Darius Taylor had the left end zone pylon in his sights as he found the edge of the Northwestern State defense on Saturday. But Taylor’s 17-yard run came up one yard short of a touchdown and the junior screamed in what appeared to be agony over a right leg  injury.

The Gophers tailback grabbed his hamstring after awkwardly falling to the turf.

Taylor went to the injury tent after his fourth snap of the game and didn’t return to the 66-0 blowout victory over the Demons at Huntington Bank Stadium.

Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck on Monday said they got good news on Taylor’s health going into Saturday night’s game at California. He told KFAN: “Not as bad as originally thought.”

The Pioneer Press asked if Taylor would practice this week, and Fleck went back to his routine line of how that will be revealed when the  injury report is released two hours before kickoff.

On Saturday, Fleck said: “It doesn’t seem too bad, which is good. Got a really good positive diagnosis on that, so we’ll see how the week goes as he goes through it. We weren’t going to put him back in the game, that’s for sure.”

Taylor finished Saturday’s game with three carries for 24 yards and one reception for nine.

Injuries curtailed the start of Taylor’s career at Minnesota. He played in only six of 13 games as a true freshman in 2023, but was outstanding before he went down, totaling 799 yards on 138 carries (5.8 per rush) and five touchdowns.

“You hurt for the kid,” Fleck said Friday.  It’s not about — you don’t immediately go to, ‘What are we going to do as a team?’ We have really good tailbacks. You immediately feel for the person. Everything that young person has been through and what they invest in themselves. And how hard they work and the time they spend in the training room to prevent those things. It’s football. It happens.”

Taylor missed the season opener vs. North Carolina a year ago but was durable the rest of the way with 986 yards on 205 carries (4.8) and 10 touchdowns in 12 games. He also set a program record for a running back with 54 receptions, which went for 350 yards and two TDs.

In a starting role against Buffalo on Aug. 28, Taylor was healthy and elusive with 141 rushing yards on 30 carries, adding four receptions for 36 yards.

If Taylor can’t play Saturday in Berkeley, Calif., the Gophers appear to have three options in the mix to step up: Marshall transfer A.J Turner, Washington transfer Cam Davis and redshirt freshman Fame Ijeboi.

Through two games, Turner has rushed 12 times for 49 yards and one touchdown, Ijeboi has seven for 51 and Davis has six for 25 and one score.

“We have to have depth at that position,” Fleck said Monday.

Later in Saturday’s lopsided win, true freshman Grant Washington rushed 20 times for a game-high 126 yards, but he didn’t play in the Buffalo game. Fellow true freshman Xavier Ford added two carries for 10 yards against the Demons.

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