Athan Kaliakmanis faced his former team for the first time last year, and it was a successful day for Rutgers.
With two weeks since its last game, Minnesota hopes the game plan of the top-ranked defense in FBS works against its former quarterback on Saturday afternoon when it hosts Rutgers in Minneapolis.
Kaliakmanis transferred to Rutgers after throwing for 2,784 yards and 17 touchdowns in 23 games for Minnesota. Last season, he led the Scarlet Knights (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten) to a 26-19 home win over his former team by throwing for three touchdowns and 240 yards.
“I think Athan’s really matured quite a bit since he arrived here,” Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said Monday. “I think he’s gonna be totally focused on playing the football game, being the quarterback that he’s capable of being and running our offense. And certainly, he played there, so he still knows guys on the team.
“It’s going back to the stadium that he started his career in. But I think that all fades away very quickly. And what it becomes is a really, really challenging defense that we have to be able to move the football on.”
Kaliakmanis has completed 68.8 percent of his passes for 1,150 yards. He threw all seven of his touchdowns in Rutgers’ nonconference games and went 24-for-40 for 330 yards and a pick in Friday’s 38-28 loss to Iowa.
“He’s playing really well,” Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck said about Kaliakmanis. “I think his fifth year in that type of same system, so you’d expect to see that type of growth that he has shown and has played in and playing at a high level, that’s for sure.”
Kaliakmanis’ favorite target thus far is Ian Strong, who caught eight passes for a career-high 151 yards against Iowa. The junior is tied for the Big Ten lead in receptions (24) and third in receiving yards (367).
Minnesota (2-1) enters conference play as the top defense in FBS, allowing 177.7 yards per game.
The Golden Gophers allowed 193 yards combined in comfortable wins over Buffalo and Northwestern State before yielding 340 yards, 279 in the air, in a 27-14 loss at Cal on Sept. 13.
Against the Golden Bears, Drake Lindsey threw for two touchdowns and Le’Meke Brockington had eight catches for 106 yards. The Golden Gophers, however, encountered problems on special teams in the fourth quarter as Brady Denaburg missed a potential tying 51-yard field goal and Koi Perich muffed a punt at his own 8-yard line.
Minnesota also was missing running back Darius Taylor with a leg injury. Taylor rushed for 161 yards this season before exiting in the first quarter against Northwestern State, and he could be out again Saturday.
Last week, Minnesota rushed for 130 yards as Fame Ijeboi finished with 85 yards on 16 attempts.
“He’s still a really young player,” Fleck said about Ijeboi. “He’s hungry. He had a phenomenal practice yesterday, as I think all the running backs did, but he’s a guy we’re going to count on now and as we continue to count on in the future as we keep moving forward.”