COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Gophers defense will remain shorthanded against heavy favorite and second-ranked Ohio State on Saturday.

Linebacker Maverick Baranowski is out, according to the U’s status report. The redshirt freshman sustained an apparent shoulder injury in the 49-30 loss to Purdue last week.

And for a second straight week, Cody Lindenberg is listed as questionable against the Buckeyes. He didn’t warm up nor play with that same designation against the Boilermakers last week.

On Saturday, there were early signs two hours before kickoff that Lindenberg was going to warm-up. Her had a black sleeve on his left leg.

Without Baranowski and Lindenberg last week, Minnesota was forced to turn to true freshman Matt Kingsbury. When Kingsbury struggled, the U turned to Tyler Stolsky and Ryan Selig as the Boilermakers put up over 600 total yards and 350 rushing yards.

Against the Buckeyes, Minnesota will also be without safety Aidan Gousby for a second straight game. The U’s other strong safeties, Darius Green and Coleman Bryson, struggled against Purdue last week.

The Gophers leading rusher, Darius Taylor, also remains out. With 591 yards in five total games, he hasn’t played since the Iowa win on Oct. 21.

Minnesota will run the ball with Jordan Nubin and Zach Evans. Both of those players were dinged up against Purdue, but are available at Ohio Stadium.

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