The Minnesota Golden Gophers are undefeated, but no one is talking about this team. Minnesota is immensely entertaining thanks to the exuberance of head coach P.J. Fleck, and the Golden Gophers are making history. They haven\u2019t been 7-0 since 1960, and that was the last season the Golden Gophers won a national championship. Minnesota is a hefty home favorite per the college football betting odds this week as it looks to move to 8-0 against the Maryland Terrapins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To be fair, the Golden Gophers shouldn\u2019t be undefeated. They won four straight coin flip games to start the season, beating South Dakota State, Fresno State, Georgia Southern, and Purdue by one possession. However, they have crushed their last three opponents (Illinois, Nebraska, and Rutgers) by a combined margin of 116-31. That has led to the NCAAF betting odds<\/a> respecting Minnesota enough to make this team a 16-point favorite against Maryland at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maryland and Minnesota are on opposite sides of the Big Ten, and they had never met in football until 2016. The Golden Gophers won that initial meeting, but the Terps have won the last two games in this series. We\u2019ve seen a lot of heroics from back-up quarterbacks during that time as both schools have dealt with major injuries to their quarterbacks, forcing them to take a deep dive into the depth chart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fleck is a run-first coach. Although he is thrown into the new school passing clique due to his age and enthusiasm, he has old school ideas about how to win games. Minnesota is one of the most run-dominant teams in college football this year, and that has been to its detriment at times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Golden Gophers are averaging just 4.1 YPC on the year. Rodney Smith should surpass 1,000 yards this campaign, and Mohamed Ibrahim and Shannon Brooks have been solid complementary pieces. However, Minnesota should probably throw more than they currently do as Tanner Morgan has been excellent despite having limited chances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Morgan is completing almost two-thirds of his passes, and he is averaging 10.7 YPA. He has thrown for 16 touchdowns and three interceptions, and the sophomore from Kentucky is showing he can spin it. His numbers are much better than what we saw when he was a freshman, and he has linked up well with Rashod Bateman, Tyler Johnson, and Chris Autumn-Bell. Those three receivers are responsible for 87.9 percent of the production in the passing game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Maryland\u2019s defense is 58th in the nation per SP+. The Terrapins have been decent against the run, but they have been awful against the pass, allowing 8.6 YPA. Look for Morgan to exploit this weakness and throw for well over 300 yards. His NCAAF player props<\/a> are certainly worth betting on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through the first two weeks of the season, Maryland had the best offense in college football. The Terps put up 79 points on FCS Howard and dropped 63 on a ranked Syracuse team to get the Mike Locksley era off to a great start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That feels like forever ago given what we have seen over the last month. Maryland\u2019s only win since then was a blowout victory over Rutgers, and the Terps were hammered by Penn State and Purdue and lost close games against Temple and Indiana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Virginia Tech transfer Josh Jackson appeared to be the next great transfer quarterback, but his numbers have tailed off dramatically after a hot start. Jackson has completed just over 51 percent of his passes, and he is averaging 7.1 YPA. He is expected to start after sitting out last week\u2019s game against Indiana, but if he can\u2019t go, Tyrell Pigrome will take over. Pigrome is more of a runner than Jackson, so Minnesota would have to adjust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Terps are averaging 5.5 YPC, but a lot of that damage was done in the first two games. This offense has not produced much since then, and they are unlikely to have too much success against a Minnesota defense that has toughened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Minnesota will row the boat to another victory here, setting up a showdown against also undefeated Penn State in two weeks\u2019 time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Get the latest college football odds and information–follow BetOnline.ag on Twitter<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\nRECENT HISTORY<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
WHEN MINNESOTA HAS THE BALL<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
WHEN MARYLAND HAS THE BALL<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
PREDICTION<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n