Minn. Golden Gophers RB Darius Taylor out for season opener against UNC Tar Heels

The Minnesota Golden Gophers are patiently waiting for a little storm to pass as a new storm is brewing.

Only a few hours ahead of (the already delayed) kickoff, Minnesota's star running back Darius Taylor was ruled out for the team's season opener.

The Golden Gophers are set to host the North Carolina Tar Heels in a non-conference game to kickoff their 2024 campaign and without Taylor in the Backfield, the game just became a much bigger problem for Minnesota.

Already, the Tar Heels were 1.5-point favorites over the Golden Gophers, according to the FanDuel Sportsbook.

Taylor, a sophomore, is coming off an incredible freshman season for Minnesota.

In 2023, Taylor had 138 carries for 799 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. He also had nine receptions for an additional 81 yards.

With Taylor sidelined, the Golden Gophers will most likely turn to graduate transfer Marcus Majors, from the Oklahoma Sooners.

For OU last season, Majors had 78 carries for just 308 yards and one touchdown.

Behind Majors, Minnesota has junior transfer Sieh Bangura who came to the Golden Gophers from the Ohio Bobcats and has zero experience at the Power-Four level.

Redshirt-junior Jordan Nubin and freshman Fame Ijeboi make up the remainder of the running back room for Minnesota but have very little snaps between the two of them.

While the Tar Heels and the Golden Gophers wait out the storm, Minnesota needs to figure out who their newest RB1 will be for its first game of the season.

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