The Minnesota Golden Gophers and the No. 25 Nebraska Cornhuskers play in a matchup of Big Ten foes Friday night at Huntington Bank Stadium and for the Gophers they're attempting to defeat Nebraska for a sixth straight time under coach P.J. Fleck.
The game features a coach, Nebraska's Matt Rhule, who is the subject of a lot of rumors right now. Many experts in the college game expect him to be the favorite to replace James Franklin at Penn State, and it's cast a shadow over the Huskers 5-1 start to the season.
Rhule played linebacker at Penn State for Joe Paterno. And that is an era many in Happy Valley were hoping Franklin could return to. But losses to lowly UCLA and Northwestern sealed Franklin's fate and opened the door for Rhule who got his first coaching job was at Penn State immediately after his college career concluded.
Fleck said he has great respect for Rhule as a coach and person regardless of what decision he eventually makes, if Penn State wants him back.
"Matt Rhule has has got incredible depth, he's a wonderful football coach, incredible human being," says Fleck. "I've known him for a long time."
On the field, Nebraska will be the Gophers biggest challenge so far this season, outside of that mismatch in Columbus where the Buckeyes blew out Minnesota 42-3. They will definitely challenge the Gopher defense that has really struggled to stop the run and slow down offenses in Big Ten play.
"You look at their offense, I mean, (Dylan) Raiola is playing better than he's ever played, they've got a very deep running back room, they've got three to four wideouts who can flat out fly and make huge plays and change the game instantly," says Fleck. "They're big up front, big tight ends. And then defensively, I mean they blitz an awful lot. They do a lot in different fronts. I mean, they're in new front all the time. They can do a lot of things out of different packages, they're long, they're big, they're physical."
Fleck was asked about beating the Huskers five straight times and pointed out that this version is a very different bunch under Rhule.
"This is the 2025 version of Nebraska, which is the only one I'm really concerned about," he said.
Even thought Minnesota has struggled early in games, Fleck is quick to praise his team's resilience and especially their freshman quarterback Drake Lindsey who has shined in the 4th quarter, in comeback wins over Rutgers and Purdue.
"This football team, you never feel like they're ever out of it and they always feel like they can go get it done," Fleck added. "And I think, there's a lot of youth at a lot of those positions, that you need to trust in those positions. And I was really proud that our best players made enough big plays in the biggest moments to find a way to win that football game, and have done that throughout the season."
No. 25 Nebraska (5-1) at Minnesota (4-2), Oct. 17 at 7 p.m.
How to watch: FOX
Key stats
Minnesota Offense
Overall: 340.8 yards per game (106th in FBS)
Passing: 228.5 yards per game (69th)
Rushing: 112.3 yards per game (115th)
Scoring: 27.3 points per game (77th)
Minnesota Defense
Overall: 308.3 yards per game (27th in FBS)
Passing: 200.3 yards per game (49th)
Rushing: 108 yards per game (28th)
Scoring: 21.2 points per game (50th)
Nebraska Offense
Overall: 450.3 yards per game (26th in FBS)
Passing: 310.5 yards per game (10th)
Rushing: 139.8 yards per game (92nd)
Scoring: 41 points per game (11th)
Nebraska Defense
Overall: 269.3 yards per game (14th in FBS)
Passing: 118 yards per game (1st)
Rushing: 151.3 yards per game (81st)
Scoring: 18.7 points per game (30th)
Nebraska is 8th in defensive third down percentage, allowing opponents to convert 47.1% of the time. Minnesota ranks 80th on offense, converting on 39.2% of third downs.
Minnesota is 20th in the FBS with a +5 turnover margin.
Both teams avoid getting penalized. Minnesota ranks 8th in the FBS averaging 33.7 penalty yards per game, and Nebraska ranks 25th with a 40.8-yard average.
Team leaders
Minnesota
Passing: Drake Lindsey, 1,284 yards, 9 TDs, 3 INTs, 60.1 completion percentage
Rushing: Fame Ijeboi, 225 yards on 48 carries, 1 TD
Receiving: Javon Tracy, 253 yards on 16 catches, 2 TDs
Nebraska
Passing: Dylan Raiola, 1,593 yards, 16 TDs, 5 INTs, 73.4 completion percentage
Rushing: Emmett Johnson, 650 yards on 105 carries, 7 TDs
Receiving: Nyziah Hunter, 415 yards on 22 catches, 4 TDs
Last game
Minnesota won 27-20 over Purdue on Saturday, Oct. 11. Lindsey led Minnesota with 232 yards on 21-of-45 passing (46.7%) for two touchdowns and one interception. Darius Taylor had 32 rushing yards on 14 carries, adding six receptions for 67 yards. Lemeke Brockington recorded 61 yards on four catches with one touchdown.
Nebraska won 34-31 over Maryland on Saturday, Oct. 11. Raiola led Nebraska with 260 yards on 20-of-29 passing (69.0%) for four touchdowns and three interceptions. Johnson carried the ball 21 times for 176 yards, adding two receptions for 20 yards. Hunter had five receptions for 125 yards and two touchdowns.
Next game
Minnesota plays at Iowa on Oct. 25.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.