Eastern Illinois PanthersvsMinnesota Golden Gophers
EIU 7/MINN 59
Things to say
Minnesota rolled Eastern Illinois 59-7 in the season opener at Huntington Bank Stadium.
01
opener
Yeah, that one was over early. Minnesota put up 59 and cruised. Never really in doubt after the first quarter.
02
key player
Darius Taylor was a machine. Three rushing touchdowns on just 14 carries. He didn't even need a big yardage day to take over.
03
hot take
Honestly the score flatters them a little. It was a tune-up against an FCS team, so I'm not sold on the defense yet.
04
deep cut
The dagger was a 69-yard punt return by Javon Tracy. Special teams flipping the field like that tells you the roster's just deeper top to bottom.
05
exit
Anyway, the real test is when the schedule toughens up. This one told us nothing.
The recap
This one was over before EIU could blink — Minnesota hung 21 on the board in a hurry and never looked back, cruising to a 59-7 blowout. Darius Taylor was the workhorse, punching in three rushing touchdowns while Drake Lindsey carved up the Panthers with 264 yards through the air.
The only life EIU showed was a Cole LaCrue-to-Tyren Buggs strike, but that was answered immediately, and Javon Tracy's 69-yard punt return house call put an exclamation point on it. By the fourth quarter the Gophers were emptying the bench and still finding the end zone.