Minnesota Football vs. Penn State: Staff Predictions

I won’t lie to you. These are dark times at The Daily Gopher. The mood around the office is grim following back-to-back losses to Purdue and Illinois. But the show must go on. The Minnesota Golden Gophers head to Happy Valley this Saturday to face No. 16-ranked Penn State, and we actually have a few true believers on staff who see an upset on the horizon.

The Predictions:

This Week’s Thoughts:

Blake: See my opponent preview.

GoAUpher: There’s nothing quite like the futility of watching last week from the stands at Illinois to temper your traditional optimism. I don’t think this team is that far away from returning to the form we saw in the first four games. At least, that’s what I hope. But until they prove themselves capable of fixing the issues with the line play (among other things) then I’m going to have to say I doubt a White Out is where they get back on track.

gopherguy05: This offense is in free fall and until they prove that they can get it back together, things aren’t going to look great. Penn State’s offense isn’t lighting the world on fire right now either, but they can make explosive plays, something the Gophers definitely can’t do at the moment. Just take the L on Saturday and hope to right the ship by Rutgers week.

GopherNation: Something just feels like this is a game where the Gopher offense gets back on track and perhaps Penn State isn’t quite as good as we think they are.

HipsterGopher: To hell with reasoning or objectivity. Gophers win and match their largest margin of victory in this storied rivalry. 24-10 also being the score of the 2013 victory.

mowe0018: I am puzzled by the line. Seems it should be higher but perhaps Vegas recognizes something that we cannot. In any case, I’m going to go optimistic and say that the Gophers at least look serviceable and lose because they just couldn’t create the game-changing type play required to pull off a road upset.

Ustreet: Minnesota’s offense is unlikely to clean up structural problems, especially if they have a new QB under center.

WhiteSpeedReceiver: I’d like to be wrong, but I’m not sure I see it right now. So I’ll just go to the game and try to have some fun and enjoy the White Out.

wildcat00: Prove me wrong, Gophers. I beg you.

zipsofakron: Gopher fans are bred to be tormented, so the greatest torment would be to win in a hostile environment, get people feeling good again, and then lose to Northwestern in a few weeks.

Post your score predictions in the comments!