Minnesota edge rusher Anthony Smith, 6-6, 285, is a game-wrecker. He leads the Big Ten in sacks with 8.5, tied with Michigan's Derrick Moore. In nine games he's posted 11.5 tackles for loss, five quarterback hurries and batted down a pass.
Whether Alex Harkey returning from injury, Gernorris Wilson filling in or some chips from the Oregon tight ends, the Ducks have to get him blocked. A big game from the junior from Shippensburg, Pennsylvania is one of the ways the Golden Gophers could make this game closer than it should be.
There's no rain in the forecast, but Smith is a guy who could rain on the Ducks' drive for a 9-1 record and a home game in the playoffs.
Another potential threat is 6-1, 195 wide receiver Jalen Smith from Mankato, Minnesota. He's caught just 15 passes this season but those balls have gone for 19.2 yards a catch, including a 35-yarder against Nebraska, a 60-yard scud missle in the opening win over Buffalo and four receptions for 103 yards against Rutgers.
Smith, a true freshman, averages 10.2 yards after catch. That's a concern against an Oregon defense that has been stellar but has been prone to annoying coverage busts and miscommunications, like the deep balls Mark Gronowski lobbed up in the rain in Kinnick Stadium.
He continues to ball out. Drake Lindsey is the real deal pic.twitter.com/E0oCmO8YOF https://t.co/7zaPmqAPId
— Tyler Forness (@TheRealForno) October 18, 2025
Which brings Duck fans to the third potential calamity, Gopher quarterback Drake Lindsey. Lindsey is 6-5, 230, a redshirt freshman from Fayettville, Arkansas and a former Toothpick State MaxPreps Player of the Year.
As a first-year starter he's only just discovering how good he can be. In September against Rutgers he lit up the Scarlet Knights with 31-41 passing for 324 yards and three touchdowns. Everybody does that against Rutgers, but the Ducks don't want him throwing his coming out party on national TV in a game they're supposed to win by four scores.
On Wednesday Dan Lanning said, “He’s a young quarterback, and kind of the ups and downs and flows kind of normal for a player, but the highs have been really high. It’s impressive to have a freshman playing at the level he’s playing, and he can make a lot of the throws.”
Lindsey's father and grandfather both played for the Razorbacks, his grandfather Jim a running back on the 1964 National Champions that went 11-0 and beat Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl 10-7. Grandpa played seven years with the Vikings in the NFL, winning a league title in 1969.