In this article, we will formulate a Minnesota vs California Prediction for this College Football Week 3 game on Saturday, September 13th at the California Memorial Stadium. Let’s take a look at the prediction for this College Football matchup.
California Golden Bears Preview
The Golden Bears have a 2-0 record this season and are ranked as No.101 in the College Football Top 136 Team Rankings for 2025. Ohio State is number 1, Penn State is number 2 and LSU is number 3 in the rankings. The Golden Bears are coming off a 35-5 home victory over Texas Southern. California outgained their opponents by 467-192 yards. They had 28/39 completed passes, 286 passing yards, 181 rushing yards, with turnovers being 2-1. The Golden Bears went 6-12 in third down efficiency and had 7-81 penalties.
Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele had 26/37 passes, a team-high 259 passing yards, no touchdowns and one interception. Kendrick Raphael added a team-high 131 rushing yards, while Mark Hamper caught 1 pass for 14 yards. Defensively, Luke Ferrelli had 11 total tackles, three of them solo, while TJ Bush Jr. and Ryan McCulloch each recorded one sack. Hezekiah Masses had one interception for 28 yards.
Minnesota Golden Gophers Preview
The Golden Gophers have a 2-0 record this season and are ranked as No.25 in the College Football Top 136 Team Rankings for 2025. Ohio State is number 1, Penn State is number 2 and LSU is number 3 in the rankings. The Golden Gophers are coming off a 66-0 home victory over Northwestern State. Minnesota outgained their opponents by 484-42 yards. They had 13/17 completed passes, 226 passing yards, 258 rushing yards, with turnovers being 1-4. The Golden Gophers went 2-6 in third down efficiency and had 4-45 penalties.
Drake Lindsey had 8/9 passes, a team-high 139 passing yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. Grant Washington added a team-high 126 rushing yards, while Darius Taylor caught 2 passes for 59 yards. Defensively, Joey Gerlach had 5 total tackles, two of them solo, while Anthony Smith recorded 1.5 sacks. John Nestor had two interceptions for 29 yards and one touchdown.
Minnesota vs California Prediction
California has won both meetings against Minnesota. On the road in 2009 by 35-21 and at home in 2006 by 42-17. They covered the spread in both and both games went over the point total.
In this Minnesota vs California Prediction, Minnesota is coming in as -1.5-point road favorites, with the total set at 43 points. Both teams have been undefeated this season, and both teams are coming off impressive defensive performances, having held their opponents into zero and three points respectively. They both play excellent defense in their first two games of the season, allowing 5 and 9 points per game. The point total for this game is set low for a reason, as the books also expect a low-scoring affair. Take the under 43 points in this one.