What is at stake?

Penn State is in prime position for a spot in the new 12-team College Football Playoff and is still in the mix to make the Big Ten championship game, with a home game against struggling Maryland awaiting after this road challenge against a well-rounded opponent. Losing to the Minnesota team after a bye week would be a major blow to Penn State’s playoff prospects and all but take a conference title off the table. Minnesota can massively upgrade its bowl bid with a win and gain some momentum in a final week rivalry game at Wisconsin.

Key match

Penn State TE Tyler Warren vs. Minnesota defense. Warren, a first-team AP Midseason All-America selection, totaled 190 yards and two touchdowns from scrimmage in a blowout win over Purdue last week. He is second among all FBS tight ends in receiving yards (808) and also took 13 of his 16 rushing attempts for both first downs and touchdowns. The Gophers rank second in the FBS in passes defensed per game, tied for fourth in interceptions per game and tied for 17th in yards allowed per pass attempt.

Players to watch

Penn State: DE Abdul Carter has had multiple tackles for loss in three straight games. The junior, who played linebacker the previous two seasons, was second in the FBS this year with 17½ tackles for loss and seventh with eight sacks.

Minnesota: LB Cody Lindenberg. The fifth-year junior leads the Gophers with 76 tackles and is coming off a career-high 14 tackles at Rutgers in their last game on Nov. 9.

Facts & figures

This will be Penn State’s fourth visit to Minnesota since Huntington Bank Stadium opened on campus in 2009. The Nittany Lions won in 2010 and lost in 2013 and 2019. … Penn State has won its first four road games in a season for the first time. time since 2011. … Penn State QB Drew Allar is third in the FBS in yards per pass attempt (9.8) and fifth in completion percentage (71.9)… The Nittany Lions have 49 second-half points this season awarded for the second-best per-game average in the FBS. … Minnesota is 2-1 against teams ranked in the AP Top 25 at the time of the game. The Gophers have never recorded three wins against ranked opponents in one season.