Minnesota is spending this week preparing defensive game plans for a familiar quarterback, although coach P.J. Fleck is downplaying the reunion.
Seeking their fifth straight win, the Golden Gophers will face former Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis on Saturday afternoon when they head to Piscataway, N.J., for a Big Ten encounter with the Scarlet Knights.
The Golden Gophers (6-3, 4-2) are attempting to surpass their win total from last season, when they finished with their first losing record in a full season since 2017. Minnesota ended 6-7 last season with Kaliakmanis, who threw for 1,838 yards and 14 touchdowns in 12 games.
“You look at both sides of the ball, there’s a lot of people who have a lot of connections, and that can’t be the focus,” Fleck said Monday. “And that’s not going to be the focus. The focus is on going to get this football team better. They’re going to work on being better.”
Minnesota has three one-score wins sandwiched around a 48-23 rout of Maryland. The Golden Gophers kept their winning streak alive by earning a 25-17 victory at then-No. 24 Illinois last week by rallying in the final 5:14 on a 1-yard TD to Jameson Geers from Max Brosmer and Dragan Kesich’s fourth field goal, from 46 yards.
Brosmer has thrown seven of his 13 TD passes during the winning streak while completing 89 of 126 passes for 895 yards.
Kaliakmanis and the Scarlet Knights (4-4, 1-4) hope to end a four-game losing streak that has seen the team get outscored 133-66 since it beat Washington on Sept. 27.
During the skid, Kaliakmanis has been intercepted four times and sacked 10 times, including five times in a 42-20 loss at USC on Oct. 25, when he completed 27 of his career-high 47 attempts for 313 yards.
Kaliakmanis played for Minnesota in 2022 and 2023, throwing for 2,784 yards in 23 games.
“I had a great time there,” he said. “Respect to the coaches there. I’m just focused on where I’m at now, making friends here. I’m super grateful for the opportunity I had there, but I’m super grateful for the opportunity I have here.”
