The Minnesota Golden Gophers opened up their season on Thursday evening with a 19-17 loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels. It was mostly forgetabble performance by the Gophers but there were several players that put together strong performances for the Gophers.
Below, Gophers Nation takes a look at a pair of those top performers.
OFFENSE: RB Marcus Major
It wasn't a huge day by any means for Marcus Major but he was one of the lone bright spots of the Minnesota offense. The Oklahoma transfer, starting in place of Darius Taylor totaled 100 yards from scimmage including 75 rushing yards and 27 receiving yards while also picking up a touchdown. Major showed good vision and patience throughout the game, trying to make the most of what holes the offensive line did open up for him. Of course, the play of the day for Major was being on the receiving end of a Le'Meke Brockington fumble, as the ball bounced right into his hands and taking it into the redzone, eventually leading to a Gophers touchdown. If Draius Taylor is out for any extended period of time, Major should fill in nicely and will be a featured piece of the Gophers offense.
DEFENSE: LB Maverick Baranowski
It was a very good day for starting middle linebacker Maverick Baranowski who totaled 10 tackles in the game including one tackle for loss. In 2023 as a starter for the Gophers, Baranowski put together an all-around strong season but struggled in the missed tackles category with 11 on the season. He was also one of the Gophers best run defenders on Thursday night. Against the Tar Heels run game, Baranowski recorded ‘five 'stops' according to Pro Football Focus, defiend as "tackles that cosntitute a failure for the offense and zero missed tackles. Thanks to his play against the run, the Gophers were able to keep the Tar Heels to just 3.6 yards per carry. In a season where the development of the Gophers linebacker room will be an important storyline throughout the season especailly early, an emergence of Baranowski would be a notable development.
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