Darius Taylor rushed for 193 yards and a touchdown as host Minnesota cruised to a 25-7 victory over Eastern Michigan on Saturday in Minneapolis.
A true freshman, Taylor rushed for just three yards last week in the Gophers’ season-opening win over Big Ten foe Nebraska. This time out, he paced a Minnesota rushing attack that piled up 296 yards. Taylor averaged 5.8 yards per-carry on 33 totes. It’s the most yards a Gophers running back has rushed for in a single game since Mohamed Ibrahim racked up 263 yards last November against Iowa.
Sean Tyler contributed with 93 yards on 17 carries for the Gophers.
The only other offensive touchdown was scored by Minnesota quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis on a 1-yard dive. Kaliakmanis also completed 10 of 15 passes for 117 yards.
The score between the Gophers (2-0) and Eagles (1-1) was tied early in the second quarter after EMU’s Jesus Gomez connected on a 20-yard field goal to make it 3-3. Minnesota then put together a 13-play, 93-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard rushing score from Taylor to go up 10-3.
Minnesota and EMU then exchanged field goals before Kaliakmanis’ scoring plunge put the Gophers ahead by two possessions.
The Gophers’ defense was stout in the win, tallying three sacks, three pass breakups and an interception. Minnesota held EMU to 3-for-10 on third-down conversions and forced the Eagles to punt five times, one of which was blocked for a Minnesota safety in the fourth quarter.
Samson Evans led EMU with 73 rushing yards on 11 carries. Austin Smith completed 9 of 20 passes for 71 yards for the Eagles.
Minnesota kicker Dragan Kesich was 3-of-3 on field goal attempts and his longest kick came from 24 yards out. He also notched touchbacks on all six of his kickoffs.
This game was the first-ever meeting between Minnesota and Eastern Michigan.
–Field Level Media
