Gophers football team without Dylan Wright Saturday at Purdue
Dylan Wright #16 celebrates with Brady Boyd #14 and Bryce Williams #21 of the Minnesota Golden Gophers after catching a touchdown pass against the Miami (Oh) Redhawks in the second quarter of the game at Huntington Bank Stadium on September 11, 2021 ((Photo by David Berding/Getty Images))
MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota football team resumes the Big Ten season at Purdue on Saturday, but they’ll be without one of their top wide receivers against the Boilermakers.
Dylan Wright, a transfer from Texas A&M, did not make the trip to West Lafayette for Saturday’s game due to personal reasons. According to KFAN Radio, which is broadcasting the game, Wright was high school teammates with Utah football player Aaron Lowe, who was killed in a recent shooting. Wright was also close with Ty Jordan, a Utah football player who was killed in an accidental shooting about a year ago.
Wright is one of Minnesota’s top receivers with nine catches for 169 yards and two touchdowns through four games. It appears the Gophers will get wide receiver Chris Autman-Bell back against the Boilermakers. Autman-Bell made one catch against Bowling Green before leaving the game with an injury, and did not return.
PJ Fleck said Autman-Bell practiced all week, and he was on the field for warm-ups Saturday morning.
The Gophers (2-2) badly need a win Saturday after losing to Bowling Green 14-10 on Homecoming, a loss Fleck has since apologized to fans for and called unacceptable. Purdue is 3-1 on the season and looking to build off a 13-9 win over Illinois last week.
Minnesota has a three-game win streak against Purdue. Two years ago, Tanner Morgan set an NCAA record going 21-of-22 passing for 396 yards and four touchdowns. He'll have several family and friends attending Saturday's game. Last year, the Gophers beat the Boilermakers 34-31 despite having more than 30 players out due to injuries and COVID-19 issues.