Minnesota @ Nebraska preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 26, 2013 ) Nebraska 23, Minnesota 34

Nebraska must lick its wounds from a disparaging loss last week and take on another top running back when it hosts Minnesota in a Big Ten contest Saturday. The 19th-ranked Cornhuskers gave up a major-college NCAA single-game record 408 yards on the ground to Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon in a 59-24 loss Nov. 15 and now face Minnesota’s David Cobb, who is seventh in the nation in rushing. The Golden Gophers dropped two of their last three, including a 31-24 loss to No. 7 Ohio State last week.

Both teams can still reach the Big Ten Championship game with a pair of victories in the wide-open Western Division if they find their best form. Nebraska will lean on running back Ameer Abdullah, who stands ninth in the country in rushing despite totaling 69 yards last week and has 19 touchdowns overall. With the Cornhuskers concentrating on closing the holes for Cobb after an embarrassing week, Minnesota quarterback Mitch Leidner could very important.

TV: Noon ET, ESPN. LINE: Nebraska –10.5

ABOUT MINNESOTA (7-3, 4-2 Big Ten): Cobb has posted 1,350 yards rushing and is 115 shy of breaking Laurence Maroney’s single-season record set in 2005. Leidner threw seven touchdown passes and one interception over a three-game span before being picked off twice last week against Ohio State while completing 7-of-19 attempts for 85 yards. Minnesota’s defense has forced 25 turnovers – second in the conference – but will have to rebound from giving up 289 rushing yards in its last contest.

ABOUT NEBRASKA (8-2, 4-2): Abdullah will get his yards, but the Cornhuskers will need better play from quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. after he completed only 14-of-39 passes with three interceptions over the past two weeks. Armstrong has two solid targets with Jordan Westerkamp (34 receptions, 606 yards) and Kenny Bell (36, 591), who passed Johnny Rodgers for the school record in career receiving yards (2,492). Nebraska was allowing 123.8 rushing yards per game before giving up 581 to Wisconsin.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Minnesota leads the series 30-22-2, but has not won at Nebraska since 1960 and snapped a 16-game losing streak overall against the Cornhuskers last season.

2. Nebraska can finish 7-0 at home for the second time in three seasons with a victory over Minnesota.

3. The Golden Gophers are 8-4 in their last 12 Big Ten games – the best 12-game conference stretch for them since 1972 when they went 9-3.

PREDICTION: Minnesota 34, Nebraska 31