota, but suffered three interceptions and nine penalties, resulting in its loss. This overshadowed the Golden Gophers’ struggles on both sides of the ball. Minnesota’s offense finished with just 30 rushing yards on 18 carries and 232 passing yards on 21 completions. 

Freshman quarterback Drake Lindsey averages just over 21 completions off 36 passes for just under 214 passing yards against power four opponents. Though he isn’t known for taking off, averaging negative rushing yards this season, Nebraska must be careful and not let him deliver a breakout game on the ground. 

But the Huskers may fall victim to Lindsey’s arm, after their secondary found itself at the mercy of Maryland’s Malik Washington. The Terrapins quarterback picked apart Nebraska and only suffered many of his incompletions due to bad throws rather than good coverage. 

However, Lindsey’s outing against Purdue ended with him going 21-of-45 for his 232 yards, suffering two sacks and throwing one interception. With the Golden Gophers leaning on Lindsey’s arm offensively, despite possessing a slew of running backs, Nebraska’s defense could bounce back from the Maryland outing and slow down Minnesota’s offense. 

So far in Big Ten play, the Golden Gophers average around 20 carries for just over 44 yards per game. But they do rely on their running backs in the passing game, last week, with Darius Taylor racking up 67 yards on six catches. Taylor started the season strong, rushing for 141 yards on 30 carries against Buffalo, but after coming back from injury, he’s only posted 44 yards on 22 carries through two games.

Even Fame Ijeboi, who took over during Taylor’s injury, tallied just 27 carries for 89 yards across two games. But again, Nebraska’s defense continues to struggle against the run. With multiple missed tackles last week, the Huskers could potentially give Minnesota a much-needed bounce-back game on the ground.

However, Nebraska’s offense can certainly outplay the Golden Gophers and help its defense out. With Dylan Raiola averaging over 251 passing yards and Emmett Johnson looking to make his homecoming game against Minnesota special, after a 176-rushing-yard performance against Maryland, the Huskers can put together another big outing. 

But Nebraska needs to be cautious regarding mistakes, whether it be from turnovers, penalties or missed field goals, all of which helped Minnesota to a few of its wins. In the Rutgers game, the Scarlet Knights missed two field goals, suffered seven sacks, coughed up five penalties and threw one interception that led to a Golden Gophers’ touchdown. 

Nebraska is without a doubt going to make mistakes, and Minnesota is likely to score off a few, if not all of them. But the Huskers will likely not make as many as they did against Maryland. Plus, with Nebraska rebounding from most of its mistakes so far this season, it can still keep the Golden Gophers at bay.

This Friday night, the lights can go either way. Minnesota’s defense can snatch turnovers, and its offense could put up points. However, the Huskers hold the keys to the win with their offense and defense, and, unless a short week derails the game for them, they should walk away with the victory. 

Score Prediction: Nebraska 37, Minnesota 20

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This article originally appeared on Cornhuskers Wire: Expert score prediction: Nebraska vs. Minnesota