Minnesota vs Cal Prediction: Unbeaten Gophers and Bears Meet in Late Night Showdown

Minnesota vs Cal How To Watch

Saturday, September 13, 2025
Game Time: 10:30 PM ET
TV: ESPN
Location: California Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, CA
@PeteFiutak

Why Minnesota Will Win

There's nothing to take away from the win over Northwestern State, other than that the team got a perfect scrimmage to give meaningful reps to a whole slew of players.

But so far, the defense has been a rock. Beating Buffalo was actually good and deserved a little more respect, stuffing the Bulls for just 151 yards of total offense.

Cal is still trying to get its running back rotation rolling, and it showed a little bit in the opener against Oregon State.

The Bears won't have an easy time getting things moving, especially since this should be the game when the Gophers start to ramp up the pressure up front. However ...

Why Cal Will Win

Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele has been terrific.

The new Cal quarterback was great against Oregon State, threw an interception against Texas Southern, but it wasn't a big deal. Minnesota hasn't been tested through the air even a little bit.

It might have the best defense in college football after the first two games - again, that's the schedule - but the plays in the backfield have been minimal.

And again, the Gophers haven't needed to turn it loose, but so far the offensive front has been solid in pass protection. However ... 

Minnesota Will Win the Third Down Battles

Can Cal start to get things moving on third downs?

It had two warm-up games to figure out how to easily move the chains, and it wasn't bad against Texas Southern after struggling way too much against Oregon State. 

Minnesota's defense will take over on third downs, the offense will control the clock, and it'll be on to a two-week break before dealing with Rutgers.

Minnesota vs Cal Prediction, Betting Lines

Minnesota 23, Cal 20
Line: Minnesota -2.5, o/u: 42.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3
Must See Rating: 3

Consensus Line from BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, and FanDuel. Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

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