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It seems like football season started yesterday, but in the blink of an eye, we are already six weeks into the season. The Gophers sit at 3-3 on the season — an outcome that seemed within the realm of possibilities preseason, but the feeling amongst fans seems to be quite sour. There is no need to dive deep back into the Northwestern catastrophe, but I think it’s a great time to take a real step back and analyze what we have seen so far this season.
Athan Kaliakmanis’ slow start in 2023
I believe a major reason for the Gophers’ up-and-down start to the season has been Athan Kaliakmanis’ less-than-stellar play. I like most fans had high hopes for Kaliakmanis in his first full season as the program’s starting QB. Last season he showed immense potential and poise in the Penn State, Nebraska, and Northwestern games and he totally broke out against Wisconsin showing why he has the chance to be special. While all that still can certainly be true, he has not taken the next step that so many fans had hoped that he would preseason.
Through six games, Athan has completed 55.9% of his passes for 132.8 passing yards per game to go along with six touchdowns and six interceptions. I want Athan to succeed as much as the next guy and I still believe that he could be a very good player for the Maroon & Gold, with that being said; he has simply not played with the same poise of confidence this season. I do think the system and play-calling have not done him many favors, but his decision-making has struggled all season and he doesn’t look comfortable far too often.
Darius Taylor and Zach Evans look like stars
Mohamed Ibrahim is no longer wearing the Maroon & Gold, but it looks like Minnesota has found two supremely talented running backs Darius Taylor II and Zach Evans. In week one Taylor only played three plays and had one carry, but the doors opened for him in week two when Bryce Williams went down with an injury. He proceeded to earn three straight Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors and he looked like one of the best running backs in the sport of college football. The Northwestern game was worse than just a loss on the scoreboard, as Taylor tweaked his hamstring and was lost for two games. Redshirt freshman Zach Evans was given an opportunity to shine and turned in 28 total touches for 143 yards from scrimmage and 1 TD to go along with one Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor.
Heading into their Week Eight matchup with Iowa, it will be an opportunity for the Gophers to seriously feature both Taylor and Evans in the backfield in the same game. I believe this factor has a chance to seriously improve the overall offense, but again that could just be the optimist in me. While Minnesota’s offense might be a major disappointment this season, Taylor and Evans have given fans a reason to be bullish on the future.
Sub-par Defense?
After two weeks of football, the Gophers had only allowed one offensive touchdown and it looked like Joe Rossi was about to lead another top-tier defense this season. Fast-forward, the Gophers have allowed 30+ points in four straight weeks for what seems like the first time in a long time. Tyler Nubin has looked like a potential All-American and many other players have shown to provide the unit with serious talent. But unexpectedly, projected starting MLB Cody Lindenberg (leg) has yet to play this season. While there is solid talent all over the field, it seems like the group is just missing “something” that it had in years past. Nubin is a star and Walley is likely a future NFL player, but other than that they just seem young.
As a major theme for this team, I think the realistic takeaway from fans should just be that they’re a year away. Preseason expectations were far lower than they’ve been the past few seasons and I think we’re seeing why. As much as the coaching staff and philosophy deserve their fair share of criticism, this team simply has an experience issue and they have serious personnel holes that they haven’t in the past, most notably across the offensive line and linebacker room, both issues that were highlighted preseason.
Offensive Play-calling:
One of the Gophers’ biggest issues the past few seasons as they try to re-kindle the success they found in 2019 has been their offensive playcalling. We all know how Kirk Ciarocca bolted for Penn State after that season, how Mike Sanford Jr. then struggled as his successor, and how Ciarocca’s homecoming came with its fair share of struggles. Heading into this season, P.J. Fleck decided to promote TE coach Greg Harbaugh Jr. to co-offensive coordinator and he’s publicly stated that he is calling plays ahead of long-time WR coach Matt Simon who is his offensive coordinator partner. I will not call for anyone’s job and horribly judge Harbaugh off six games, but whatever they’re doing is simply not working.
With far more talent at the WR position, i.e. Daniel Jackson, Corey Crooms Jr. and Elijah Spencer, Minnesota has approached Iowa-levels of one-dimensionality on the offensive end. The only schools with fewer passing yards per game are Iowa and the three service academies. That is simply unacceptable. With Athan at the helm and all of this talent at the skill positions, this year was supposed to be different. They have the personnel and it’s time to show it. P.J. Fleck needs to have better play-calling for his offense. I won’t say whether Harbaugh Jr. can provide that or not, but it has to be better.