Minnesota Football vs Michigan: Preview of the Little Brown Jug Battle

Opening Thoughts

This week. Good lord this week. We lose Flip to cancer. Jerry Kill retires from coaching. And Job A just made it all worse. Humor feels in short supply, but I'll try to keep this light.

Gnome #TAKES

The gnomes like the Jug. It fun to drink out of. It's nifty looking on the mantle of their underground gnome lair. Michigan fans get pissy when the Wolverines don't have it. The gnomes want to keep it. And you better believe the gnomes want to hear Harbaugh sound like this after his team almost won the Jug on Halloween:

I pledge here and now to use a Scooby Doo theme if given the opportunity to Rapid Recap a Minnesota victory tonight!

When/Where

Date: 10/31/15

Kickoff Time: 6 PM CST

Where: TCF Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN

Watch/Listen

TV: ESPN

Streaming Video: WatchESPN.com

Radio: KFAN (100.3 in the Twin Cities) and the Gopher Radio Network (Radio Affiliates).

Streaming Audio: Locate KFAN on IHeartRadio.com (or the IHeartRadio app for your mobile device)

Satellite Radio: SiriusXM 195; Sirius 135; XM195

Odds

Spread: Michigan by 11.5 to 14, depending on the site.

Over/Under: 37.5 to 38, depending on the site

Bill C's S&P+ Pick

Game	Spread (Home)	Proj. Winner	Proj. Margin	Win Prob.	Pick (Spread)
Michigan at Minnesota	+14	Michigan (31.4-10.1)	21.3	89%	Michigan

OOF.

Weather Forecast

A touch chilly, but otherwise excellent football weather.

I would have preferred snow.

The Enemy

Where Are They From? A place of ill repute called Ann Arbor, Michigan.

All Time Series: Let's not talk about it.

Last Season: Wondeful, simply wonderful.

Does Michigan have the Jug?

Nope.

— Mich. Have The Jug? (@MichHaveTheJug) October 30, 2015

2015 To Date: 5-2. 2-1 Big Ten. Their magical season was dealt a gut punch 2 weeks ago when this happened.

Head Coach: Jim Harbaugh, 1st season. You love him or you hate him. Sometimes you just laugh at him. But he's always going to be a GIF lovers dream.

Players To Watch: There is only one player I want to talk about.

/waves to Jake Ruddock

Welcome back to TCF Bank Stadium Jake! I know you love it here. You always play so well against Minnesota at TCF. You've never had any issues and the fact that you've be amazing as a QB for Michigan means you should prepare to have a wonderful game. You put the treat in trick or treat for sure.

/sarcasm

...

...

...

Please suck like you did last year, sincerely, me.

Keys to the Game

- Turnovers: Minnesota needs to be +1 or better to win. Honestly, unless something really odd happens I think they need to be +2. Getting the defensive turnovers in Michigan territory would be advisable.

- Come out high energy, keep the crowd in it: There is a TON of emotion in the fanbase right now. The crowd will be in it early. If Minnesota feeds off that and doesn't let Michigan quiet TCF then a weird Halloween night could be in store.

- Have fun: This is a key for everyone. It's been a really hard week. Don't let a game get your down.

How Afraid Am I?

For those who don't know, this is a bit where I rank my fear by saying how many Tim Brewsters I am afraid of the opponent. The more Tim Brewsters I list, the more afraid I am...because the memory of Timmy Brew is scary for all Gophers fans. Typically this is done on a scale of 1 to 5 "Brewsters on his face" in the Metrodome, though I mix it up as needed. I don't want to talk about Tim Brewster this week, so I'm doing something else entirely.

I want a team full of meddling kids to ruin Jim Harbaugh's evil plan.

What? You want it too.

Completely Worthless Prediction

Minnesota should lose this game. All the emotion in the world doesn't change that equation. College football is a funny sport sometimes and I desperately want to be wrong here. But it's been a long week and I'm not feeling it right now. Prove me wrong Gophers.

Michigan 27 - Minnesota 7