Minnesota Gophers predictions: Game 2 at Maryland

When it comes to Minnesota Gophers predictions this week we’ve got some good news and some bad news.

The bad is that with the Gophers losing last week and falling out of the top 25 it’s harder finding predictions from around the web, as most prognosticators only pick games with ranked teams. Also, many Big Ten predictors wait until Friday to post their picks — and we’re running this on Thursday since it’s a Friday game.

The good news is that we did find a number of people picking a winner (and often score) for Minnesota’s Friday night matchup against Maryland.

If you were expecting maybe there will be a further letdown for the Gophers after losing their opener convincingly and now having to go on the road, well, we have more good news for you.

The Terrapins didn’t exactly cover themselves in football glory in their opener, getting trounced by Northwestern 43-3. The Wildcats hadn’t scored 40+ points in a Big Ten game since 2017.

So, yeah, there’s a lot of strong winning vibe going on with Minnesota for its second game of the 2020 season.

Here’s this week’s predictions from around the web:

Pete Fiutak of Collegefootballnews.com: Minnesota 40, Maryland 12. “Maryland did next to nothing right against Northwestern, but now it’s getting a shot at home to turn this around in a hurry. It won’t happen. Minnesota is far better than it looked against a strong Michigan team that owned the lines. This week, this will be the Gopher team many thought would show up last Saturday night. The running game and the offense will control the clock for close to 40 minutes.”

Josh Slagter of mlive.com: Minnesota 41, Maryland 17. “Both teams coming off openers that didn’t go as planned. But the Terrapins are the ones that gave up more than 500 yards to Northwestern, including 325 on the ground. Mohammed Ibrahim ran for 140 yards and two TDs against Michigan, and Maryland will provide even less resistance. Minnesota’s defense and QB Tanner Morgan should be able to get back on track.”

Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter: Minnesota 27, Maryland 10.

Mike Bainbridge of Athlon Sports: Minnesota 34, Maryland 14. “Surprises happen all over in college football, it can truly be any given Saturday… or in this case Friday. Don’t expect to see that in this matchup, though, as Maryland displayed nothing this past week to warrant any consideration of pulling an upset against a motivated Minnesota team that still has aspirations of a Big Ten West title. With cooler temperatures and possible precipitation in the forecast, expect the Golden Gophers to grind out a win with Mohamed Ibrahim doing a lot of the damage against a susceptible Maryland defense.”

Joe Vozzelli Jr. of the Champaign News-Gazette: Minnesota 31, Maryland 13.

Johnny Parlay – can we agree that’s not his real name – of USA Today’s Sportsbook Wire: Minnesota 48, Maryland 23.

Andy Greder of the Pioneer Press: Minnesota 35, Maryland 13.

Bill Connelly of ESPN: His S&P projection has it Minnesota 36, Maryland 22.

Testudo Times’ Wesley Brown: Minnesota 38, Maryland 21.

Steve Helwagen of Bucknuts: Minnesota 40, Maryland 11.

All three Athlon Sports writers pick Minnesota to win.