The Michigan Wolverines travel to TCF Bank Stadium Saturday night to face the Minnesota Golden Gophers in a Big Ten matchup. The Wolverines will try to shake off a tough loss to Michigan State and earn their sixth win of the season against Minnesota. Golden Gophers head coach Jerry Kill announced his immediate retirement this weekend due to health concerns, and interim head coach Tracy Claeys will look to have this team ready to go Saturday night.
Senior quarterback Jake Rudock leads the Wolverines offense, and has struggled at times this season. Rudock has 1,303 passing yards on the season but has thrown six interceptions to five touchdowns. Head coach Jim Harbaugh will look to get the ball to running back De'Veon Smith early, as he can take pressure off the Wolverines quarterback.
The junior running back has 436 rushing yards this season with four touchdowns. Harbaugh will look to give Smith plenty of carries, as the Wolverines like to control time of possession. The Wolverines strength is their defense and prior to their loss to Michigan State they had held opponents to three straight shutouts. The Wolverines defense is giving up an average of 9.2 points per game, and is looks to be one of the best defenses in college football.
Minnesota quarterback Mitch Leidner faces arguably the toughest defense he has seen this season. The junior quarterback has struggled to stay consistent this season with seven touchdowns to six interceptions. Leidner is coming off a season-high 301-yard passing game but threw two interceptions in a loss to Nebraska.
Leidner will look to get the ball to senior wide receiver KJ Maye, as he is a big player maker for the Golden Gophers. Maye is Minnesota's leading receiver with 350 yards receiving. The senior receiver had 94 yards on 11 catches against Nebraska but hasn't seen the endzone since September.
It will be an interesting game to watch, as Minnesota will be without Kill for the first time this season, and Harbaugh looks to have the Wolverines at the top of their game. The game starts at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, and you can watch the live broadcast here. To listen to the Wolverines' radio broadcast, go here, and for the Golden Gophers' radio broadcast, click here.