Gophers steamroll Colorado 49-7 but lose receiver Chris Autman-Bell to injury

Among the hopes for the Gophers football team in the three-game nonconference season was to get the offense — especially the passing game — rolling again, continue the stingy defensive ways it established in 2021 and emerge in good health entering Big Ten play.

On a sunny Saturday afternoon at Huntington Bank Stadium, the Gophers checked two of those boxes by routing Colorado 49-7 to complete a non-league schedule in which they outscored opponents 149-17 and outgained them 1,684-512.

However, a knee injury to top wide receiver Chris Autman-Bell cast a shadow on the day. Autman-Bell landed awkwardly and hit his right knee hard into the turf while trying to catch a pass late in the second quarter. He was tended to on the field, then assisted off it by training staff. He immediately was taken to the medical tent and did not return to the game.

Gophers coach P.J. Fleck did not have any details on the severity of Autman-Bell's injury during his postgame news conference, saying he was being evaluated at a hospital.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with him. Sending positive thoughts,'' Fleck said. "… He's a big member of this football team. I'd be lying if I said he wasn't one of the most integral parts of what we do and how we do it.''

Fleck added: "It's the hardest part. It's hard to see somebody's teammate laying on the ground like that.''

Autman-Bell's injury came on a banner day for another sixth-year senior, running back Mohamed Ibrahim, who rushed 23 times for 202 yards and three touchdowns. In the process, he tied Darrell Thompson's program record of 40 career rushing TDs.

"DT was a big part of Minnesota history, so to be tied up with him, it's just amazing,'' Ibrahim said.

Meanwhile, Tanner Morgan completed 11 of 16 passes for 157 yards and three TDs with an interception, and the Gophers defense held the Buffaloes (0-3) to 39 total yards in the first half. The Gophers finished with 500 total yards, their second game in a row with 500 or more.

"We had great protection the whole time, and we ran the football really well,'' Morgan said.

The Gophers also converted 13 of 15 third-down opportunities while holding the Buffaloes to 1-for-12. "We got 13 of 15, but I've got to continue to get better,'' Morgan said, lamenting missed opportunities.

Until Autman-Bell's injury, almost everything was going right for the Gophers, who dominated their third consecutive opponent as they prepare for next Saturday's Big Ten opener at No. 11 Michigan State. The Spartans (2-1) lost 39-28 at Washington on Saturday night.

Ibrahim started the game with a powerful 19-yard run in which he knocked over a Buffaloes defender, then finished the 75-yard march with a 5-yard TD run for a 7-0 lead.

Minnesota's defense came knocking right away with cornerback Terell Smith blitzing, hitting Colorado quarterback J.T. Shrout and forcing a fumble that Gophers defensive lineman Jalen Logan-Redding recovered at the 11. Two plays later, Ibrahim scored on a 2-yard run for a 14-0 Gophers lead with 8:44 left in the first quarter.

"Really good call by Joe [Rossi, defensive coordinator],'' Fleck said. "Really good execution by the players.''

The Gophers stretched the lead to 21-0 with 9:08 left in the second quarter on an 18-yard run by Ibrahim that looked like a rugby scrum, with tight end Nick Kallerup and wide receivers Dylan Wright and Mike Brown-Stephens helping drag the running back into the end zone. The rushing TD was the 40^th of Ibrahim's career, tying him with Thompson.

"You saw that 'push the pile,''' Fleck said. "That's what our program is about.''

The Gophers boosted the lead to 35-0 on Morgan's 39-yard TD pass to Autman-Bell with 1:37 left in the half, and Wright's beautiful catch of a Morgan pass for a 16-yard TD with 8 seconds left. Autman-Bell was injured on the third play of the latter, hurry-up drive.

The Gophers got a spectacular TD catch by Clay Geary in the third quarter and a 22-yard TD run by Bryce Williams in the fourth before Colorado avoided a shutout with 8:55 to play.

That left Minnesota with three dominant wins and a key player possibly lost to injury for an extended period.

"Last year when I went down, the main emphasis was to keep rowing together,'' said Ibrahim, who suffered a season-ending Achilles' tendon rupture in the 2021 opener. "That that's the important message: row together, just think together and you will get through it with each other."