Minnesota Golden Gophers (3-3) vs. UCLA Bruins (1-4)
October 12, 2024 9:00 pm EDT
The Line: UCLA Bruins +5.5 / Minnesota Golden Gophers -5.5; Over/Under: +42.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Minnesota Golden Gophers and the UCLA Bruins meet Saturday in college football action from the Rose Bowl. Here’s a UCLA vs Minnesota prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best UCLA vs Minnesota pick.
Minnesota Golden Gophers Betting Preview
The Gophers got off to a 2-3 start through their first five games. The two wins came versus Rhode Island 48-0 and Nevada 27-0 in a pair of dominant efforts. Outside of that however, it was losses to North Carolina 19-17, Iowa 31-13 and Michigan 27-24.
In game six versus USC, the Gophers posted 14 unanswered fourth-quarter points in a wild comeback win 24-17. Max Brosmer threw for just 169 yards but also had three rush scores. Darius Taylor led the ground game with his 25 totes for 144 yards.
UCLA Bruins Betting Preview
Over on the Bruins’ side, they opened up their season with a tight 16-13 win over Hawaii. UCLA hit the skids in a series of tough matchups after that however, falling to Indiana 42-13, LSU 34-17 and Oregon 34-13.
In their matchup versus Penn State last weekend, the Bruins were outscored 24-3 in the second and third quarters during a 27-11 loss. Justyn Martin finished with 167 pass yards and a TD. TJ Harden led the receivers on five catches for 59 yards, and Jalen Berger had 38 rush yards.
UCLA vs Minnesota Prediction
I’ll stay with Minnesota. The Gophers defense stood tall against a great USC team over the weekend despite giving up 22 first downs and 7-of-11 on third-down tries. Minnesota came up with three takeaways on the Trojans offense—and USC’s eight penalties didn’t hurt, either. It was a nice bounce-back after a close road loss to Michigan on September 28.
As for UCLA, they couldn’t get much going against a tough Penn State squad at Beaver Stadium last weekend. The Bruins posted just 260 yards (167 passing), 4.4 yards per play and 14 first downs. That makes 17 or fewer points in all five games this season, though to be fair the last four have come against ranked teams. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a better offensive effort here, but I don’t think UCLA will cover.
