MINNEAPOLIS -- Tyler Johnson had a 61-yard touchdown reception from Conor Rhoda in the first quarter to give Minnesota a spark in coach P.J. Fleck's first game, and the Gophers grinded out a 17-7 victory over Buffalo in the season opener on Thursday night.
Fleck led his players in a pregame sprint out of the tunnel beneath a vintage late-summer evening sky, and Johnson racked up 141 yards on six catches by halftime. The rest of the night took on a considerably slower pace, with the Gophers content to call inside handoffs on read-option plays behind new quarterbacks Rhoda and Demry Croft.