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2015 Game 7 “Expert” Picks: Nebraska at Minnesota ————— CollegeFootballNews.com Why You Need To Care Nebraska might be four plays away from being 6-0, but it’s 2-4 – you are what your record is. This is turning into a historically awful start for a program looking to make this a special year after firing Bo Pelini for not being able to take the program to a whole other level – among other things. Lose this, then you’re talking about the worst start to a Husker season since going 1-9 in 1957. Win this, and with Northwestern up next and Iowa still to play, there’s still time to catch fire, go on a run, and yeah, actually win the West. Lose, and then Northwestern and Iowa look daunting, and facing Michigan State won’t help, either. Minnesota hasn’t been good, but it’s 4-2 and coming off a 41-13 blasting of Purdue. This isn’t anywhere near the same team compared to last year’s, and the season could fall off the map in a hurry with a loss. After this? Michigan, at Ohio State, at Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and needing to win two of the last five against them with a loss this week. Why Nebraska Will Win Don’t let the Purdue game fool you – the Minnesota offense still isn’t working. Yes, the running game was great, and yes, Mitch Leidner was efficient and effective with the passing attack, but the Gophers are struggling to put points on the board against decent defenses. Nebraska has a decent defense. The Huskers might be 106th in the nation in total defense, and the secondary has been a hot mess, but Malik Collins and the run defense have been terrific. No one has run for more than 150 yards yet on the Husker D that’s allowing just over three yards per carry. Minnesota needs to run to win – that’s going to be a problem. Why Minnesota Will Win What the hell has happened to the Nebraska passing game? Even with the return of De’Mornay Pierson-El, and even with some decent targets to play around with, Tommy Armstrong has struggled. Playing the Illinois and Wisconsin defense have had something to do with it, but Armstrong has completed 21-of-59 passes for just 234 yards with a touchdown and a pick over the last two games. Minnesota’s secondary is rock solid, ranking 15th in the nation and ninth in pass efficiency defense – the Nebraska air show isn’t going to take off this week. Player Who Matters No one expected much out of Shannon Brooks. The 6-0, 206-pound Atlanta native came to Minnesota as just a recruit, without any fanfare, and he didn’t do much over the first three games. He started turning heads against Ohio with 82 yards and two scores on just ten carries, and last week he took over with 176 yards and a score on just 17 carries, highlighted by a 71-yard dash. He’s got the speed, and he has the running mate in fellow freshman Rodney Smith to help share the load. What’s Going To Happen? Is Nebraska going to finally catch a break and finally get over the hump, or is this just the way the team is going to roll this year? Nebraska is a far better team than Minnesota with a far better offense, but the Gopher defense is set up the right way to pull off the home win. Nebraska will once again figure out how to lose. PREDICTION: Minnesota 24- Nebraska 20 ————— SBNation/Football Study Hall http://www.footballstudyhall.com/2015/10/15/9533063/college-football-picks-projections-week-7-sandp Minnesota 29 - Nebraska 22 ————— ESPN FPI http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/fpi?id=158&year=2015 Nebraska - 53.1% chance of winning ————— AP - Ralph D Russo http://collegefootball.ap.org/article/pivotal-games-boise-st-memphis-be-best-group-5 At some point a ball has to bounce Nebraska's way, right? Nebraska 28 - Minnesota 21 ————— BTN.com http://btn.com/2015/10/14/hold-polls-its-time-to-pick-your-week-7-big-ten-football-winners/ Tom Dienhart: Nebraska 17 - Minnesota 14 Sean Merriman: Minnesota 24 - Nebraska 20 Brent Yarina: Minnesota 24 - Nebraska 20 JoeChristensen: Minnesota 16 - Nebraska 13 ————— ESPN Big Ten Blog http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/125205/big-ten-week-7-game-picks-can-sparty-knock-off-u-m-in-the-big-house Brian Bennet: Minnesota 24 - Nebraska 21 Josh Moyer: Nebraska 24 - Minnesota 21 Dan Murphy: Nebraska 24 - Minnesota 14 Mitch Sherman: Minnesota 27 - Nebraska 21 Jesse Temple: Minnesota 13 - Nebraska 10 Austin Ward: Minnesota 24 - Nebraska 22 ————— Big Red Wrap-Up http://netnebraska.org/interactive-multimedia/sports/big-red-wrap-minnesota-prediction-2 Kevin Kugler: Minnesota 20 - Nebraska 17 Blake Lawrence: Minnesota 24 - Nebraska 21 Matt Davison: Nebraska 24 - Minnesota 20 ————— Daily Nebraskan http://www.dailynebraskan.com/sports/dn-sports-desk-nebraska-v-minnesota-score-predictions/article_5b85a45a-7082-11e5-b379-6f9185713232.html Josh Kelly: Minnesota 27 - Nebraska 23 Brett Nierengarten: Nebraska 17 - Minnesota 13 Nick Wilkinson: Minnesota 27 - Nebraska 17 Michael Dixon: Nebraska 20 - Minnesota 17 Vanessa Daves: Nebraska 20 - Minnesota 10 ————— Athlon Sports http://athlonsports.com/college-football/predictions-every-college-football-game-week-7 Steven Lassan: Nebraska Mitch Light: Minnesota* David Fox: Minnesota Braden Gall: Minnesota* Mark Ross: Nebraska * (Changed pick in podcast) —————

The article talks about Jerry Kill and his Snyder-esque turn-around at Minnesota. Which is really pretty amazing if you think about it. It its own way, I think what Kill has done at Minnesota is almost comparable to what Saban has done at Bama. Saban took a decent Alabama team and turned them into a powerhouse. Jerry Kill took a crappy Gopher team and turned them into a decent team. And that's a pretty hard thing to do.