The Gophers' 2 Big Ten wins came from their defense. Minnesota forced 3 Michigan turnovers, kept Bryce Underwood under pressure all afternoon, and ended it with a turnover on downs in the last minute. Before that it won 27-24 at Washington. Neither league win came easy, and neither was pretty, but P.J. Fleck got to crowd-surf after the second one and Minnesota is 2-0 in conference play as of this week.
Eastern Illinois59-7
Indiana State44-19Purdue's season looks very different depending on which week you check. The offense has put up 44, 36 and 38 in 3 of its 5 games, so it can score. The defense allowed 38 to Wake Forest, 52 at UCLA and 49 to Notre Dame in consecutive weeks before it held Illinois to 17. The win in Champaign ended a 19-game Big Ten losing streak and a 23-game skid against Power Four opponents. That is real progress. It's also 1 week of defense set against 3 bad ones.
The matchup comes down to this: a Minnesota defense that lives on takeaways against a Purdue offense that needs Browne to stay clean without his tight ends. If Lindsey gives away the ball the way he did in the first half against Michigan, a Boilermakers offense that can score 36-plus will make the Gophers pay at home. If he doesn't, Minnesota has the better-tested defense in this game. The forecast says 66 degrees, cloudy and an 8 mph wind, so the weather shouldn't decide anything.