No. 8 UCLA will be facing a Minnesota offense that's been struggling

So often this season the No. 8 UCLA Bruins have been lifted by their defense. Now the unit will face one of the lowest-scoring offenses in the Big Ten but is there some reason to believe that Minnesota’s offense is still dangerous? Minnesota is led by returning starting quarterback Drake Lindsey, wh

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What is the story about?

So often this season the No. 8 UCLA Bruins have been lifted by their defense. Now the unit will face one of the lowest-scoring offenses in the Big Ten but is there some reason to believe that Minnesota’s offense is still dangerous?

Minnesota is led by returning starting quarterback Drake Lindsey, who’s thrown for 1,592 yards with 10 touchdowns to six interceptions. Lindsey’s stats are a bit down this season compared to 2025 but Minnesota has had to face Michigan, Iowa and Indiana, three of the better defenses in the Big Ten.

Now the Golden Gophers will face the No. 1 scoring defense since the start of conference play. UCLA’s ability to create turnovers is a stressor for opponents, with the Bruins entering the game with the most takeaways in the country.

Through 8 games, UCLA’s defense: @gameonpaper

1st - EPA per play
1st - Yards per play
2nd - Success Rate Allowed
1st - Passing EPA per play
1st - Passing Success Rate
4th - Rush EPA per play
10th - Rush Success Rate

Is this the best defense in the country?

— Jack Savage (@JackJohnSavage) November 3, 2026

Minnesota’s offense has struggled in Big Ten action, throwing for the second-fewest yards and rushing for the third-fewest. The Golden Gopher rushing attack is led by running backs TJ Thomas and Darius Taylor but neither of them have cracked 400 yards on the season.

Through the air, wide receiver Javon Tracy who leads the team 460 receiving yards. Behind him, it’s Noah Jennings behind him with 395 yards but it is Jalen Smith who leads the team with three receiving touchdowns.

UCLA's secondary should get a boost thanks to the return of safety Tao Johnson, who aims to step back in help keep the Minnesota offense cold. Johnson was a highly-touted transfer that was brought over from Utah this past offseason but he has appeared in just two games so far this season.

After seeing how the offense has looked with Ty Dieffenbach, it’ll be up to the UCLA defense to lead the way for the rest of this season and now has a chance to continue that in Week 10 against an offense that hasn’t scored more than 20 points since September.

This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: No. 8 UCLA will be facing a Minnesota offense that's been struggling