What the ESPN FPI Says About WVU's Chances vs Minnesota

The West Virginia Mountaineers and Minnesota Golden Gophers will square off tonight in the desert for the 2021 Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix, Arizona.

WVU is coming off of a rather disappointing 6-6 season in which three of their losses came by one score. The quarterback play from Jarret Doege hindered the team at times this year but more importantly, poor offensive line play and the lack of a consistent run game played just as much of a factor.

Speaking of the running game, the Mountaineers will be down to just two scholarship running backs for tonight's bowl game, Tony Mathis Jr. and Justin Johnson Jr., as Leddie Brown announced last week that he would opt out of the game and begin preparation for the 2022 NFL Draft.

As for the Gophers, they finished the season with an 8-4 record but there wasn't a game on their schedule that they weren't in. They played Ohio State tough in the season opener but eventually fell 45-31. A couple of weeks later, they came out flat against Bowling Green and lost 14-10. Their other two losses came early in November 14-6 to Illinois and 27-22 against Iowa. Had they done more than just show up against Bowling Green and Illinois, this team could be 10-2.

According to the ESPN FPI, the Mountaineers have just a 38.8% chance to win the bowl game while Minnesota has a 61.2% chance.

West Virginia and Minnesota is scheduled to kick off at 10:15 p.m. EST on ESPN.

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