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When lower-level directional schools appear on their nonconference schedule, the Gophers’ objectives should shift drastically.
In Thursday’s season opener, Minnesota — a 42-point favorite — needed to steamroll Eastern Illinois at Huntington Bank Stadium, and do so with crisp execution in all three phases while suffering minimal injuries.
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Check, check, check.
The Gophers outclassed Eastern Illinois 59-7 and can turn the page from, effectively, a preseason game against an FCS level team to a stiffer Southeastern Conference foe in Mississippi State coming north on Sept. 12.
Darius Taylor scored three touchdowns in the first half, Javon Tracy returned two punts for scores and the U defense limited the Panthers to 113 total yards.
Tracy’s two punt-return scores — 87 yards in the first half and 67 to start the second — made him the first Gopher and fourth player in Big Ten history to have multiple punt return TDs in the same game.
Tracy’s pair of TDs made it a great debut for new special teams coordinator Daniel Da Prato. Tracy, who added 98 yards on five catches, was not even touched on his two scores.
Taylor, who missed three games with injury last season, had 14 carries for 56 yards and three receptions for 31 yards before resting in the second half. He became the second Gophers running back to eclipse 100 receptions, joining Chuck Rios’ 132 from 1990-94.
“(Taylor is) one of the best players in the country when healthy,” head coach P.J. Fleck said at halftime on Peacock.
Fleck was then able to bring in second-stringers at the end of the third quarter, cutting down further on injury risks.
But it wasn’t perfect.
The U’s offense was forced to punt on the opening drive, a continuation of the slow starts that plagued games last season.
Minnesota’s defense had a series of blown coverages and linebacker Matt Kingsbury dropped two interceptions on the Panthers’ lone touchdown drive of the first half.
And Elon transfer running back TJ Thomas Jr. fumbled in the second half, but he came back out for the next series.
The Gophers (1-0) will have an extra day to prepare for Mississippi State, which opens the season Friday against Louisiana-Monroe. The U hasn’t hosted an SEC team since Vanderbilt in 1959.
· Business Insider
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Geopolitical turmoil is pushing central banks to think harder about where they keep their gold reserves.
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On Wednesday, the Netherlands central bank said it had reallocated about 86 metric tons of gold from New York and Ottawa to London between March and August, "in view of increasing geopolitical unrest" and to improve its crisis preparedness.
London now holds 32.1% of the Netherlands' gold reserves, up from 18.1%, making it the largest overseas storage location for Dutch gold.
New York's share fell from 31.3% to 18.5%, while Ottawa's slipped from 19.7% to 18.5%.
"With this relocation, we have improved the tradability of our gold reserves," said Olaf Sleijpen, the governor of De Nederlandsche Bank, or DNB.
"We expect that we will never need to use them, but we do need to strengthen our resilience and preparedness," Sleijpen added.
Most of the reshuffle did not involve shipping bars across the Atlantic.
DNB sold about 59 tons of gold in New York and bought replacement bullion in London. More than 27 tons were physically moved from the US and Canada to the Netherlands, while a similar amount was transferred from the Netherlands to London.
DNB said its gold in London can be sold more quickly in a crisis because it is held at one of the world's main gold-trading hubs and already meets international trading standards. It describes gold as the "ultimate reserve asset" for hedging extreme systemic risks.
France has also reshuffled its overseas holdings. Banque de France sold the remaining gold it held in New York between July 2025 and January 2026 and bought replacement gold in Europe, replacing older bars with bullion that is easier to trade internationally.
Germany and Italy, meanwhile, have faced political pressure to reconsider gold stored in New York, though neither central bank has announced plans to repatriate it.
The trend is broader. A World Gold Council survey in June found 10% of central banks had diversified their overseas gold storage locations over the past year, up from 2% a year earlier. Meanwhile, 9% had increased domestic storage, up from 5%.
The shift comes as wars, sanctions, and geopolitical fragmentation put greater focus on the accessibility of overseas reserves, particularly after the immobilization of Russia's foreign-held central-bank assets following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
New vaulting hubs are also emerging. Singapore's central bank will begin storing gold for foreign central banks and sovereign entities in October, as the city-state builds out its bullion market and seeks to provide liquidity during Asian trading hours.
The changing vaulting landscape comes amid a historic run for gold over the past few years, driven by geopolitical uncertainty and central-bank buying.
Spot gold was trading around $4,470 per troy ounce late on Thursday. The price is 3.5% higher year to date following a record run to nearly $5,600 in late January.
Read the original article on Business Insider