Nebraska Cornhuskers vs Minnesota Golden Gophers Prediction, Picks and Game Preview - 10/17/2025

Game Time: 8:00 pm ET, Friday, October 17, 2025

Venue:  Huntington Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN

Where to Watch:  FOX

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Nebraska -7.5, Minnesota +7.5; Over/Under:  46.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Nebraska -7.5, Minnesota +7.5; Over/Under:  46.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Nebraska -7.5, Minnesota +7.5; Over/Under:  46.5 points

Nebraska Cornhuskers:  5-1 (2-1) (5th place, Big Ten)

Minnesota Golden Gophers:  4-2 (2-1) (9th place, Big Ten)

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Nebraska Cornhuskers:  won their last game on the road against the Maryland Terrapins 34-31.

Minnesota Golden Gophers:  won their last game at home against the Purdue Boilermakers 27-20.

Nebraska is entering this game with a 5-1 record overall and they have a 2-1 record in their conference games too. They are 3-1 in their home games, 1-0 in their road games, and they are also 1-0 in their neutral site games this season, but they will be on the road for this game. They won their last game against Maryland 34-31. Dylan Raiola was the starting QB and he completed 20/29 passes for 260 passing yards, 4 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. Emmett Johnson led the team in rushing yards with 176. Nyziah Hunter led the receivers with 125 receiving yards on 5 receptions and 2 TDs. Marques Watson-Trent led the defense in that game with 6 solo tackles and 0 assisted tackles while Kade Pietrzak led the defense in sacks with 1. No one on the defense came away with an interception for them in that one.

 

 

 

Minnesota is entering this game with a 4-2 record overall and they have a 2-1 record in their conference games too. They are 4-0 in their home games, 0-2 in their road games, and they are also 0-0 in their neutral site games this season, but they will be at home for this game. They won their last game against Purdue 27-20. Drake Lindsey was the starting QB and he completed 21/45 passes for 232 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Darius Taylor led the team in rushing yards with 32. Darius Taylor led the receivers with 67 receiving yards on 6 receptions. Maverick Baranowski led the defense in that game with 9 solo tackles and 0 assisted tackles while no one on the defense recorded a sack for them. John Nestor, Kerry Brown, and Koi Perich each came away with 1 interception for them in that one.

The current betting odds have Minnesota listed as a 7.5 point underdog in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. Minnesota has looked good in their games this season with their 4-2 record overall and their 2-1 conference record which has them in the middle of the Big Ten. They are off a 27-20 win over Purdue and they didn't look great in that one, but they got the win at home and they have had a pretty good defense this season. They are also 4-0 in their home games this year so they have played better at home all season and they have a good enough defense that can keep them in this game with a chance to win. Meanwhile, Nebraska has looked really good in their games this season with their 5-1 record overall and their 2-1 conference record which has them higher in the Big Ten. Nebraska had a ton of hype coming into the season, but they haven't really lived up to that hype. They have played in some really close games against some of the better opponents they have faced and they didn't look great in their last one either. They are off a 34-31 road win over Maryland, but they were trailing for a majority of that game and were very fortunate to pull off that comeback. Now they are on the road again and this Minnesota defense can do enough to keep them in this game. Nebraska hasn't really been blowing out teams that aren't bad this season either so this is a lot for them to win by in a road game against a good defense. The best way to place a bet here is on Minnesota to cover the spread in this game. 

Nebraska Minnesota Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Friday, October 17, 2025 (8:00 pm ET start time) is Nebraska 24 Minnesota 20.

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Nebraska Cornhuskers: 6-12 ATS against conference opponents. 1-4 ATS off a win against a conference rival. 2-8 ATS when playing against a team with a winning record. 7-3 UNDER after playing their last game on the road. 5-2 UNDER after a game with a turnover margin of -2 or worse. 

Minnesota Golden Gophers: 6-3 ATS off a win against a conference rival. 4-1 ATS at home versus good offensive teams - averaging 425 yards/game or more. 39-27 ATS vs. good passing teams averaging 250 or more passing yards/game. 3-0 UNDER as an underdog of 3.5 to 10 points. 

Nebraska Cornhuskers:  T. Alvano (K) Questionable - Undisclosed. J. Marks (OG) Questionable - Undisclosed. T. Terry (DL) Questionable - Undisclosed. J. Parker (RB) Questionable - Undisclosed. D. Bell (WR) Questionable - Knee. M. Hartzog Jr. (CB) Questionable - Undisclosed. C. Connealy (DL) Out - Undisclosed. N. Fennessy (OG) Out - Undisclosed. M. Simpson (DL) Out - Undisclosed. T. Uhlir (RB) Out - Undisclosed. J. Bonner (WR) Out - Undisclosed. G. Pyle (OG) Out - Knee. B. Hill (CB) Out - Knee. G. Stenger (LB) Out - Undisclosed. M. Markway (TE) Out - Knee.

Minnesota Golden Gophers:  D. Shipp (OG) Questionable - Undisclosed. N. Parrish (CB) Questionable - Undisclosed. S. Henson (K) Questionable - Undisclosed. M. Gerald (CB) Questionable - Undisclosed. T. Randle (DL) Questionable - Undisclosed. C. Driver (WR) Questionable - Undisclosed. A. Gousby (CB) Questionable - Undisclosed. A. Turner (RB) Out - Undisclosed. D. Wilson (LB) Out - Undisclosed. M. Omonode (DL) Out - Undisclosed.

“Our guys are very, very comfortable in the fourth quarter. These are all the questions you guys have asked me about — how are we going to get over this thing? — and I said, ‘We’re going to inoculate them by doing it all the time, teach it at a high level.’ I thought we did it pretty well there.” - Matt Rhule after his team’s win against Maryland in their last game. 

"The way a team responds to that says a lot about their character. That was truly gutsy. It didn’t always go our way for a lot of reasons. ... but never once did I think we were out of that football game.” - P.J. Fleck after his team’s win against Purdue in their last game. 

WR Hunter, Nyziah

WR Key, Dane

WR Barney Jr., Jacory

TE Lindenmeyer, Luke

QB Raiola, Dylan

RB Johnson, Emmett

WR Lanier II, Kenric

WR Tracy, Javon

WR Brockington, Le'Meke

TE Geers, Jameson

QB Lindsey, Drake

RB Ijeboi, Fame

Passing: Dylan Raiola (1,591)

Rushing: Emmett Johnson (650)

Receiving: Nyziah Hunter (415)

Touchdowns: Emmett Johnson (8)

Passing: Drake Lindsey (1,284)

Rushing: Fame Ijeboi (225)

Receiving: Javon Tracy (253)

Touchdowns: Jameson Geers (3)

Coaches:

Nebraska Cornhuskers: Matt Rhule (3rd season)

Minnesota Golden Gophers: P.J. Fleck (9th season)