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Minnesota Football: Three keys to beating Nebraska and how to watch Saturday’s game

Minnesota heads to Lincoln, here’s how they beat the Cornhuskers

By GopherNation
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COLLEGE FOOTBALL: SEP 10 Western Illinois at Minnesota

Sadly, the Scott Frost era is over in Lincoln. It was a good run for the Gophers under Frost going 3-1 and not getting the opportunity to move that to 4-1 this season. Now Mickey Joseph is the interim head coach and here is what it will take for the Gophers to win in Lincoln on Saturday.

How to Watch

TV: ESPN2
Time: 11:00
Stream: ESPN App

So can they get this win and keep the Chair trophy? Here are the keys.

3 KEYS

  • Line of scrimmage - It has been a major key all year and it will remain so. The Gopher OL needs to dominate a Nebraska front seven that has frequently been manhandled all season. They are the worst defense in the Big Ten and give up massive yards on the ground. Just own the line of scrimmage, this is absolutely the biggest key of the day. Also, Nebraska has given up 22 sacks this season. Might be an opportunity for some pressure from the Gopher DL.
  • Find the pass defense again - Calling on Justin Walley and Terell Smith to show up more on Saturday than they have recently. Personally I expect Casey Thompson will play and he’ll have ample opportunities to connect with Trey Palmer. This could keep them in the game.
  • Turnovers - Once again, not a very sexy key to the game, but critical.

OPPOSING PLAYERS TO WATCH

  • #3 WR - Trey Palmer - Is putting up great numbers this season and he concerns me.
  • #44 DE - Garrett Nelson - One of the Big Ten leaders in sacks, which has been a problem for our offensive line.

PREDICTION

Nebraska has been a mess this year. The one thing that made me nervous after the firing of Scott Frost is that maybe some competence would return to the program and would show on the field. This may be a little true, they are probably better than they were in September.

But they are still not very good, especially on defense.

This game will be a good test for both of our coordinators. With how bad the Cornhusker defense is, Ciarrocca really should be able to call a game where we can move the ball. Conversly, the Nebraska offense is potent. It is on Joe Rossi to keep them contained.

Barring weird things (special teams gaffs, a few bad turnovers, etc) I think this is clearly a Gopher win. I hate being so overconfident when this 2022 Gopher team has been unpredictable, but Nebraska is not great.

Minnesota - 31
Nebraska - 17

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