When it comes to the Gophers’ fiercest rivals, Wisconsin and Iowa are in a league of their own. But recent matchups suggest Rutgers — of all Big Ten programs — can stake a current claim in that otherwise Midwestern club.
The two program have only played four total times, all since 2016, yet Rutgers and Minnesota have a juicy narrative from an intertwined cast of characters.
Fifth-year senior quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis, who transferred from the U to Rutgers after the 2023 season, threw three touchdown passes in a 26-19 win over the Gophers in Piscataway, N.J. last November. And Kaliakmanis did it under former Gophers’ and current Rutgers’ offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca.
Now, Rutgers comes to Huntington Bank Stadium for the Gophers’ Big Ten opener Saturday morning, and the upshot is how the Scarlet Knights have returned to defensive coordinator, Robb Smith, whom P.J. Fleck fired from that role at the U midway through the 2018 season.
On Monday morning, the first question the Gophers head coach faced in his weekly news conference centered on Kaliakmanis’ return.
“Listen, this is Rutgers and Minnesota,” Fleck said. “Got a lot of respect for what they do and how they do it. He’s playing really well. This is, I think, his fifth year in that type of same system. You’d expect to see that type of growth that he has shown. … (He’s) playing at a high level.”
Fleck’s comment appeared to be a rather innocuous deflection containing a compliment. But Kaliakmanis’ father was clearly watching Fleck’s presser and decided to interject before noon.
“Correction,” Alex Kaliakmanis wrote on X, tagging Fleck’s account. “Going on 3 years in System, not 5.”
Alex Kaliakmanis then ticked through how his son played at Minnesota as a true freshman under then-offensive coordinator Mike Sanford in 2021, followed by Ciarrocca in 2022 and Greg Harbaugh in 2023 before transfering to Rutgers and reuniting with Ciarrocca the past two years.
Alex Kaliakmanis also clapped back in Nov. 2023 after it became known Fleck was going to bring in a transfer quarterback to compete in the 2024 season. That, of course, became Max Brosmer from New Hampshire (who incidentally made his NFL debut Sunday in the Vikings’ 48-10 victory over Cincinnati).
“Trying very hard not to comment on a program that our family decided to cut ties with,” Alex then wrote on X. “But want to set the record straight and will start with this. Competition with a mythical inbound QB was absolutely not a factor in entering the transfer portal.”
After Rutgers’ win over Brosmer and the Gophers last year, Kaliakmanis said he just wanted a “fresh start.”
And once the final whistle sounded, Fleck and a long stream of Gophers players greeted Kaliakmanis on the field.
“(Fleck) told me he was happy for me,” Kaliakmanis told the Pioneer Press at the time. “… I’m really happy for him, too. I had a great relationship with him for three years.”
Against the Gophers last November, Kaliakmanis started hot, with two touchdown passes and 216 yards (along with an interception) as Rutgers took a halftime lead. But Minnesota brought more blitzes in the second half, and Kaliakmanis managed only 24 passing yards after halftime.
Yet after a brutal Gophers fumble in the shadow of their own goalposts, Kaliakmanis threw his third touchdown pass of the game — the eventual game-winner.
Fleck is right; Kaliakmanis is playing his best football right now. The redshirt senior is 10th in the nation with 1,150 passing yards and his passer rating of 162.9 is 26th in the country.
Fleck also complimented how “efficient” Ciarrocca and Kaliakmanis have been while conducting the Knights’ offense. That includes Ciarrocca’s bread-and-butter RPO (run/pass option) scheme, which led to Kaliakmanis scoring two rushing touchdowns in a 38-28 home loss to Iowa on Friday.
Kaliakmanis was on fire early against the Hawkeyes but cooled off in the second half as Iowa ratcheted up the pressure. In the fourth quarter, the Hawkeyes brought five pass rushers and hit Kaliakmanis when he threw a fourth-quarter interception — his first of the season. Iowa then scored the game-sealing touchdown six plays later.
Last year, Rutgers and head coach Greg Schiano, a Fleck mentor, had a bye going into the Minnesota game. This year, the Gophers have the extra week to prepare. Making Kaliakmanis uncomfortable figures to be a big part of the game plan.
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