Minnesota Gophers predictions: Game 5 vs. Purdue

It’s another Friday night game for Minnesota.

The first two, so-called primetime national spotlights, haven’t gone well for the Gophers with bad losses to Michigan and Iowa.

Is the third time the charm?

Purdue comes to town fresh off its first loss of the season and an uncertain situation at quarterback.

Will the Gophers melt in the spotlight once again or finally shine?

Here’s this week’s predictions from around the web:

Pete Fiutak of Collegefootballnews.com: Minnesota 27, Purdue 23. “Can Minnesota avoid making a whole slew of mistakes?Purdue has been strong in turnover margin so far, and Minnesota has turned it over twice in three of the four games. In this, though, the Gopher offensive line will catch a bit of a break with no Purdue pass rush to worry about. Minnesota is way, way, way overdue for a good performance against a decent team. Purdue doesn’t have the running game to take advantage of the soft Gopher defensive front.”

Josh Slagter of mlive.com: Purdue 28, Minnesota 27. “The Gophers allow an average of 215 rushing yards per game. The Boilermakers have almost no interest in running the ball. So maybe Minnesota’s defense catches a little break this week. Minnesota’s offense has been almost all Mohamed Ibrahim (715 yards, 10 TD), but Tanner Morgan will have to hit a few throws if the Gophers are finally going to win one of these Friday night Big Ten games. Prime time hasn’t been kind to P.J. Fleck in 2020. David Bell and Rashod Bateman should provide some highlights [at] receiver, at least.”

Joe Vozzelli Jr. of the Champaign News-Gazette: Purdue 38, Minnesota 31. “The Boilermakers’ inability to run the ball (only 63.7 yards per game) has put extra pressure on Aidan O’Connell. O’Connell and Co. should be able to do whatever they want against a below-average Gophers defense, however.”

J.P. Scott of Athlon Sports: Purdue 30, Minnesota 20.  “I believe you’ll see a conservative game plan from head coach Jeff Brohm, knowing that Minnesota is pressing. I see Purdue sticking to what it does best, not getting too crazy, and waiting for Minnesota to make the type of mistakes that lose football games. Look for Boilermakers running back Zander Horvath to turn in his best performance of the season en route to a sound road win.”

Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter: Minnesota 28, Purdue 27.

The Oklahoman’s Berry Tramel: Purdue 23, Minnesota 14.

Joe DiTullio of GameHaus: Purdue

Bill Connelly of ESPN: His S&P projection has it Minnesota 32, Purdue 31.

Just one of three Athlon Sports writers picks Minnesota to win.