Michigan at Minnesota Saturday: Writers Favor Wolverines for Little Brown Jug

Four of five Detroit Free Press writers pick Michigan to beat Minnesota in Minneapolis on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, with the Little Brown Jug at stake.

Michigan travels to Minnesota on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, for a Big Ten game in Minneapolis with the Little Brown Jug trophy on the line. Five Detroit Free Press writers weighed in with predictions this week: four of them chose the Wolverines, and one backed the Golden Gophers.

The series is more than a century old, spanning 106 meetings, but Minnesota owns just 26 wins. Only four of those have come since Bo Schembechler took over at Michigan in 1969, and just one of the four came in Minneapolis, back in 1977.

Conference expansion has thinned the schedule between the two schools. Since the Big Ten placed them in separate divisions beginning with the 2014 season, they have met only six times. Minnesota's last win in the rivalry came that year, and Michigan has taken the five meetings since.

Michigan arrives after a home loss to Iowa decided on the game's final play. The Wolverines have yet to play four full quarters of good football this season, have not shown a knack for putting opponents away, and will be playing their first road game of the year.

Tony Garcia still sees signs of progress, citing an offensive line rounding into shape, a comfortable Underwood and a defense that would be judged more favorably if not for one late Iowa play. He calls Michigan 26-19, with JJ Buchanan topping 100 yards again and the running game breaking off its first 20-yard run of the season — he expects at least two.

Minnesota is 3-1 after winning at Washington. Carlos Monarrez, the only writer taking the Gophers, points to quarterback Drake Lindsey, a projected first-round NFL draft pick who was sharp in Seattle, as the reason for his 21-16 Minnesota call. In his view, Michigan is catching a bad time for its first trip away from home.

Rainer Sabin gives the home crowd an edge but picks Michigan 24-21, expecting defensive stops and long, clock-consuming drives to deliver the Wolverines their first road victory. Jeff Seidel also predicts 24-21 Michigan, writing that the team's mistakes have to stop at some point. He added that little has come easily for Michigan this season.

Seidel and Shawn Windsor both touched on Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck, whose long-running 'Row the Boat' motto gave way to blood-smearing talk that drew attention after the Washington win. Windsor takes Michigan 26-20, saying the Wolverines have not yet played to their talent level but will move closer to it on Saturday.

The sideline matchup pairs Fleck with Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham. The Free Press noted that when Minnesota last beat Michigan at home in 1977, Whittingham was a month shy of turning 18 and Fleck was more than three years from being born. No writer's predicted margin reaches more than seven points.