Gophers RBs Darius Taylor, Zach Evans out vs. Michigan State

The Gophers were without two of their top three running backs for Saturday's game against Michigan State.

Darius Taylor and Zach Evans, who both were injured and left the Gophers' victory at Iowa last week, were listed as out on the Big Ten availability report released Saturday. Their depth in the backfield was thinned last week when it was announced that senior Bryce Williams, Minnesota's fourth-leading rusher, will miss the remainder of the season because of an injury.

Taylor, a true freshman, leads the Gophers with 591 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 103 carries. He missed the games against Louisiana and Michigan because of a leg injury before returning against Iowa, where he led the Gophers with 59 yards on 16 carries. He left the game early in the fourth quarter.

Evans, a redshirt freshman, ranks third on the team with 174 yards on 37 carries with one TD. He rushed 10 times for 44 yards against Iowa before leaving the game late in the first half.

The injuries left senior Sean Tyler and redshirt sophomore Jordan Nubin as the main options. Tyler lost a fumble on his first carry, then turned what would have been a 15-yard gain on a swing pass to an 8-yard loss because he caught the ball with his knee on the ground.

"Sean put the ball on the ground, but I still believe in Sean,'' coach P.J. Fleck said. "We went to Jo-Jo [Nubin], he started becoming the hot hand.''

Nubin finished with 40 carries for 204 yards. When asked if it felt like 40 carries, Nubin laughed. "Yeah, definitely did, but it was fun to be out there,'' he said.

The 40 carries tied for seventh most in school history for a single game.