Minnesota · Big TenJavon Tracy sets Minnesota mark with two punt-return touchdowns
Tracy scored twice on punt returns, and Darius Taylor added three first-half rushing touchdowns in Minnesota’s 59–7 season-opening win.
SEP 4, 2026
The Pate State · Editorial IllustrationOn Thursday, Sept. 3, Javon Tracy gave Minnesota a program record with two punt returns for touchdowns in a 59–7 season-opening win over Eastern Illinois.
The returns supplied a major field-position and scoring boost as Darius Taylor rushed for three first-half touchdowns. Minnesota scored five times through Tracy and Taylor, opened 1–0 and followed an 8–5 finish in 2025 with its most explosive start of 2026.
That advantage gets its first meaningful test against Mississippi State on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Minnesota will need the return game to remain a source of points and field position when the opponent is no longer Eastern Illinois.
Tracy now owns Minnesota’s single-game mark for punt-return touchdowns, while Taylor’s early rushing burst gave the Gophers another way to control the opener.
01 · The Detail Beneath the HeadlineWhat Most People Are Missing
The less obvious number is 30. Tracy’s two touchdowns and Taylor’s three accounted for 30 of Minnesota’s 59 points, meaning more than half the output came from two players and two jobs. ESPN did not report Tracy’s return yardage or the distances, so the record establishes scoring impact without showing whether the return game repeatedly changed field position.
The schedule will separate the two. Mississippi State arrives Saturday, Sept. 12, nine days after the opener, followed by Akron on Sept. 19. Minnesota then goes to Washington on Sept. 26 and hosts Michigan on Oct. 3, its first road game and the next home game one week apart. A repeatable field-position edge would travel farther than another return touchdown.
02 · The Open QuestionsQuestions to Be Answered
Can Tracy affect Mississippi State without returning another punt for a touchdown?
The record came from scoring, but ESPN did not supply return distances or total yardage from Eastern Illinois. Against Mississippi State on Saturday, Sept. 12, the useful tell is Minnesota’s starting field position after Tracy’s returns, not merely whether the touchdown total moves from two. That will show whether the opener uncovered a repeatable advantage or one game’s two decisive finishes.
Who supplies touchdowns when Tracy and Taylor do not account for them?
Mississippi State and Akron are the only remaining games before Minnesota’s Sept. 26 trip to Washington, with Michigan following Oct. 3. Touchdown distribution in the Sept. 12 and Sept. 19 games will show whether the 59-point opener revealed options beyond its two featured scorers. That becomes more important when the schedule turns to Washington and Michigan one week apart.