A rough road trip to Piscataway
The Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-4) ran out of fourth quarter magic on Saturday, snapping their four-game winning streak with a 26-19 loss to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-4).
The Gophers led 16-14 in the fourth quarter when tight end Jameson Geers fumbled at Minnesota’s own 12-yard line. It was recovered by Rutgers, and the Scarlet Knights took a 21-16 lead three plays later on a three-yard touchdown pass from Athan Kaliakmanis to Ian Strong.
It only got worse from there. On the Gophers’ next drive, quarterback Max Brosmer was sacked twice, including once in the end zone for a safety. Rutgers went three-and-out after the free kick, but Minnesota could do nothing with their ensuing drive. The teams traded field goals in the final minutes, and an onside kick attempt by the Gophers was recovered by the Scarlet Knights.
Kaliakmanis, the former Minnesota starting quarterback game, got his revenge, scoring all three of Rutgers’ touchdowns. He finished 17-of-33 for 240 passing yards with three touchdowns and one interception. After a first half in which he threw for 216 passing yards and two touchdowns, Kaliakmanis was largely held in check after halftime. The Gopher defense cranked up the pressure and he was 3-of-13 for 24 passing yards in the final two quarters.
Minnesota was plagued by poor offensive line play. Darius Taylor rushed for 28 yards on 10 carries, and Marcus Major contributed nine yards on two carries. With no ground game, the pressure was on Brosmer to carry the offense, notching a season-high 45 pass attempts. His accuracy was off for much of the game, especially on passes down the field. At least some of his struggles can be attributed to poor pass protection, as Brosmer was sacked four times. Gopher wide receivers were also routinely getting mauled in pass coverage, which went completely ignored by an officiating crew with no firm grasp of the concept of defensive pass interference.
Minnesota was lucky to be trailing by only a score of 14-9 at halftime, as Rutgers did not punt once in the first half. Offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca had an extra week to prepare for Corey Hetherman’s defense and it showed, as Kaliakmanis carved up the Gopher secondary. The Scarlet Knights had five possessions in the first half and two of them ended in touchdowns, one ended in a turnover on downs, one ended in an interception, and the other ended as time expired.
Minnesota took the lead on the opening drive of the second half, marching 78 yards down the field on a 10-play drive capped by a 17-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Major.
But they couldn’t put Rutgers away after that.
The Gophers now head into their second bye week of the season. They’ll return home to play No. 6-ranked Penn State at Huntington Bank Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 23.
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