Gophers play without top LB Cody Lindenberg, then lose Maverick Baranowski vs. Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, IND. — The Gophers were without leading rusher Darius Taylor, top linebacker Cody Lindenberg and safety Aidan Gousby for Saturday's game at Purdue.

Lindenberg's absence was a big blow to the Gophers defense since he was coming off what might have been the best game of his career, when he made a team-high 11 tackles and forced a fourth-quarter fumble that led to a Gophers touchdown against Illinois. The fourth-year sophomore missed the first seven games of the season because of a leg injury before returning in limited duty against Michigan State.

Lindenberg, listed as questionable on the Big Ten availability report, was in a T-shirt and sweatpants during early warmups and did not take part in drills with the linebacker group, walking with a noticeable limp. He did not suit up for the game.

Linebacker Maverick Baranowski appeared to suffer a shoulder injury early in the first quarter, was tended to on the field, went into the injury tent and did not return to the game. True freshman Matt Kingsbury replaced Baranowski, and redshirt freshman Tyler Stolsky also saw action. Stolsky finished with seven tackles, Kingsbury four.

"We're not a very deep team at some positions, and at those positions, we got crushed with the injury bug," Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said. "That's not an excuse. … The amount of freshmen we've played and had to play, you get put in a really tough position."

Taylor missed his third consecutive game because of a leg injury suffered Oct. 21 at Iowa. Joining Taylor as listed as out were Gousby, a key contributor in the secondary, and reserve linebacker Jack Tinnen.

Offensive guard Tyler Cooper, who missed the past two games, was not listed on the availability report and started. Also absent from the report was running back Zach Evans, who was questionable last week but played against Illinois.

The absence of Taylor, who has rushed 103 times for 591 yards and four touchdowns, left Jordan Nubin and Evans as the Gophers' primary runners. Nubin finished with 16 carries for 89 yards and has led the team in rushing in three straight games, carrying 40 times for 204 yards against Michigan State and 19 times for 75 yards against Illinois.

Evans rushed five times for 23 yards Saturday but was in and out of the lineup because of his injury.

With their second consecutive loss, the Gophers dropped to 5-5. They have two more chances to win a sixth game to achieve bowl eligibility — Saturday at Ohio State, the No. 1 team in the College Football Rankings, and at home against 5-5 Wisconsin on Nov. 25.

The Gophers have played in four bowls in Fleck's previous six seasons at Minnesota, winning all four.

Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle declined to comment on the Big Ten suspending Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh for the final three games of the regular season for the Wolverines' involvement in in-person scouting and signal-stealing violations.

Last week during the Gophers pregame radio show, Coyle criticized Michigan for its role in the scandal, saying, "There's no doubt the integrity of the game has been compromised.''

After the game, Fleck didn't want to comment, either. "I've got 99 problems, and that's not one of them,'' he said.