The Janus Report: Minnesota vs Kansas Insight Bowl Free Pick
A pair of 7-5 teams meet in this season’s Insight Bowl as the Kansas Jayhawks will face the Minnesota Golden Gophers. This will be Kansas’s second consecutive bowl appearance, the first time they’ve accomplished that feat in their history, this that distinction is bitter-sweet as the Jayhawks had much higher aspirations for their 2008 campaign. Kansas was able to end their regular season on a positive note, beating Missouri in their biggest rivalry game of the season. Minnesota completed on of the best one-year turnarounds in recent memory, overcoming a 1-11 season in 2007 to finish the year at 7-5 and earn a bid to a solid bowl game. Despite the Golden Gopher’s success this year, they are riding in on a four-game losing streak, including a 0-55 thrashing in their season finale against the Iowa Hawkeyes. The oddsmakers at Bookmaker.com have Kansas as 7.5 point favorites.
Kansas is lead on offense by quarterback Todd Reesing. Reesing is a firey competitor who makes up for what he lacks in size with smart play and an uncanny determination. Reesing finished the regular season with 3,575 yards and 28 touchdowns, and he will no doubt be the key to the Jayhawks success in the Insight Bowl. As a team, Kansas played well on offense all season, racking up 431 total yards per game and scoring 32.7 points per game. The great numbers on offense were somewhat overshadowed by poor defensive play for Kansas, as the Jayhawks yielded nearly 30 points per game and just over 400 total yards per game. It’s also important to keep in mind that KU played in a very offense-heavy Big 12 conference this year, so you do have to take those defensive number with a grain of salt.
On the other side of the ball, the Minnesota Golden Gophers did not put up nearly the offensive statistics that the Jayhawks did. Minnesota earned just 322 total yards per game, which netted them 23.4 points per game. A team that has been traditionally good at running the ball, the Gophers struggled to move the ball on the ground this year, averaging just 3.2 yards per carry and 105.8 rushing yards per game. I may be accurate to say that defense is the strength of this Minnesota team, but there are plenty of concerns for the Gophers here as well. They only allowed 23.3 points per game, but the 378 total yards per game is a bit high. What Minnesota was able to do throughout the season was force turnovers. The Gophers collected 30 take-aways this season, which directly impacted their success on the year.
This probably isn’t the bowl game that the Jayhawks expected to be in at the beginning of the season, but Kansas did end their 2008 regular season on a high-note and carry that momentum into tonight’s contest. There’s no doubt that the Gophers are proud of their incredible turnaround this year, but losing four-straight games to end the regular season is reason for considerable concern. The one thing that stands out for me in this game is the Kansas offense, which should be able to find the endzone at will against Minnesota, who I just can’t see keeping up.
Predicted Score: Kansas Jayhawks 42, Minnesota Golden Gophers 24
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