Minnesota is coming off a game against Cal that they should have won. The offense couldn’t get things going and star defensive back Koi Perich put up his first clunker of his career.

The Gophers are slight 3.5 point home favorites, but they’ll need to win without their top two running backs.

Taylor and Turner out for Minnesota Gophers

It was expected that Minnesota could be without star running back Darius Taylor. He didn’t play against the Cal Golden Bears. Unfortunately his replacement, A.J. Turner, suffered an injury in that game and is out as well.

Sources: Minnesota will be without star running back Darius Taylor (leg) against Rutgers today, as he’ll miss a second-straight game. The back who was set to replace him in the Cal game last week, A.J. Turner, is also out after an injury early in that game. pic.twitter.com/jzXGkx5emC

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) September 27, 2025

Against Cal, Fame Ijeboi (16) and Cam Davis (15) led the Gophers backfield. That should be expected to continue on Saturday against Rutgers. Ijeboi rushed for 85 yards while Davis turned in 44 but had a touchdown.

Earlier this week 247 Sports’ Ryan Burns talked about the running back situation on Gopher Gridiron Radio. Fleck wasn’t willing to disclose the status of his running backs at the time, but we now know both top options are out.

It has been 21 days since Taylor suffered a hamstring injury against Northwestern State. Last season he returned 25 days after he had a hamstring injury. Minnesota is going to error on the side of caution in order to make sure he returns at 100%.

Here’s the play Darius Taylor went down on. pic.twitter.com/YG72uKcmdx

— Ted (@tlschwerz) September 6, 2025

Burns suggests that Taylor could even sit against Ohio State next week if it gives him a clean slate to finish the season. Although Fleck hasn’t said anything, Burns said he believes Turner’s injury could be a “season-long one.” The Gophers have since confirmed that Turner is done for the year.

Turner transferred to Minnesota after accumulating 864 yards on 8.3 yards per carry last season with Marshall. He was supposed to be a dynamic option along with Taylor, and at worst his insurance policy. Losing him for the rest of the year is a significant blow.

The lack of top running backs means it’s time for someone to step up. The Gophers have a seemingly-capable quarterback in Drake Lindsey, and the skill position players need to support him. Minnesota is just 2-7 without Darius Taylor in the lineup, and that’s again something they’ll need to overcome on Saturday.

Kickoff is set for 11 am at Huntington Bank Stadium.

Coming into the contest against Cal on Saturday night, the Gophers found themselves slight road favorites. They were without Taylor though. Things quickly went from bad to worse.

It wasn’t just the injuries that cost Minnesota on Saturday night though. Mental mistakes, multiple of which were made by star two-way player Koi Perich, sank the ship as well.

Running backs in flux for Minnesota Gophers

Fleck gave the first crack at things to Marshall transfer A.J. Turner. Turner had 864 yards on the ground for the Thundering Herd last season and averaged 8.6 yards per carry. Unfortunately he turned in just four totes before suffering an injury of his own.

Injury. #Gophers

Running back AJ Turner can't put any weight on his left leg. Trainers were looking at his left knee after that first-down carry.

Already without Darius Taylor, Minnesota might be down another tailback vs. Cal

— Andy Greder (@andygreder) September 14, 2025

Fleck turned the opportunities over to freshman Fame Ijeboi and Washington transfer Cam Davis. The former turned 16 carries into 85 yards and ripped off a 27-yard gain. Davis was more plodding with just a 2.9 yards per carry average on his 44 yards, but did find the end zone.

There was no sign of last week’s standout, freshman Grant Washington. The Gophers do have a bye week before facing Rutgers on September 27. Hopefully that will be enough time to get one or both of Taylor and Turner back.

Koi Perich puts up a clunker for Gophers

This season was supposed to be a fun one for Minnesota-native Koi Perich. He is attempting the Travis Hunter route playing on both sides of the football. Unfortunately his contributions on defense have not been as solid, and the offensive performance has been rather underwhelming.

On Saturday there seemed to be way too much going on, and he couldn’t lock in on any facet of the game.

and then a blown coverage on the Cal TD pass, not a great sequence there pic.twitter.com/9Tl5oOMyDu

— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) September 14, 2025

It’s not out of pocket to suggest that Perich cost the Gophers a win on Saturday night. He also touched a punt in the first quarter that had his team starting at their own three-yard line instead of being a touchback. The mental mistakes added up and Fleck shared his thoughts postgame.

#Gophers P.J. Fleck on Koi Perich’s struggles against Cal:

“All great players go through adversity. This is probably his first piece of adversity in the 15 months he has been here. He does so many great things and he does it naturally” https://t.co/1yJFNb4Yus pic.twitter.com/Sn8UEViOKb

— GopherHole.com (@GopherHole) September 14, 2025

All great players go through adversity. This is probably his first piece of adversity in the 15 months he has been here. Adversity strengthens you if you use it properly, and you swallow the pill of adversity, and you take accountability and responsibility for it. He does so many great things, and he does them so naturally. He’s been coached really hard by a lot of different people. He’s got a personal wide receivers coach. It’s really hard to do everything…He’ll learn a lot from it. I know he’ll take accountability for it. This is one of his first major adversities he’s had, but it’s coming at some point.

P.J. Fleck

It was an unfortunate night for Perich, but as Fleck suggested, it’s the first time we have seen this from a player who has otherwise been so special. How he responds will be the key, and that opportunity will come against Rutgers.

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Perich is far too talented for this performance to drag him down. How the Gophers continue to use him moving forward, and if they dial back the offensive part, remains to be seen. You can bet that the star playmaker will come back with a vengeance though.

Now with an potentially unexpected tally in the loss column, Minnesota will need to tighten things up in a big way moving forward.