Athan will be the starter this Saturday per TheGopherGuys on Twitter

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AK clearly can run better and has a stronger arm (although I think Morgan's arm strength issues are exaggerated here). Assuming both are healthy I'm ok with giving AK a shot as our O-line is trash and a mobile QB may fare better with the 0.5 seconds off pass protection our QBs get. AK is definitely more of a gunslinger though and likely will throw more INT than Tanner would in a season. If Tanner is still hurt then of course AK will start.

If AK plays and struggles the rest of this year it will really be interesting seeing the QB competition next year.
 

Great Plains Gopher said:
Hiding injury news is like icing the kicker. They both should be discontinued. Mickey Joseph at Nebraska was candid about Thompson not starting against Minnesota six days before the game.
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You have said this a couple times but it just isn't true. Joseph said he probably wouldn't play early in the week but he was a gametime decision and nobody was sure he wasn't going to play until the Nebraska QBs came out for warmups before the game.
 

I feel bad for Tanner Morgan. For his sake and that of his family, I am glad that the coaches are taking precautions.
 

hungan1 said:
I feel bad for Tanner Morgan. For his sake and that of his family, I am glad that the coaches are taking precautions.
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Will be interesting to see if he is on the sidelines at least and able to work with Athan during the game.

This is a good one for Athan to start regardless because it is a team we should have a little wiggle room against if we struggle some with execution.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Will be interesting to see if he is on the sidelines at least and able to work with Athan during the game.

This is a good one for Athan to start regardless because it is a team we should have a little wiggle room against if we struggle some with execution.
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Yeah, that's why I thought Rutgers would be a good one for him to start...
 


MNVCGUY said:
Will be interesting to see if he is on the sidelines at least and able to work with Athan during the game.

This is a good one for Athan to start regardless because it is a team we should have a little wiggle room against if we struggle some with execution.
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The future starts now at the QB position. Hopefully, this will give AK more poise going into next season. There is a boatload of question marks at OL, RB, and WR.
 


Being at the Nebraska game, when AK rolled out to his left the NE end was 10 yards out of the picture. Game changed on that play.
 





MNVCGUY said:
You have said this a couple times but it just isn't true. Joseph said he probably wouldn't play early in the week but he was a gametime decision and nobody was sure he wasn't going to play until the Nebraska QBs came out for warmups before the game.
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Elevator guy was pretty sure.
 

RememberMurray said:
I have seen them. So has Tanner Morgan.

Have you seen Morgan's completion percentage?
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It was a swing at a softball setup but since you asked...
there is more to it than completion % playing QB....Tanner was 4 for 12 for 21 yards
for the game with an INT vs Illinois
Our offense was non existent vs Nebraska in the first half with Tanner
and he was 6 for 8 and we were going no where
AK8 is able to do different things
If he is healthy Tanner is our QB




































































































































































































































































































































































































































































is our QB
 

60's Guy said:
It was a swing at a softball setup but since you asked...
there is more to it than completion % playing QB....Tanner was 4 for 12 for 21 yards
for the game with an INT vs Illinois
Our offense was non existent vs Nebraska in the first half with Tanner
and he was 6 for 8 and we were going no where
AK8 is able to do different things
If he is healthy Tanner is our QB
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I see what you meant now.

Yes, there's more to playing QB than completion percentage. VERY true.

But you brought up our receivers, and Morgan is completing over 67% throwing to those same receivers. It's fair to point that out.
 




So....first off I want to thank Tanner Morgan for all he has given and provided to The U. We were in QB No Man's Land before he arrived on campus. Since then, we (and he) have had an excellent run and accomplished a lot! He has, and will continue to have, a warm spot in my heart for what he has done, personally and for the program. At this point, however, I just don't see the upside in keeping him as our starting QB. Even if we win the next 3 games with Morgan, what have we gained? A later/better/warmer Bowl Game? Maybe. By starting Athan, we may still be selected by a later/warmer/better Bowl Game...but with some added hope for next year (which almost everyone acknowledges might be tough). If he is not wildly successful and we end up in Detroit, who cares? Win in Detroit, get used to the new quarterback, have fun, and regroup for next year...I just don't see the downside to making the switch to Athan at this point
 



Indiana Gopher said:
So....first off I want to thank Tanner Morgan for all he has given and provided to The U. We were in QB No Man's Land before he arrived on campus. Since then, we (and he) have had an excellent run and accomplished a lot! He has, and will continue to have, a warm spot in my heart for what he has done, personally and for the program. At this point, however, I just don't see the upside in keeping him as our starting QB. Even if we win the next 3 games with Morgan, what have we gained? A later/better/warmer Bowl Game? Maybe. By starting Athan, we may still be selected by a later/warmer/better Bowl Game...but with some added hope for next year (which almost everyone acknowledges might be tough). If he is not wildly successful and we end up in Detroit, who cares? Win in Detroit, get used to the new quarterback, have fun, and regroup for next year...I just don't see the downside to making the switch to Athan at this point
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Agree with your conclusion, totally disagree with your reasoning. You play the guy who gives you the best chance to win. We’re not playing for the future, we are playing for 2022. You don’t tell a guy like Mo Ibrahim who came back for a 6th year, busted his ass in rehab, and is playing his heart out every game, that you’re going to not put your best foot forward against your two biggest rivals to end his career.

We’re all a little disappointed with the direction the season went after starting 4-0, but a 9-3 record with two trophies would still mean a lot.
 

Indiana Gopher said:
Even if we win the next 3 games with Morgan, what have we gained?
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We would win Floyd AND the Axe.

I'm old and have a hard time keeping up with a changing world sometimes. Beating Iowa and Wisconsin used to be a big deal, back in the day. Do we no longer care about winning Floyd and the Axe?
 

Gophers1992 said:
Agree with your conclusion, totally disagree with your reasoning. You play the guy who gives you the best chance to win. We’re not playing for the future, we are playing for 2022. You don’t tell a guy like Mo Ibrahim who came back for a 6th year, busted his ass in rehab, and is playing his heart out every game, that you’re going to not put your best foot forward against your two biggest rivals to end his career.

We’re all a little disappointed with the direction the season went after starting 4-0, but a 9-3 record with two trophies would still mean a lot.
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I think we have a better chance at winning games with Athan.
 

RememberMurray said:
We would win Floyd AND the Axe.

I'm old and have a hard time keeping up with a changing world sometimes. Beating Iowa and Wisconsin used to be a big deal, back in the day. Do we no longer care about winning Floyd and the Axe?
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I am old as well...and I definitely care! I just don't think that playing Morgan over Kaliakmanis gives us a better chance to win either or both of the trophy games. If that's the case, then which quarterback should we start this year to give us a better chance to win both next year?
 

This back and forth banter reminds of the old Leidner Nelson battle.
 

Indiana Gopher said:
I am old as well...and I definitely care! I just don't think that playing Morgan over Kaliakmanis gives us a better chance to win either or both of the trophy games. If that's the case, then which quarterback should we start this year to give us a better chance to win both next year?
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I was responding to this statement of yours:

"Even if we win the next 3 games with Morgan, what have we gained?"

It should be obvious what we would have gained. And you seem to be agreeing... sort of.
Maybe what you meant to say was: "Starting Kaliakmanis gives us the best chance to win the next three games".

I'm not trying to put words in your mouth, but...
 

I have a feeling interceptions will come off of him darting the ball into MBS chest and it bouncing off to a DB, or just off the hands of one of our receivers, seems to be a trend lately...
 


RememberMurray said:
We would win Floyd AND the Axe.

I'm old and have a hard time keeping up with a changing world sometimes. Beating Iowa and Wisconsin used to be a big deal, back in the day. Do we no longer care about winning Floyd and the Axe?
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You may be old, but you are definitely correct
 

MNVCGUY said:
You have said this a couple times but it just isn't true. Joseph said he probably wouldn't play early in the week but he was a gametime decision and nobody was sure he wasn't going to play until the Nebraska QBs came out for warmups before the game.
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No, he said both that it was day-to-day but that he probably wouldn't start against Minnesota - saw it on local TV news.
 


AK stock is at an all-time high after Nebraska with some flashes of dual threat capability and a fresh aggressive attitude. If he starts the rest of the way I’d give it (and this is strictly pulling it out of thin air) 50:50 odds he leads the guys to a 9-3 record - and 2023 suddenly looks a lot brighter, or on the flip side he has normal freshman struggles down the stretch and there is fear, uncertainty, and doubt going into 2023 and maybe early optimism attention turns to Knuth as a competitor. I’ll take my measured negativity/lack of irrational exuberance and kindly **** off now.
 

Some Day...Maybe said:
If you listen to Kirk C's press conference, I thought he slipped and said a couple things that made it sound like Athan would be playing. Can't remember exactly what it was but I remember thinking, I think he just slipped up and if I was NW watching this I would be like it's #8. I think it'll be 8. I think it was something like Athan will give us more, or with Athan we'll be able to, something to that affect.
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It could be he's throwing out a little misinformation to get NW off balance!
feel-me-think-about-it.gif
 

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