Minnesota @ Northwestern preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 13, 2012 ) Northwestern 21, Minnesota 13

Northwestern looks to snap a two-game losing streak when it returns home Saturday to face a Minnesota team also dealing with a two-game slide. The Wildcats are coming off an ugly 35-6 drubbing at Wisconsin that dropped them from the national rankings. The Golden Gophers are also dealing with head coach Jerry Kill having to take a leave of absence due to health problems, leaving defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys the interim head coach.

Northwestern had scored at least 30 points in each of its first five contests but had 241 total yards, 10 first downs and two field goals against Wisconsin. Quarterbacks Kain Colter and Trever Siemian combined for under 50 percent passing for the first time this season against the Badgers, finishing 17-for-39. The Gophers prefer to stay on the ground, ranking 25th in the nation in rushing offense with 215.8 yards a contest.

TV: 12 p.m. ET, ESPN2. LINE: Northwestern -12.5

ABOUT MINNESOTA (4-2, 0-2 Big Ten): While the Gophers are playing musical coaches, they're also rotating quarterbacks, though Claeys has already tabbed Mitch Leidner to start against the Wildcats. Claeys would also like Philip Nelson to take some snaps early in the game. “If there comes a time when everything's going pretty good, not with our back to the wall, we can get Philip a series in the first half,” Claeys said at his weekly press conference. “I'd prefer to do that, rather than all of a sudden at the very end of the game or something, where we throw him in.”

ABOUT NORTHWESTERN (4-2, 0-2): Despite being blown out by Wisconsin last week, Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald wanted his team to have a better mood throughout the contest, thinking it would help them play better. Fitzgerald has been trying to lighten his team's mood heading into the Minnesota game, including coaches attacking players with 300 water balloons at the end of a team meeting. “I didn't like our attitude at times Saturday,” Fitzgerald said at his weekly press conference. “Obviously no one enjoys not being successful. (But) the hallmark of this program has been our character and how we have responded.”

EXTRA POINTS

1. Junior RB David Cobb leads the Gophers in rushing with 374 yards after not even being on the opening-day depth chart and totaling 11 carries in his first two years with Minnesota.

2. Northwestern ranks No. 1 in the Big Ten and fifth nationally in total takeaways with 17 (13 interceptions, four fumble recoveries).

3. The Wildcats and Gophers rank 1-2, respectively, in the Big Ten in red zone offense, with Northwestern scoring 96.2 percent of the time, just ahead of Minnesota's 95.5 percent.

PREDICTION: Northwestern 35, Minnesota 24