Stewart Mandel has the Gophers finishing 5-7 overall.

[NoelarBear]

 

[fmlizard]

By Mandel's standards this is a bullish take. He's long been Captain Chalk which is weird coming from a Northwestern alum.

He must be big on AK I suppose?

 

[MNVCGUY]

Rutgers has never won 6 conference games since they stopped being an independent in 1991. They had a couple of 5-2 seasons in the Big East but since joining the Big Ten they have never won more than 3 conference games.

I really don't get the preseason love they are getting especially when their starting QB is the guy who looked horrible playing for a different conference team the year before. They do have a pretty reasonable schedule but there is no track record there at all to justify picking them to 6-3 as they haven't even come close to that at any point since joining the conference.

I don't get it but maybe we will all be shocked when they turn in a great season.

 

[MaxyJR1]

Rutger returns 8 top tacklers from their top 20 defense last year and they don't play any of the top 4 preseason B1G teams this year. Wonder if Mandel is the "National media person who says Rutgers is a Darkhorse playoff team."- from Big Ten Camp Day at Rutgers.

They are touting the completion % of AK compared to their last QB's as a huge difference.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Rutger returns 8 top tacklers from their top 20 defense last year and they don't play any of the top 4 preseason B1G teams this year. Wonder if Mandel is the "National media person who says Rutgers is a Darkhorse playoff team."- from Big Ten Camp Day at Rutgers.

They are touting the completion % of AK compared to their last QB's as a huge difference.

Had they brought in a top flight QB some of this might make sense with a lot returning on defense. But they didn't bring in a top flight QB. They brought in one who looked really bad for much of the year playing at the Big Ten level. These predictions seem to be putting a ton of faith in AK becoming something he was not last year.

That top 20 defense still ended up with a 3-6 conference record.

 

[GopherVotary]

Wait ‘til next year!

 

[Tommyboy]

Screw next year.

 

[Pompous Elitist]

Schiano has a reputation for solid defense and he tries to use special teams to his advantage. The offense will continue to be awful. Ballsiest thing ever to bring in AK. Let’s see if it works out.

 

[GopherMarroon]

If AK is practicing well, that's no guarantee he will play well.

 

[Spaulding!No!]

If AK is practicing well, that's no guarantee he will play well.

As a longtime gopher fan, AK was better than 75% I ever saw at qb wearing the M.

 

[MNVCGUY]

As a longtime gopher fan, AK was better than 75% I ever saw at qb wearing the M.

Really.....because I can think of a bunch of QBs that have played for the Gophers since I started really following the team that I would take over AK from last year.

Morgan
Weber
Cupito
AAK
Cockerham
Sauter

Sure I am missing some but those are the ones that spring to mind. Heck, I would probably even take Leidner over what we got from AK last year. Athan came with a high ranking and if he lives up to it he would quickly move ahead of a lot of the guys on this list but right now he isn't better than any of them.

 

[Spaulding!No!]

Really.....because I can think of a bunch of QBs that have played for the Gophers since I started really following the team that I would take over AK from last year.

Morgan
Weber
Cupito
AAK
Cockerham
Sauter

Sure I am missing some but those are the ones that spring to mind. Heck, I would probably even take Leidner over what we got from AK last year. Athan came with a high ranking and if he lives up to it he would quickly move ahead of a lot of the guys on this list but right now he isn't better than any of them.

Some of those guys go back pretty far…might actually be the 25% who were better.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

If the media really thinks AK will do that much better at Rutgers, that amounts to saying that the Gopher coaches were the problem and AK will have better coaching at Rutgers.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Some of those guys go back pretty far…might actually be the 25% who were better.

Here is the list of passing leaders at the U.

Year-By-Year Passing Leaders - University of Minnesota Athletics

Year Player Att. Comp Yds TD Int 1946 Ev Faunce 36 31 335 1 3 1947 Ev Faunce 44 15 234 1 5 1948 Ev Faunce 85 44 567 2 6 1949 Billy Bye 77 41 571 6 7 1950 Geo...

gophersports.com

If you go back to 2000 the only players I would for sure take the current version of Athan over would be Rhoda and Nelson. I would probably even take Travis Cole over Athan.

I didn't really watch any of the guys pre Cory Sauter but looking at numbers there may be a bunch on that list that Athan would beat out. But starting from Sauter and moving forward, Athan would be down near the bottom of the list.

Right now he is all hype, but he is still young and his development was messed up by covid and injuries so maybe he still improves and actually reaches the heights we hoped he would when he committed to the U.

 

[Word]

If the media really thinks AK will do that much better at Rutgers, that amounts to saying that the Gopher coaches were the problem and AK will have better coaching at Rutgers.

Or that that the media thinks Rutgers has better receivers, a system that favors his style of play, or just a fresh start/kick in the pants will help. Or the media just doesn't have a clue. Who knows what will happen. I'm sure AK will be better - it would be almost impossible to be worse.

 

[Word]

Here is the list of passing leaders at the U.

Year-By-Year Passing Leaders - University of Minnesota Athletics

Year Player Att. Comp Yds TD Int 1946 Ev Faunce 36 31 335 1 3 1947 Ev Faunce 44 15 234 1 5 1948 Ev Faunce 85 44 567 2 6 1949 Billy Bye 77 41 571 6 7 1950 Geo...

gophersports.com

If you go back to 2000 the only players I would for sure take the current version of Athan over would be Rhoda and Nelson. I would probably even take Travis Cole over Athan.

I didn't really watch any of the guys pre Cory Sauter but looking at numbers there may be a bunch on that list that Athan would beat out. But starting from Sauter and moving forward, Athan would be down near the bottom of the list.

Right now he is all hype, but he is still young and his development was messed up by covid and injuries so maybe he still improves and actually reaches the heights we hoped he would when he committed to the U.

Here is the Gopher QB all-time passer rankings, sorted by NCAA Passer Rating.

	ATT	COMP	COMP-%	INT	TD	YDS	YDS/ATT	TD/ 100 ATT	INT/100 ATT	TD RUSH	NCAA Pass Rtng	Last year played
MORGAN	1063	661	62.18%	32	65	9,469	8.9	6.1	3.0	8	151.2	2022
CUPITO	918	513	55.88%	25	55	7,446	8.1	6.0	2.7	0	138.3	2006
ABDUL-KHALIQ	847	481	56.79%	26	55	6,660	7.9	6.5	3.1	16	138.1	2003
FOGGIE	628	311	49.52%	32	34	5,162	8.2	5.4	5.1	24	126.2	1987
SAUTER	945	539	57.04%	33	40	6,834	7.2	4.2	3.5	8	124.8	1997
WEBER	1,594	909	57.03%	51	72	10,917	6.8	4.5	3.2	10	123.1	2010
ECKERS	262	147	56.11%	17	15	1884	7.2	5.7	6.5	1	122.4	1994
COCKERHAM	485	252	51.96%	24	29	3,483	7.2	6.0	4.9	12	122.1	1999
LEIDNER	1029	580	56.37%	32	36	7,287	7.1	3.5	3.1	33	121.2	2016
GRAY	295	150	50.85%	11	14	2,053	7.0	4.7	3.7	12	117.5	2012
HOHENSEE	722	392	54.29%	31	33	4,792	6.6	4.6	4.3	5	116.5	1982
SCHAFFNER	515	278	53.98%	22	21	3,472	6.7	4.1	4.3	6	115.5	1991
SCHADE	627	322	51.36%	23	22	3,986	6.4	3.5	3.7	2	109.0	1994
KALIAKMANIS	405	216	53.33%	13	17	2,236	5.5	4.2	3.2	3	107.1	2023
FLEETWOOD	876	465	53.08%	44	18	5,279	6.0	2.1	5.0	15	100.4	1992
DUNGY	586	274	46.76%	35	22	3,515	6.0	3.8	6.0	16	97.6	1976
CURRY	505	226	44.75%	24	16	3,060	6.1	3.2	4.8	14	96.6	1971
STEPHENS	297	100	33.67%	27	13	1,571	5.3	4.4	9.1	17	74.4	1961
COX	106	37	34.91%	12	7	508	4.8	6.6	11.3	NA	74.3	1957

 

[MNVCGUY]

Here is the Gopher QB all-time passer rankings, sorted by NCAA Passer Rating.

	ATT	COMP	COMP-%	INT	TD	YDS	YDS/ATT	TD/ 100 ATT	INT/100 ATT	TD RUSH	NCAA Pass Rtng	Last year played
MORGAN	1063	661	62.18%	32	65	9,469	8.9	6.1	3.0	8	151.2	2022
CUPITO	918	513	55.88%	25	55	7,446	8.1	6.0	2.7	0	138.3	2006
ABDUL-KHALIQ	847	481	56.79%	26	55	6,660	7.9	6.5	3.1	16	138.1	2003
FOGGIE	628	311	49.52%	32	34	5,162	8.2	5.4	5.1	24	126.2	1987
SAUTER	945	539	57.04%	33	40	6,834	7.2	4.2	3.5	8	124.8	1997
WEBER	1,594	909	57.03%	51	72	10,917	6.8	4.5	3.2	10	123.1	2010
ECKERS	262	147	56.11%	17	15	1884	7.2	5.7	6.5	1	122.4	1994
COCKERHAM	485	252	51.96%	24	29	3,483	7.2	6.0	4.9	12	122.1	1999
LEIDNER	1029	580	56.37%	32	36	7,287	7.1	3.5	3.1	33	121.2	2016
GRAY	295	150	50.85%	11	14	2,053	7.0	4.7	3.7	12	117.5	2012
HOHENSEE	722	392	54.29%	31	33	4,792	6.6	4.6	4.3	5	116.5	1982
SCHAFFNER	515	278	53.98%	22	21	3,472	6.7	4.1	4.3	6	115.5	1991
SCHADE	627	322	51.36%	23	22	3,986	6.4	3.5	3.7	2	109.0	1994
KALIAKMANIS	405	216	53.33%	13	17	2,236	5.5	4.2	3.2	3	107.1	2023
FLEETWOOD	876	465	53.08%	44	18	5,279	6.0	2.1	5.0	15	100.4	1992
DUNGY	586	274	46.76%	35	22	3,515	6.0	3.8	6.0	16	97.6	1976
CURRY	505	226	44.75%	24	16	3,060	6.1	3.2	4.8	14	96.6	1971
STEPHENS	297	100	33.67%	27	13	1,571	5.3	4.4	9.1	17	74.4	1961
COX	106	37	34.91%	12	7	508	4.8	6.6	11.3	NA	74.3	1957

Thanks, that certainly tracks with where I was ranking Athan in regards to the QBs we have had here. It isn't like we have had some great list of QBs but his 2023 was definitely below a lot of the guys we have had come through here, at least in the more modern era of football.

 

[GopherEnEspaña]

Iowa at 9-3 is just LOL, LMAO.

 

[99Gopher]

Here is the Gopher QB all-time passer rankings, sorted by NCAA Passer Rating.

	ATT	COMP	COMP-%	INT	TD	YDS	YDS/ATT	TD/ 100 ATT	INT/100 ATT	TD RUSH	NCAA Pass Rtng	Last year played
MORGAN	1063	661	62.18%	32	65	9,469	8.9	6.1	3.0	8	151.2	2022
CUPITO	918	513	55.88%	25	55	7,446	8.1	6.0	2.7	0	138.3	2006
ABDUL-KHALIQ	847	481	56.79%	26	55	6,660	7.9	6.5	3.1	16	138.1	2003
FOGGIE	628	311	49.52%	32	34	5,162	8.2	5.4	5.1	24	126.2	1987
SAUTER	945	539	57.04%	33	40	6,834	7.2	4.2	3.5	8	124.8	1997
WEBER	1,594	909	57.03%	51	72	10,917	6.8	4.5	3.2	10	123.1	2010
ECKERS	262	147	56.11%	17	15	1884	7.2	5.7	6.5	1	122.4	1994
COCKERHAM	485	252	51.96%	24	29	3,483	7.2	6.0	4.9	12	122.1	1999
LEIDNER	1029	580	56.37%	32	36	7,287	7.1	3.5	3.1	33	121.2	2016
GRAY	295	150	50.85%	11	14	2,053	7.0	4.7	3.7	12	117.5	2012
HOHENSEE	722	392	54.29%	31	33	4,792	6.6	4.6	4.3	5	116.5	1982
SCHAFFNER	515	278	53.98%	22	21	3,472	6.7	4.1	4.3	6	115.5	1991
SCHADE	627	322	51.36%	23	22	3,986	6.4	3.5	3.7	2	109.0	1994
KALIAKMANIS	405	216	53.33%	13	17	2,236	5.5	4.2	3.2	3	107.1	2023
FLEETWOOD	876	465	53.08%	44	18	5,279	6.0	2.1	5.0	15	100.4	1992
DUNGY	586	274	46.76%	35	22	3,515	6.0	3.8	6.0	16	97.6	1976
CURRY	505	226	44.75%	24	16	3,060	6.1	3.2	4.8	14	96.6	1971
STEPHENS	297	100	33.67%	27	13	1,571	5.3	4.4	9.1	17	74.4	1961
COX	106	37	34.91%	12	7	508	4.8	6.6	11.3	NA	74.3	1957

Sorry, I might have been better off not seeing this list as for the most part it's pretty depressing as all of this essentially took place since 1960. When you start reviewing the TD/INT ratio and then combine it with Completion % how could we not get better results? You would think with dumb luck we would have stumbled into a couple of hidden gems that performed closer to Tanner's level over this period of time. Consider the fact that Tanner was actually recruited to play at the Group of 5 level at W. Mich and he's the best QB in Minn history by a mile. If Max has a decent year he's easily in the top 2 QB's at MN in terms of QB ratings.

Side note, how bad did we have to be in 92 to let Fleetwood on the field with that many INTs.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

Really.....because I can think of a bunch of QBs that have played for the Gophers since I started really following the team that I would take over AK from last year.

Morgan
Weber
Cupito
AAK
Cockerham
Sauter

Sure I am missing some but those are the ones that spring to mind. Heck, I would probably even take Leidner over what we got from AK last year. Athan came with a high ranking and if he lives up to it he would quickly move ahead of a lot of the guys on this list but right now he isn't better than any of them.

I'd for sure take Leidner over last years QB performance.

 

[Pompous Elitist]

If the media really thinks AK will do that much better at Rutgers, that amounts to saying that the Gopher coaches were the problem and AK will have better coaching at Rutgers.

Yeah…I think some media must feel KC has more of a proven track record and hey, they’d be right. Then I watch the Rutgers camp special on BTN and there’s AK looking spooked, having trouble throwing a nice 5 yard pass.

I’d bet some pretty large $ he’s going to struggle, but maybe KC is a bleeping magician.

 

[Pompous Elitist]

Iowa at 9-3 is just LOL, LMAO.

I heard somewhere McNamara had more passing attempt than yards at their scrimmage? Twenty yards on 21 attempts.

That said, it’s Iowa and they can only get better on offense

 

[WoodburyTim]

If the media really thinks AK will do that much better at Rutgers, that amounts to saying that the Gopher coaches were the problem and AK will have better coaching at Rutgers.

You are not suppose to say that on GH.

 

[Some Day...Maybe]

Schiano has a reputation for solid defense and he tries to use special teams to his advantage. The offense will continue to be awful. Ballsiest thing ever to bring in AK. Let’s see if it works out.

When it comes to offense I trust Ciarrocca more than I trust PJ Fleck.

 

[MNVCGUY]

When it comes to offense I trust Ciarrocca more than I trust PJ Fleck.

He was there last year and their offense was good enough to beat crappy Michigan State, even crappier Indiana and mediocre Northwestern in conference games. And now he is handing the keys to that barn burner offense to a guy who played like garbage in the same conference....

Hey, maybe I'm totally missing the boat and Rutgers will be awesome this year. They have a manageable schedule and maybe KC can unlock something in Athan that was clearly not there last year. Will be interesting to see what happens.

On a side note, in looking up KC's bio I ran across the Rutgers staff page on their roster. Holy crap support staff sizes have gotten ridiculous in college football. Some of the titles are just ridiculous...

https://scarletknights.com/sports/football/roster#sidearm-roster-coaches

 

[mngg11]

I'd for sure take Leidner over last years QB performance.

People look at the completion percentage and picks and forget how important he was to us as a mobile qb

 

[I'm A Maroon 2!]

Really.....because I can think of a bunch of QBs that have played for the Gophers since I started really following the team that I would take over AK from last year.

Morgan
Weber
Cupito
AAK
Cockerham
Sauter

Sure I am missing some but those are the ones that spring to mind. Heck, I would probably even take Leidner over what we got from AK last year. Athan came with a high ranking and if he lives up to it he would quickly move ahead of a lot of the guys on this list but right now he isn't better than any of them.

Cockerham was a hall of famer based on name alone.

 

[Some guy]

If the media really thinks AK will do that much better at Rutgers, that amounts to saying that the Gopher coaches were the problem and AK will have better coaching at Rutgers.

Not necessarily. The gophers are running a different scheme than AK was recruited to. He might just be a better fit.

Also, sometimes guys need a change of scenery to be effective after they face significant adversity.

 

[Schnauzer]

As a longtime gopher fan, AK was better than 75% I ever saw at qb wearing the M.

Macalester?

 

[Gophers1992]

As a longtime gopher fan, AK was better than 75% I ever saw at qb wearing the M.

What? I can't think of a regular starter from the 21st century that was worse than AK.

Cockerham was better
Asad was way better.
Cupito was way better
Weber was way better
Shortell I'll give you is debatable
Philip Nelson was better
Leidner was better (and people who know me know that I am a huge Leidner critic)
Croft/Rhoda I suppose are debatable
Tanner was better