What We Learned About the Minnesota Gophers in Soul Crushing Loss vs Rutgers

By    |  
Updated:
NCAA Football: Minnesota Gophers at Rutgers
Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

At 6-3 (4-2 in Big Ten play), the Minnesota Gophers had most of their hopes and dreams for the 2024 college football season in front of them when they walked onto the field at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey on Saturday morning.

Not only did they come in as the No. 5 team in an 18-team Big Ten conference, but they were riding high on a four game winning streak. With three games remaining on the 2024 schedule, even the College Football Playoff wasn’t off the table. Unfortunately, it’s definitely off the table now.

This, after the Minnesota Gophers offense struggled throughout the day in New Jersey, against one of their former defensive coaches (see below). That allowed a 4th quarter fumble, followed by a safety on the next drive, to sink PJ Fleck’s week 11 boat. Ultimately, Minnesota fell on the road Saturday to Rutgers, 26-16.

Minnesota Gophers offense (especially OL) still inconsistent

Athan Kaliakmanis had one of the best performances of his season, on Saturday. He threw for 240 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. Meanwhile, Max Brosmer rode the struggle bus vs Rutgers in a way we haven’t seen in recent weeks. On the day, Minnesota’s new QB went 27-of-45 (60%) for 262 yards and 1 TD (0 INT).

We didn’t learn today that Max Brosmer is a better quarterback than Athan Kaliakmanis. We knew that before he ever played a game under center for the Minnesota Gophers, just based on how the coaching staff talked about him during the preseason.

Today, in one of Brosmer’s worst showings of the season, he still made better decisions and played way more efficiently than Kaliakmanis did. No matter how this game would have ended, there are no questions about which squad has the better quarterback. Unfortunately, Max’s offensive line didn’t come to play in New Jersey.

Related: NFL Draft Expert Not Sold on Minnesota Gophers Left Tackle

What we did learn is that the Minnesota Gophers offense, which is one of the more talented bunches in the Big Ten, underperformed in the biggest moment of the season, especially on the offensive line. Entering the season, the OL was supposed to be this team’s best and deepest position group.

Unfortunately, especially in the four losses this season, they have been anything but that. Max Brosmer is really good and Darius Taylor might be the best running back in the Big Ten. But if the former can’t get any time in the pocket and the latter doesn’t have any holes to run through, talent doesn’t matter.

Defense wins championships when offense disappears

The real MVP from Saturday’s game vs Rutgers was the Minnesota Gophers defense. After getting popped in the mouth repeatedly by Athan Kaliakmanis and backup Scarlet Knights running backs in the first half, Greg Harbaugh’s defense came for scarlet blood in the 2nd half.

Rutgers scored 14 points in the first two quarters, thanks to 267 total yards of offense (216 through the air), the Gophers came out with a completely different type of commitment on that side of the ball for quarters three and four.

Related: Minnesota Gophers Kicker Takes Home Big Ten Weekly Honor

So much commitment, in fact, that the Scarlet Knights posted just 33 yards of total offense in the 3rd quarter. After his HUGE first half, Kaliakmanis went 3-of-13 for 24 yards and 1 TD in the entire second half.

But there was a problem for Minnesota in the 2nd half. After scoring a touchdown on their first drive of the half, the Gophers’ offense ran completely out of gas and the Scarlet Knights defense answered the bell, after their own offense started riding the struggle bus.

Rutgers’ last touchdown of the game, which put them up 20-16 with just 7:40 remaining in the 4th quarter, happened because they forced a Minnesota fumble at their own 10 yard line, the Gophers first turnover since the 2nd quarter vs USC. One phantom PI call and a broken coverage easy TD pass later, PJ Fleck & Co were in trouble.

Rutgers running backs accumulated just 27 yards on the ground… until their final drive of the game, when they ran all over the Minnesota defense, positioning the Scarlet Knights for a field goal that put them up 10 and iced the game.

There are no easy games in the 2024 Big Ten

But former Gopher QB Athan Kaliakmanis, along with former University of Minnesota coaches Kirk Ciarrocca (OC) and Joe Harasymiak (DC) now leading the show on both sides of the ball for Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights were not going to hand PJ Fleck and their new QB Max Brosmer an easy victory.

Without a doubt, this was the best game Rutgers has played in weeks, and that isn’t surprising, given the familiarity between coaching staffs and the revenge storylines surrounding today’s Big Ten contest.

Related: Minnesota Gophers Snubbed in Both Polls, Especially AP

From the opening kick, this one was a slobberknocker between two teams that know each other way too well, especially when this is only the second time they’ve played each other since 2019. But again, that’s what happens when most of the members from both coaching staffs have coached together, at one point or another in their careers.

PJ Fleck and Greg Schiano - Minnesota Gophers at Rutgers
Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Rutgers came into Saturday’s contest on a four-game losing streak, but they had been playing better of late, at least on offense, where they put up a total of 52 points over the past two weeks. Their problem has been on defense… but that wasn’t a huge problem vs the Minnesota Gophers.

That’s because, no matter who the opponent is in this conference, even if they have given up 133 points over their past four games. If you don’t bring it every single week, in every facet of the game, you will lose, especially if you aren’t Ohio State.

The Golden Gophers were not good on offense vs Rutgers this weekend, especially in the trenches, and the defense was extremely inconsistent. It doesn’t matter who you play in the Big Ten, your team will likely lose when that is the case. Minnesota found that out on Saturday.

Mentioned in this article:

More About: