Gophers running back Darius Taylor sidelined with injury for season opener

Darius Taylor, the Gophers’ top rusher in the 2023 season, missed Thursday night’s season opener against North Carolina after being listed as out on the Big Ten’s availability report. Joining him on the sideline was safety Darius Green. Meanwhile, wide receiver Daniel Jackson, who was limited in training camp, did not appear on the report and played against the Tar Heels.

Taylor appeared to injure a hamstring during practice Aug. 13, the last training camp session that was open to the media. At the time, coach P.J. Fleck said the injury wasn’t serious and that Taylor would continue to be evaluated.

Taylor, who missed seven games in 2023 because of a hamstring injury, averaged 133.8 rushing yards per game, a figure that would have led the nation had he reached a qualifying number of games. He returned for the Quick Lane Bowl and earned MVP honors with 208 rushing yards.

Taylor was on the sideline Thursday, wearing his No. 1 jersey over a T-shirt and in sweatpants.

With Taylor out, the Gophers turned to Oklahoma transfer Marcus Major to start, with redshirt junior Jordan Nubin behind Major. Ohio University transfer Sieh Bangura, Michigan State transfer Jaren Mangham and freshman Fame Ijeboi warmed up in that order.

Green missed the first half of training camp but was back on the field on Aug. 13. Fleck that week expressed optimism that the redshirt junior who started 11 games last year would be ready for the opener.

Jackson was limited during training camp, though Fleck two weeks ago said he expected the fifth-year senior to return soon. A second-team All-Big Ten selection, Jackson led the Gophers with 59 catches, 831 yards and eight touchdowns last year.

Others listed as out for the Gophers were: tight end Pierce Walsh, running back Kaeden Johnson, and defensive linemen Jaylin Hicks and Theorin Randle. The report also listed running back Jaydon Wright, defensive back Simon Seidl, offensive lineman Jerome Williams and defensive lineman Sam Macy as out for the season.

Casey O’Brien, the former Gophers placekick holder who has battled cancer since 2013, announced earlier this week that his cancer has returned. O’Brien started a GoFundMe account to raise money for treatments that aren’t covered by his insurance. As of Thursday evening, the account had raised $367,598.

“The outpouring has been unbelievable,” O’Brien said during an interview on the KFXN pregame show. “… It just goes to show there’s still good in this world.”

* The Gophers entered Thursday 98-36-6 all-time in season openers. They have won six of their past eight openers, including a 5-2 mark under Fleck.

* North Carolina is only the third program from the current ACC to play in Huntington Bank Stadium but the first to do so under the ACC banner. California, in its first year in the ACC, visited Minnesota in 2009 as a Pac-12 member. Syracuse played in Minnesota in 2012 as a Big East member. The Gophers are 20-13-1 all-time against current ACC members.

* North Carolina faced a Big Ten team on the road in nonconference play for the first time since winning 48-23 at Illinois in 2016.