Lindsey, Tracy headline Gophers' 59-7 rout of Eastern Illinois
Drake Lindsey validated a summer of Fleck's praise and Javon Tracy made Big Ten history in the same night, and Minnesota's next task is its first-ever meeting with an SEC opponent.
Lindsey backs up Fleck's hype with a near-perfect debut
P.J. Fleck spent camp raving about Drake Lindsey more than anyone else in front of him, saying his quarterback "understands the transparency of what he has to do to grow and get better" and pointing to a rep where Lindsey "looked like a pro going through his progressions," per the Star Tribune. Thursday night he cashed it in: Lindsey finished 19 of 24 for 264 yards and a touchdown before getting pulled with the game well in hand, as Minnesota opened the season with a 59-7 win over Eastern Illinois at Huntington Bank Stadium.
First career TD for @PierceWalsh7 😤 #RTB #SkiUMah #Gophers t.co/yLPmI4aNnP
That lone touchdown pass found tight end Pierce Walsh with 6 seconds left in the first half, per Yahoo Sports — Walsh's first career score, and exactly the kind of depth Fleck has been building toward behind Lindsey. The team's own account could not resist it either, posting the catch with nothing but a "😤" from @GopherFootball.
This wasn't a quarterback competition to begin with — On3 had Lindsey locked in as the starter for 2026 after an 8-5 redshirt-freshman season, with Fleck now 6-3 on opening night in his tenure — but the battle for QB2 is still very much alive behind him. Stillwater native Max Shikenjanski got his chance late Thursday and made the most of it, marching Minnesota 52 yards in 7 plays and running it in himself to make it 52-7, one more data point in a snap-two derby that 247Sports says also includes Liberty transfer Max Merdinger and freshman Brady Palmer.
Tracy makes Big Ten history, and the Gophers' backfield does the rest
Javon Tracy turned a laugher into a program moment. His second punt-return touchdown of the night made it 42-7 and made him the first Gopher — and the first Big Ten player since Penn State's Daequan Hardy in 2023 — to house two punt returns in a single game, per ESPN. It was also Minnesota's first punt return for a score since 2018.
Eastern Illinois59-7Tracy did it while barely breaking a sweat as a receiver, too: he finished the first half alone with 193 all-purpose yards, part of a combined 280 yards and 4 touchdowns he and Darius Taylor produced before the break, according to the team's own account. Add in a 55-yard catch-and-run down to the Eastern Illinois 2-yard line, and it was the kind of night that turns a transfer receiver into a fixture on the highlight reel.
Taylor had his own night to remember: his 3 touchdowns pushed his career rushing total to 2,511 yards, moving him past Tellis Redmon into 10th in program history, per @GopherFootball, and marking the second 3-touchdown game of his career. Minnesota finished 59-7, a final score that will look nothing like whatever comes out of Huntington Bank Stadium against Mississippi State in a week.
The kicking battle isn't over — D.R. Jackson banked the first field goal, not the offseason arrival
Minnesota spent the offseason going out and signing Luke Drzewiecki, the New Mexico kicker who lined up against the Gophers — not for them — in last season's 20-17 bowl win, an all-conference leg out of the Mountain West that On3's Pete Nakos reported signing on August 21. Fleck had said the kicking job stayed open into the final scrimmage of camp, per the Star Tribune, which made Drzewiecki look like more than a depth move.
Thursday night, though, it was Alexandria, Minn., native D.R. Jackson who got the call and delivered, banking his first career field goal to push the lead to 45-7 with 3:17 left in the third quarter. One kick doesn't settle a battle Fleck said ran into the final scrimmage, but it's the first real data point in it, and it came from the hometown kid, not the marquee signing.
First-ever SEC test arrives as Mississippi State comes to town
Minnesota's next game is on September 12 vs. Mississippi State, a first-ever meeting between the programs and the Gophers' first regular-season game against SEC opposition in more than 65 years. Mississippi State closed last season with a 29-43 loss to Wake Forest, and Minnesota opened as the favorite, with the line set at -2.5 and the total at 53.5.
Covers' injury table lists running back A. Turner (knee) and wide receiver B. Stevens (illness) as questionable heading into it — both doubts rather than rule-outs, so neither is a lock to miss the opener against the Bulldogs. It's the first real dent in an otherwise clean Thursday night.
The Gophers bring some continuity into that fight: defensive lineman Anthony Smith returns after leading the Big Ten in sacks last season, and Fleck's program enters on 7 straight bowl appearances, per Yahoo Sports. Mississippi State counters with Blake Shapen at quarterback, who threw for 2,436 yards a season ago, but Thursday gave Minnesota fans a full half of proof this offense can move fast — the only question left is how it looks against an SEC front.