DeLeon Eskridge Will Not Return To Gophers For Senior Season

The Minnesota Golden Gophers' offense took a bit of a hit on Friday afternoon, as the school announced that senior running back DeLeon Eskridge would not be returning to the team for his senior season.

Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune broke the story first, and he is reporting that Eskridge has asked for a release from his scholarship to deal with a family situation, and it is likely that he will transfer to a school closer to his home in the San Francisco area. It has been pointed out that he does have a redshirt year left, so he could potentially transfer to another BCS school.

Eskridge was the Gophers' leading rusher last year, rushing for 698 yards and seven touchdowns. He also had a very solid spring, and all indications were that he was going to be the primary running back in 2011, or at the very least a part of a tandem with fellow senior Duane Bennett.

Bennett, who rushed for 523 yards and three touchdowns in 2010, now moves into the starter's role at running back. The Gophers also have three red-shirt freshmen at the position in Donnell Kirkwood, Devon Wright, and Lamonte Edwards.

Here's hoping that DeLeon Eskridge can get things straightened around, and we'd like to thank him for what he did as a Gopher. . .sometimes, though, there are some things that are just more important than football.