Northwestern heads home for its Big Ten West opener tonight against Minnesota, marking the first time it will play a game with everyone back on campus this season. For the most part, the staff thinks it could at least be a little closer than last week (maybe even with a chance to win?!)
Iggy Dowling: Minnesota 24, Northwestern 13
Minnesota can run the football. Northwestern didn’t show it could stop Duke’s ground game whatsoever, and tackled poorly. The Golden Gophers are in a really good spot to dominate time of possession. However, given it’s a night game with students back on campus for the first time, this should be Northwestern’s biggest home-field advantage of the year, which could make it closer than the talent gap between these two teams might indicate.