The No. 13/14 Penn State Nittany Lions welcome in the Minnesota Golden Gophers for their 90th homecoming game at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday at Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions hold a 6-4 series advantage over the Golden Gophers and won the previous two meetings in 2005 and 2006.

It is a pivotal game for both teams because a win would keep both teams in the hunt for a Big Ten title this year. Penn State (5-1, 1-1) will look to keep their rushing attack going like it has for the past two games.

Minnesota (4-2, 2-1) has allowed 162.7 yards per game on the ground and will have their hands full with Evan Royster and Stephfon Green. Royster has 504 yards and a 5.8 yards per carry average. Green is averaging 5.5 yards per carry and has really started to play better the last two weeks.

LB’s Lee Campbell and Nate Triplett will need to have good games for the Golden Gophers. Campbell leads the team with 64 tackles and Triplett has 61.

Daryll Clark will have to take care of the ball for Penn State. He has seven interceptions in the first six games of the season. His 12 touchdowns are a number that Penn State likes, but he needs to take care of the ball and not give Minnesota a short field to work with.

The offensive line has been playing better as of late for Penn State and will look to continue their improvement.

On the other side of the ball Penn State will hope to welcome LB Sean Lee back into the lineup. He has not seen any action the past three weeks because of a sprained knee but is possible to play this weekend.

The Nittany Lions pass defense will be tested by one of the best WR’s in the country. Eric Decker has 46 receptions for 689 yards and five touchdowns this season. His yards per game and receptions per game both rank in the top 10 in the nation.

Corners D’Anton Lynn, A.J. Wallace, Knowledge Timmons, and Stephon Morris will have to have their eyes peeled for Decker all day. Also, safeties Drew Astorino and Nick Sukey will have to play well in the zone defense.

Minnesota is led by Duane Bennett on the ground. He has 283 yards and five touchdowns. DeLeon Eskridge has also seen his fair share of carries this season and has three touchdowns.

They will be up against a tough rush defense of Penn State. The Nittany Lions only allow 81.8 yards per game on the ground and 2.6 yards per carry.

Expect QB Adam Weber to be dropping back to pass a lot on Saturday. He has six touchdowns compared to eight interceptions in 2009.

If the Nittany Lions can contain Decker there is no reason Penn State should not be able to win this game from a defensive standpoint. If Decker can get loose a couple times it could be an interesting football game.