Taylor’s return helps Gophers get bowl win

Freshman Darius Taylor returned from a leg injury to rush for a career-high 208 yards, and Minnesota beat Bowling Green 30-24 in the Quick Lane Bowl on Tuesday.

Minnesota (6-7), which was selected for the bowl because it had the best Academic Progress Rate among five-win teams, won its seventh consecutive bowl game overall and fifth in a row under coach P.J. Fleck.

Taylor, who had missed the Gophers’ previous five games, had 35 carries, including a 17-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter that gave Minnesota a 30-17 lead. The 5-foot-11 running back, a Detroit native, averaged 176 yards during a three-game stretch in September, but had only played in one game since.

Conor Bazelak threw for two scores and ran for one for Bowling Green (7-6), which lost the Quick Lane Bowl for the second year in a row.

NFL: The Arizona Cardinals

have released cornerback Marco Wilson, a third-year player who began the season as a starter but lost his job after a rough adjustment to the team’s new defense.

Wilson was a fourthround pick in 2021 out of Florida and played in 43 games, including 37 starts. The Cardinals announced he had been released on Monday.

Wilson had some good moments last year in his second NFL season, but regressed this fall under a first-year coaching staff.

Hockey: Mathis Rousseau made 24 saves, including a spectacular glove stop in the first period, while Owen Allard and Macklin Celebrini both scored as Canada opened the world junior hockey championship with a 5-2 victory over Finland on Tuesday.

Slovakia beat Czechia 6-2, Sweden beat Latvia 6-0 and the United States beat Norway 4-1 in the other games. Gavin Brindley scored twice in a 2:33 span of the second period for the Americans, who got 22 saves from Trey Augustine.