Minnesota vs Rutgers Prediction: Can the Gophers win without Darius Taylor?
The Minnesota Golden Gophers (2-1) are fresh off a bye week and will look to bounce back from a 27-13 loss to California when they host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (3-1) in their Big Ten opener on Saturday.
The Gophers will be without both star running backs Darius Taylor and AJ Turner. Historically, when Taylor does not play, Minnesota has struggled, losing seven of nine games, including six straight. His absence heading into Saturday’s game is certainly a poor omen for the Gophers.
The storylines go beyond Taylor’s injury, though. The biggest of them is the return of Rutgers starting quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis to Huntington Bank Stadium.
Matchup to watch
The key matchup will be Rutgers’ wide receivers against Minnesota’s cornerbacks. Across the board, the Scarlet Knights’ receivers are big, physical, and strong, creating a nightmare mismatch for most teams, especially KJ Duff and Ian Strong. Add in that Kaliakmanis has taken a big step forward this season, completing nearly 69% of his passes for over 1,100 yards in four games, and this becomes a potentially dangerous matchup for the Gophers.
Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele found plenty of early success against Minnesota in Week 3, and a similar scenario could play out this week. The combination of a seasoned quarterback and multiple physical wideouts could put the Gophers’ secondary on its heels all afternoon.
What could swing things in Minnesota’s favor, however, is the Scarlet Knights’ lackluster rushing attack, which will be going up against a Gopher run defense that has been phenomenal, allowing just 41.3 rushing yards per game. If Minnesota can slow down Rutgers on the ground, it should be able to force the Knights into becoming one-dimensional quickly. That is exactly when Iowa found the most defensive success last week.
Can Minnesota survive without Darius Taylor?
Offensively, the Gophers will need to find ways to generate a consistent ground game without Taylor and Turner. Fame Ijeboi has impressed in limited opportunities, averaging over 5.0 yards per carry, and will be the likely lead back with Cam Davis as the backup. Establishing the run early will be crucial, especially against a Rutgers defense that has allowed more than 4.0 yards per carry in each of its four games this season.
Still, Minnesota cannot win this one on the run game alone.
Quarterback Drake Lindsey and the passing attack will need to step up. Rutgers’ secondary has not been poor, but it has allowed quarterbacks to be efficient. Opponents have completed 60% or more of their passes in three of four games, including 66.7% last week to Iowa’s Mark Gronowski. Both Ohio and Miami (OH) threw for over 230 yards against the Scarlet Knights.
The question is who emerges for Minnesota at wide receiver. Will it be Javon Tracy, Le’Meke Brockington, or Jalen Smith? That remains to be seen.
Ultimately, without Darius Taylor, we have to side with Rutgers. It is not a small sample size, and it is not just one season. Since Taylor arrived in 2023, the Gophers have consistently struggled without the Michigan native in the lineup.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, there are just too many question marks coming into his game for us to feel good about the Gophers’ chances of winning this one on Saturday. The offense should be able to move the ball and score, but will the Gophers’ defense be able to slow down the Rutgers offense enough?
Rutgers 31 – Minnesota 23
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