Minnesota Buries Eastern Illinois 59-7 Behind Two Punt-return Scores
Javon Tracy took two punts back for touchdowns, 87 yards in the first quarter and 69 yards in the third, and Minnesota never gave Eastern Illinois a reason to think about a comeback. The Golden Gophers (1-0) won 59-7 over the Panthers (0-1), and the return game alone supplied 14 points that the offense did not have to earn.
Darius Taylor did the early work on the ground. He scored from a yard out at 4:29 of the first quarter, and Tracy's 87-yard return made it 14-0 less than two and a half minutes later. Taylor ran 27 yards for a 21-0 lead to open the second quarter. Eastern Illinois did get one score, an eight-yard pass from Cole LaCrue to Tyren Buggs at 9:00 of the second, to make it 21-7. Taylor answered with a three-yard run, and Drake Lindsey hit Pierce Walsh for a one-yard score with six seconds left in the half to make it 35-7 at the break.
Tracy's second return came just after halftime, 42-7, and Daniel Jackson's 31-yard field goal made it 45-7. Max Shikenjanski ran in from two yards early in the fourth, and Xavier Ford finished with a one-yard run with 25 seconds left for the 59-7 final. Take away both of Tracy's returns and Minnesota still wins 45-7, which is a polite way of saying the punt team was not the story.
The Gophers finished with 504 yards, 348 through the air and 156 on the ground, and lost one fumble. Lindsey went 19 of 24 for 264 yards with no interceptions, and Minnesota had one sack on defense.
For fantasy, Taylor's three rushing touchdowns were worth 29.7 Promethium points. Lindsey had 17.2 and Tracy had 14.8, all from his five catches for 98 yards.