Athan Kaliakmanis struggles?

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cjbfbp said:
I'm just not sure that Athan is more turnover prone than Tanner. He had one against Penn State but none against Nebraska and Northwestern. He did have two in limited time against Illinois but the game was a hot mess for the whole offense.
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We can’t possibly know, but IIRC Burns has insinuated as much in practices, etc. “Not ready” comes to mind but I could be wrong. Going up against one of the top defenses in the nation is a tall task for almost any offense. Morgan is the devil we know. He’s generally been good at ball protection with some notable exceptions, typically in end of game desperation drives as you described above. I also believe hope is not a strategy. AK could be great, hopefully will be but I have no idea right now.
 


Pompous Elitist said:
We can’t possibly know, but IIRC Burns has insinuated as much in practices, etc. “Not ready” comes to mind but I could be wrong. Going up against one of the top defenses in the nation is a tall task for almost any offense. Morgan is the devil we know. Hope is not a strategy.
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But the question (for some, at least) seems to be: Which matters more: beating Iowa, or getting Kaliakmanis his reps?

I choose beating Iowa, and I trust the coaching staff to make the best decision.
 

kg21 said:
I get the experience angle, but I'm not sure what I'm missing. This offense under TM is anemic for the most part. It was again today. Go with the youngster.
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You're missing the details. The only time I have seen Athan get past his first read this year was on scrambles. He starts to panic as soon as his first read is covered. He couldn't throw on the move today to save his life. He was struggling to place passes in catchable areas today and frankly threw one of the worst passes I've seen from a Gopher QB since Mitch Leidner was turfing every other pass in 2015.

Tanner can make 2-3 reads. He is ridiculously good at throwing on the move. He puts the ball in good spots almost always.

The only difference I see in favor of Athan right now is that Fleck doesn't trust Tanners deep ball. That's what opened up Nebraska's defense.

I have no problem with Athan playing, but there are some people here who have opinions on this that just don't make sense. If the threat of Athan throwing deep is what it takes to give Mo room, then fine, do it.
 
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hello-world said:
You're missing the details. The only time I have seen Athan get past his first read this year was on scrambles. He starts to panic as soon as his first read is covered. He couldn't throw on the move today to save his life. He was struggling to place passes in catchable areas today and frankly threw one of the worst passes I've seen from a Gopher QB since Mitch Leidner was turfing every other pass in 2015.

Tanner can make 2-3 reads. He is ridiculously good at throwing on the move. He puts the ball in good spots almost always.

The only difference I see in favor of Athan right now is that Fleck doesn't trust Tanners deep ball. That's what opened up Nebraska's defense.

I have no problem with Athan playing, but there are some people here who have opinions on this that just don't make sense. If the threat of Athan throwing deep is what it takes to give Mo room, then fine, do it.
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Of course the senior can make better reads. I think the running and scrambling are huge though. AK rarely gets sacked. I keep thinking back to that first half against Nebraska. We couldn't block them for shit. The only hope was someone who could move, use their legs, etc.

I'm afraid Iowa will own us up front very similar to that first half. If so, aren't we kind of bleeped. Mo would need to absolutely be running wild on them.
 



After his shaky start the coaches didn't call many passes - I think he would have improved after getting into a rhythm. But as Mo & Co. were running roughshod over NW, the coaches took the victory without any risks. Both Iowa and Wisconsin will be very tough to run against.
 

Great Plains Gopher said:
After his shaky start the coaches didn't call many passes - I think he would have improved after getting into a rhythm. But as Mo & Co. were running roughshod over NW, the coaches took the victory without any risks. Both Iowa and Wisconsin will be very tough to run against.
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Every team we've played has known what to expect: Mo, coming right at you.

He has put up good rushing numbers against every single opponent.
 

Five Toes said:
Tough conditions today for any QB/WR combination. I'm guessing u stayed to the end of the game?
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Yep. The Billds are charter members of the Bitter End Club. If we're there...and we've missed 3 home games in 15 years...we stay to the end.

This is why we've developed the saying "Winning is better..."

This was a good win. I just think bringing home Floyd and keeping The Axe would cap this season off fine. Excited for Athan but we have Tanner for up to 3 more games. He's a huge asset too even with his known limitations.

And yes, it was cold especially for those actually on the field of play.
 

Great Plains Gopher said:
After his shaky start the coaches didn't call many passes - I think he would have improved after getting into a rhythm. But as Mo & Co. were running roughshod over NW, the coaches took the victory without any risks. Both Iowa and Wisconsin will be very tough to run against.
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They gave him some token easier passes later. That was nice, he made them. Might be how we need to warm him up if he's out there vs Iowa.

Problem is Iowa's defense is so good and VERY opportunistic....
 











A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
He missed throws…

Even his completed throws were off a bit.

Understandably, he is young.
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Yeah I was there he threw it 13 times 8 of those were poor to bad throws. He has a really slow release. Do like his legs. I hope we have some competition for him in the spring.
 

hello-world said:
This is what I don't get. He doesn't look good any time I have seen him play. It's like people here saw Durr's Tweets and took that as gospel. He wasn't great in the spring game, he consistently sailed balls in his garbage time reps early this year and he has now looked bad in both games in which he had a full week to prepare.

I don't know why anyone think he's a "generational talent" right now. He looks like a Freshman.

You couldn't say that about Tanner from the time he beat Indiana in 2018 to today.

The biggest thing I could say for Athan is that his deep shots against Nebraska last week opened up the running game. If Fleck doesn't trust Tanner to throw downfield, then fine, Athan might be the better option, but lets not pretend that he's shooting the lights out. As of right now, he looks inaccurate and he's locking on to receivers.
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Best post in here. Kid has a long ways to go, I am not sold and I hope Knuth, Kramer, Vitto push him and it is an open competition this spring.
 

Athan Kaliakmanis needed to start a whole complete game to shake the jitters. The game against Northwestern was a good game to start.

Ironically, the quarterback transitions in 2018 and 2022 happened at a game in Nebraska. Tanner Morgan replaced the injured Zack Annexstad, and Athan Kaliakmanis replaced Tanner Morgan in the Secon Half.

Tanner Morgan showed more poise and polish in his debut. In all fairness, the current 2022 team is more run-heavy.

Athan has a lot of upsides, but he needs to get more reps and be comfortable running the offense.

I would not be surprised if Tanner Morgan starts against Iowa next weekend if he is healthy. Starting him or Athan Kaliakmanis both have inherent risks. Tanner Morgan's experience will give the Gophers a better chance of winning against a strong opportunistic Iowa Defense.

I have included the link to Tanner Morgan's first complete game against Indiana on October 26, 2018.

QuarterbackDateCmpAttYdsTDIntLngSackOppntW/LScoreComment
Tanner Morgan10/20/18111621401690at NEL28-532nd Half
Tanner Morgan10/26/18122430231671INDW38-31Full Game
Athan Kaliakmanis11/05/2261213700450at NEW20-132nd Half
Athan Kaliakmanis11/12/227136400190NWW31-3Full Game

 


AK made some throws that were 2 yards off and it either cost the WR a chance to catch it or it killed their ability to get yards after catch.

That said, 2 of the incompletions were massive drops. I think the one drop would have been a 60 yard TD but DW dropped a perfect pass across the middle with no one within 15 yards of him.

Stats easily could have been 9-13 125 yards and 1 TD
 

RememberMurray said:
Every team we've played has known what to expect: Mo, coming right at you.

He has put up good rushing numbers against every single opponent.
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Mo's good numbers against Illinois and Penn St were not good enough.
 

Great Plains Gopher said:
Not quite fair, as AK didn't get to start against the early season pushovers, and was literally thrown to the Lions.
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Wasn't able to see the game but it's quite apparent AK put in a mere Morganesqe performance.

What to do against Iowa with two guys throwing like Morgan? Probably best to go with the one who can move away from pressure, extend plays, and rush for 30 or 40 yards and not take negative yards in sacks.
 

Nobody can convince me that Tanner wouldn't have thrown it better in the first half yesterday. Athan missed a couple very easy throws and generally looked very uncomfortable. Tanner would've completed a few more balls.

Conversely, nobody can convince me the running game didn't look better because of what Athan has put on tape with his legs and willingness to push the ball down the field. NW wasn't playing as much press man or being as aggressive with their box players as previous teams, probably for that reason.

I'd say keep rolling with the youngster since the torch has sort of been passed at this point and he does bring some added dimensions to the offense, but people here expecting him to be a cure all or play like CJ Stroud are fooling themselves.
 


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