La Velle Neal: P.J. Fleck should thank Tanner Morgan ... then switch to Athan Kaliakmanis as Gophers QB

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Bob_Loblaw said:
You should go to bed tonight. Try again tomorrow, it'll be better.

Who gives us the best chance to win tomorrow? Hmmm. . .that's a good question. I'd say it's about a coinflip, I don't really know what we have in Athan. I do know Morgan has struggled quite the last few games. I will say this though, I think our program is better going forward if we start Athan tomorrow.

It's actually not impressively insightful, it's just kind of common sense. It'd be totally reasonable for someone to disagree with that take, but your temper tantrum in this thread is bizarre. What was impressive was your ability to miss a point and throw a hissy fit because someone had a reasonable opinion that differed from yours.

And how often should they throw to the tight end? I don't have a strong opinion on that. I was never in the "we need to throw the ball more to our TEs" crowd. I liked how often we went max protect and let Bateman and Johnson beat the DBs in 2019. I think you can have a good offense that doesn't throw the TE much and I think you can have a good offense that does.

I don't think the guys from KFAN should call plays and I don't think the fans should either, call me crazy, I just think it makes sense to make some changes every now and then. I know that opinion is enough to drive you back into your hissy fit. So I'll hang up and watch for lulz.
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Bob_Loblaw said:
LOL. Woah. I think this board finally broke ya.

I am calling for Athan to start tomorrow. I am not calling for any coaches to be fired.

I really do apologize for not answering right away.
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Okay. I've got you down as:

1) Athan should start at QB (because "the program would be better off"),

and...

2) No coach should be immediately fired (despite your very ominous Robb Smith reference, which is ... curious),

and...

3) You have no strong opinion on the universally-important tight end question.

Hey, thanks, Bob. Much obliged. Sorry about my, ummmm... "hissy-fit" (and I won't ask which post of mine was the "hissy-fit", because I know it would be pointless to do so).
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Yeah, it wasn't a complicated point but you still somehow missed it. That's impressively dumb.

Sometimes making a change is the best thing for the program and replacing Robb Smith would be an example of one of those times.

Also, Tanner has been the QB for more than half a decade and he has been struggling and he hasn't been a great QB for three seasons, it's not quite a knee jerk reaction.
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How dare you contradict the self-appointed Gopherhole Voice of Reason, RememberMurray? He is a but a beacon of stability amidst the turbulent and fickle opinions of the unwashed Gopherhole masses.
 

RememberMurray said:
Here's the gist of the matter:

If Tanner Morgan is healthy (that's a big "if"), which QB gives the Gophers the best chance to beat Rutgers: Morgan or Kaliakmanis?

It isn't about the starter against Nebraska, or against Northwestern, or getting experience for next season... it's all about the Rutgers game tomorrow.
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Thank you for highlighting the only thing that matters -- beating Rutgers tomorrow and who gives us the best chance to do that.

I think that is AK. He presents more problems for the defense because he can move away from pressure and run if he doesn't have a receiver. You can also use him on a designed run when the defense is flowing one way with Mo and he pulls it back and runs the other side. We used that play once, successfully, at Penn St.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Yeah, it wasn't a complicated point but you still somehow missed it. That's impressively dumb.

Sometimes making a change is the best thing for the program and replacing Robb Smith would be an example of one of those times.

Also, Tanner has been the QB for more than half a decade and he has been struggling and he hasn't been a great QB for three seasons, it's not quite a knee jerk reaction.
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Priceless ... It wasn't a complicated point but Ol Murr still managed to avoid it.
 




RememberMurray said:
Okay. I've got you down as:

1) Athan should start at QB (because "the program would be better off"),

and...

2) No coach should be immediately fired (despite your very ominous Robb Smith reference, which is ... curious),

and...

3) You have no strong opinion on the universally-important tight end question.

Hey, thanks, Bob. Much obliged. Sorry about my, ummmm... "hissy-fit" (and I won't ask which post of mine was the "hissy-fit", because I know it would be pointless to do so).
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Ominous doesn't mean what you think it does but other than that you got it mostly right.

I think Athan should start because I think it's a coin flip on who gives us a better chance to win AND it would be better for the program. If I thought Morgan was clearly the better player now, I'd go with Morgan.

I'm really hoping you're pretending to not understand my Robb Smith post that sent you into this hissy fit. You implied that things like changing quarterbacks or firing coaches are stupid knee-jerk reactions. You compared it to letting the Power Trip Morning Show call the plays. I was simply pointing out that sometimes changes, like when we fired Robb Smith, work out well for the program. I don't think we should fire any coaches, but maybe another switch, like changing the QB, will help the program. Again, this is really simple so I do hope you're just in such a fit of rage that you're pretending to not grasp it.
 


stocker08 said:
How often does Lavelle write pieces on the Gophers? I seriously have no idea because I canceled my Strib subscription quite a few years ago when I realized that they think it's good writing to bash the Gophers.

Might give you an idea if Lavelle actually pays any attention and/or cares....or if he's swiping at the low hanging fruit by tossing out this "hot take".
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He's from Illinois, so I presume he's familiar with Athan and has contacts who fill in the gaps for him.
 



RememberMurray said:
How about this: let the KFAN personalities call the plays!

The Gophers would be undefeated!
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With AK at qb all year and you calling the plays, we are 5-2

if you sucked balls calling plays, you'd be 4-3
 







Bob_Loblaw said:
Yeah, it wasn't a complicated point but you still somehow missed it. That's impressively dumb.

Sometimes making a change is the best thing for the program and replacing Robb Smith would be an example of one of those times.

Also, Tanner has been the QB for more than half a decade and he has been struggling and he hasn't been a great QB for three seasons, it's not quite a knee jerk reaction.
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This.


PJ won't do it. He won't make changes until it's too late.

Tanner will start today, unless he is physically unable/not yet cleared.

It will be the same offense. We have to hope that the guys execute like they did against MSU.
 


Nobody needs to see 2 play anymore, but my guess is he will. TJ plays his guys whether it’s good for us long and short term, or not. 2, 76, 77, 55, 22, 1, 8 ,65, 3 should all see the bench more today as they have under performed. Let’s see some new kids get a chance.
 


hello-world: The Star Tribune should thank La Velle Neal ... then switch to an unpaid intern

A decades long losing streak has upended the Star Tribune's relevance. Readership and circulation have declined for the last two decades.

With the business sliding off the rails, the nearly bankrupt Star Tribune should want to get back on track while also developing their future.

This means even if La Velle is capable of writing a local sports column, an unpaid intern should be putting pen to paper for the Star Tribune's Sunday sports pages.

It's time for a change. I've actually never heard of La Velle before but he sounds like a dink.

He has accomplished nothing of note.

Before his most recent article, he was completely irrelevant. Someone that's getting paid to do their job should be more productive and raise the level of editorial content, regardless of the declining state of his publishing medium. When the Star Tribune's readership declined even further in the pandemic, his best writing did nothing to fix the situation.
 
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U2Gopher said:
Personally, I’m fine if PJ starts Morgan however, I want and expect AK8 to play, and not just in wildcat type situations. It’s time to start passing the torch and seeing what we have.
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If Morgan starts he plays every offensive snap other than a possible Kramer wildcat. Fleck does not play two quarterbacks.
 


A little late to the party and haven’t read through the comments but I think it’s easy to say this from the outside. It’s not a rebuild, there are a lot of veterans on the team. If they feel Morgan gives them the best chance to win, he’s gotta be the guy. Otherwise it sends the message that when things don’t go our way, we’re going to give up on winning this season in favor of future success.
 
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GophersInIowa said:
A little late to the party and haven’t read through the comments but I think it’s easy to say this from the outside. It’s not a rebuild, there are a lot of veterans on the team. If they feel Morgan gives them the best chance to win, he’s gotta be the guy. Otherwise it sends the message that when things don’t go our way, we’re going to give up on winning this season in favor of future success.
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Didn’t see the game. Did Athan get any snaps?
 

It would be fine to play a different QB
It’s fine to play Morgan

If you don’t trust the coaches to make the choice fire the coach.
If you do, let them choose.

Trying to win 9 games is a fine goal for the rest of the year. Not winning the conference isn’t a failure
 




BleedGopher said:
per Neal:

A three-game losing streak has upended the Gophers season. A Big Ten West division title and a post-New Year's Eve bowl game are still possible but no longer realistic.

With the season sliding off the rails, the 4-3 Gophers should want to get it back on track while also developing their future.

That means even if Tanner Morgan is cleared to play Saturday after suffering a concussion against Illinois two weeks prior, the athletic and rocket-armed redshirt freshman Athan Kaliakmanis should be under center against Rutgers.

It's time for this change. Morgan helped lead the program to new heights in 2019, but he's also been part of the underachieving since then.

Morgan has accomplished plenty during three full seasons and parts of two others as Minnesota's starting quarterback. He's the winningest quarterback in program history. He's the school's all-time leader in completion percentage. But he's also been here six years and memories of his 30 touchdown passes in 2019 are fading with each 2022 loss.

Before his injury, he was having a fine season. Someone with his experience should be more productive and raise the level of play of those around him, regardless of who is running routes. When the Gophers' schedule toughened in October, the offense mustered only 10 points in a home loss to Purdue and 14 at Illinois.

Shake things up with someone who can make something out of nothing with his legs as well as his arm. This requires a difficult conversation between Fleck and Morgan, but Fleck arrived here five years ago claiming he ate difficult conversations for breakfast.

www.startribune.com

Neal: P.J. Fleck should thank Tanner Morgan and then switch to Athan Kaliakmanis at Gophers QB

With the season's big hopes fading, it's time to make a change at quarterback and start Athan Kaliakmanis over the program's winningest leader, Tanner Morgan.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!
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This.
 


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