The Gophers have suffered a ton of injuries at running back this year but no matter who is getting the ball, they continue to produce.
That trend continued on Saturday when the Gophers collected 326 rushing yards in a 34-16 victory over Maryland.
The Gophers exchanged field goals with the Terrapins before Cole Kramer was the first player to find the end zone on the ground. Armed with a 10-3 lead, Ky Thomas made it a two-score game with a 10-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter.
.@Ky_Thomas punches through the Terps for a @GopherFootball TD đź’Ş. pic.twitter.com/cRFJLjaHGB
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 23, 2021
Maryland got a rushing touchdown of their own from Tayon Fleet-Davis and the Gophers went into the locker room up 17-10 at halftime. But the defense made sure that’s the closest the Terrapins would get, holding them to 268 total yards on the afternoon.
Although the Gophers lost Mohamed Ibrahim and Trey Potts to season-ending injuries, P.J. Fleck has assembled an impressive amount of depth at the position.
Mar’Keise Irving (105) and Thomas (139) both ran for over 100 yards and four different players scored a rushing touchdown to help the Gophers improve to 5-2 on the season.
The win also puts Minnesota in the conversation to win the Big Ten West. With a 3-1 conference record, the Gophers moved into a tie with Iowa for first place in the division and will look to continue their momentum with a trip to Northwestern next week.
