The Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-3, 2-2 in Big Ten play) will host the Michigan State Spartans (2-5, 0-4) on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis (3:30 p.m. Eastern Time on the Big Ten Network).

To get a closer look at the 2023 Minnesota Golden Gohpers, Spartans Illustrated spoke with, well...myself; Dylan Callaghan-Croley of Gophers Nation to discuss the Golden Gophers.

Before we get started, no, I did not ask myself these questions, they were graciously provided by Ryan O'Bleness. Let's see what questions Ryan had for me as we break down the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

That's a great question. I'm not sure if this Gophers team does one thing particularly great, but offensively, their rushing attack is clearly their best chance to keep the ball moving, averaging 170.9 rushing yards per game. Defensively, it's an overall solid defense, allowing 24.3 points per game. Against more athletic teams, they can be overmatched, but against most of their opponents this season, they've been able to hold their own.

It's an overall sound football team, but I'm not sure there's any real clear answer beyond they're going to be a team that looks to run the ball extensively and down the opposition's throat, while trying to play complementary defense. They're going to look to win the time of possession battle every week and to drain the clock as much as possible.

This one is fairly simple, it's their passing attack. Quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis has had quite a bit of struggle this season, completing 53.4% of his passes for 923 yards and six touchdowns, but he's also thrown six interceptions. Now, it hasn't been entirely his fault. The Gophers' offensive line has had struggles this season and the wide receivers room has struggled to gain separation and get open as well. It's been a sluggish year throwing the ball for Minnesota and is by far their biggest issue heading into the final weeks of the season.

Defensively, I would point to trying to get off the field and stopping the run. The Golden Gophers, for the most part this season, have struggled against the run before keeping Iowa to 11 rushing yards last week in their 12-10 win. Being unable to stop the run has made it difficult for the Gophers to get off the field and have as a result been one of the worst third-down defenses in the country this season.

Was last week's performance against Iowa an anomaly or a sign of things to come? We'll be one step closer to an answer to that question after Saturday.

Defensively, its been the Minnesota defensive line that has been impressive this season. Danny Striggow and Kyler Baugh have shown the ability to get into the backfield consistently this season, totaling a combined 10 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. Linebacker Maverick Baranowski has also been quite solid this season as well.

The biggest name on defense, however, is safety Tyler Nubin, one of the best in the country at the position. There are not many better safeties in coverage than Nubin and his help on stopping the run is quite solid as well. This season, Nubin has 31 tackles, one tackle for a loss, one sack and three interceptions. He also has recorded two pass deflections, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

Great question and great point, but to make it short and sweet, I do not expect that to be the case. Perhaps the Gophers can have a bit more success through the air than they've had so far the season, but this isn't going to be a Minnesota team that comes out on Saturday and goes away from its identity.

The Gophers have yet to throw for over 200 yards this season and have only eclipsed 150 yards twice. Kaliakmanis and the wide receivers have just not been able to connect with any consistency this season, at this point into the season, the Gophers are who they are offensively and I don't see any drastic changes happening in the near future.

Yeah, it's a really interesting situation. For the most part, it does seem like there are frustrations but many fans also are happy with what P.J. Fleck has done with the program. I mean, three seasons of nine-plus wins in each of their last full three seasons, and yes, the Gophers likely fall short of that this year, but Fleck has developed the Minnesota program into being a consistent competitive program that was competing to win Big Ten West titles.

While the program may have some shortcomings due to Fleck's style of coaching and recruiting, it does seem that most Golden Gopher fans are quite happy with what Fleck has done so far. I think Fleck is a perfect fit for the Minnesota program and I'm not sure many other coaches would've had the same level of success with the Gophers as he has had the last few years.

A super exciting player to watch. Darius Taylor is that game-breaking talent in the backfield who's dangerous enough to take any handoff to the end zone. I think he's going to be the X-factor in Saturday's game and could ultimately decide who walks away with a win.

Since becoming the Gophers' starting running back, Taylor has been tremendous, averaging 5.7 yards per carry. He has been struggling to stay healthy the last few weeks and it will be interesting to see if he's ready to go on Saturday. If he does play, expect him to make a big impact. He has the size and physicality to run it up the middle, but also the speed and athleticism to get to the outside and make defenders miss.

Outside of those two, you're going to want to keep a close eye on running back Zach Evans (also banged up after last week), wide receiver Daniel Jackson and wide receiver Corey Crooms.

Evans in relief of Taylor this season has been very good, averaging 4.7 yards per carry and scoring one touchdown. Jackson has been the Gophers' best and most dangerous wide receiver with 29 receptions for 387 yards and five touchdowns. Crooms, a Western Michigan transfer, has had a solid year as well with 19 receptions for 227 yards.

Coming into the season, I would've pointed toward tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford as being one of those players to watch, but after seven games, he's totaled just 13 receptions for 66 yards. He's liable to have a big game any given week, but at this point, it just doesn't seem like that will come to fruition this fall.

I've been going back and forth on this game all week, and the one thing for sure is that I would take the under in this one. Neither of these offenses are particularly dangerous and the defenses should be good enough to slow down the opposition.

Ultimately, I'll go with Minnesota to win this one closely, 20-17, as long as Taylor or Evans can go. If neither are available on Saturday, I would then lean toward Michigan State being able to pull out the upset win on the road.

If Taylor or Evans can go, I think the Gophers will be able to control the clock in this one, while the defense can get enough stops against the Michigan State's offense.

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