Gophers without RB Darius Taylor, LB Cody Lindenberg against Louisiana
Gophers freshman Darius Taylor had 35 touches for 206 total yards and a touchdown in Saturday's 25-6 win over Eastern Michigan at Huntington Bank Stadium. (University of Minnesota Athletics)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The University of Minnesota football team hosts Louisiana for Homecoming at 11 a.m. Saturday at Huntington Bank Stadium, and will do so without the Big Ten’s leading rusher.
Darius Taylor, the three-time Freshman of the Week, was ruled out on the team’s availability report released two hours before kickoff. Taylor suffered leg injury during the fourth quarter of the Gophers’ 37-34 loss at Northwestern last Saturday. Taylor leads the Big Ten with 532 yards in four games, averaging 6.1 yards per carry.
Without Taylor, the Gophers will likely lean on Bryce Williams or Sean Tyler. They could even turn to Zach Evans, who hasn’t played an offensive snap yet this season.
Chris Autman-Bell is also listed as out. He played one snap in the first game of the season, and had one target in the loss at North Carolina two weeks ago. It’s been a lost season so far for the seventh-year senior, coming off a serious leg injury.
Linebacker Cody Lindenberg was listed as questionable, but will miss his fifth straight game with an injury suffered late in fall camp. He was not dressed when the team came out for pregame warmups.
The Gophers need a win to snap a two-game losing skid heading into next Saturday night’s game against Michigan for the Little Brown Jug.