AK's bullet on 3rd down to put the game away

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gopher7 said:
Was going to post this too. The only explanation I have is that saw the defender coming in from the 50 (off screen right at this time) and scared. Instead, he stopped at the 45 and ran strait into the defender closest to him. AK does not have "it".
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Yeah, he just has to know his limitations and the situation. He’s not quick. Run straight ahead and get as many yards as you can. I get it that if he gets by him to the outside it might result in a bigger play. But in that situation your only goal is to get a 1st down.
 

Stan said:
AK throws an absolute bullet to 87, we have to bring in a transfer QB to be a legit option at QB1. It was a touch pass and we win.
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He's a fuckin moron with a HUGE cross tattoo on his forearm. Ever meet a 19 year old with a tattoo like that, that wasn't an absolute dolt? Ak aint it. I'm going full homer here.
 

theTurning said:
He does seem to be improving, which is all I care about. Keep getting better, more polished, and see how it goes next year.
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I don't see it in his progression or mechanics. Not trying to start a pissing match but he looks consistently in over his head.
 

On the last Gopher desperation drive, did anyone pay attention to the pass patterns? There were exactly zero receivers running outlet crossing patterns underneath coverage. Receiver patterns were all pretty far downfield. That makes no sense when the Illini are sending a minimum of 5 pass rushers including a future high NFL draft pick putting immediate pressure on the QB.

This team is what it is. A low-tier bowl contender with a shitty passing offense and shitty passing defense.
 

StudentSectionMenace said:
I’m not saying he’s perfect or even that good, but acting like a transfer QB is gonna come in and magically make our offense competent is delusional at best. Athan played fine today and even made a clutch throw to give us the lead with 5 minutes left.
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He's worse than Leidner. Not good.
 


GophersInIowa said:
Yeah, he just has to know his limitations and the situation. He’s not quick. Run straight ahead and get as many yards as you can. I get it that if he gets by him to the outside it might result in a bigger play. But in that situation your only goal is to get a 1st down.
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This. And there’s a time and place you put your body on the line for the yards where you just go straight forward. That was one of them
 

Stan said:
AK throws an absolute bullet to 87, we have to bring in a transfer QB to be a legit option at QB1. It was a touch pass and we win.
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Really makes a person appreciate Tanner Morgan. He was clutch and a great leader. AK will continue to get better, it’s too bad we have to go through this though.
 

It was a stupid move by Athan on the run before that when he tried to go sideways instead of going forward. Not only was the 3rd down throw a bullet, he put it like 5 feet over a 6’ 4” TE? That’s where Tanner runs forward and hits the TE easily. Hopefully Athan will learn and improve, I think he can.
 

Some Day...Maybe said:
It was a stupid move by Athan on the run before that when he tried to go sideways instead of going forward. Not only was the 3rd down throw a bullet, he put it like 5 feet over a 6’ 4” TE? That’s where Tanner runs forward and hits the TE easily. Hopefully Athan will learn and improve, I think he can.
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He's got a higher ceiling than Morgan....no doubt. But he's got bad mechanics and no touch. Short pass accuracy has been an issue all year. Needs to make a big step up before next year.
 



Stan said:
AK throws an absolute bullet to 87, we have to bring in a transfer QB to be a legit option at QB1. It was a touch pass and we win.
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I agree. Have the Viotto play or the high school guy from Arkansas next year or a transfer. Running out of patience.
 

GophersInIowa said:
This was a 3 yd gain.

View attachment 28023
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ah. seeing that again makes my blood boil. Zero situational awareness. Good QBs have “it”. Tanner Morgan had “it” much of the time. No other Gopher QB in my lifetime has consistently had “it, and it’s a ridiculous shame. AK does not have “it”. At least not so far in his career. He needs to figure “it” out, and fast.
 


There were mistakes made by both offense and defense late in this game.
How did Williams get behind the Gopher’s secondary?
This guy is so disruptive
Copied from Illini guy’s twitter feed

Before Jer'Zhan Newton entered the game.

Minnesota
Passing - 9-of-11, 130 yards, 1 TD
Rushing - 17 carries, 61 yards

After Jer'Zhan Newton entered the game.

Minnesota
Passing - 2-of-11, 37 yards, 1 TD
Rushing - 18 carries, 32 yards

Incredible.
 
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Stan said:
AK throws an absolute bullet to 87, we have to bring in a transfer QB to be a legit option at QB1. It was a touch pass and we win.
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Seriously, give me a break.
 



Mr. 131 said:
He's a fuckin moron with a HUGE cross tattoo on his forearm. Ever meet a 19 year old with a tattoo like that, that wasn't an absolute dolt? Ak aint it. I'm going full homer here.
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Good fucking grief, please. He had no time in the pocket. There has been no effort to run plays that get him more time either. He was 9/11 for 130 and 2 TDs in the first half. Give it a rest, dude.
 

StudentSectionMenace said:
I’m not saying he’s perfect or even that good, but acting like a transfer QB is gonna come in and magically make our offense competent is delusional at best. Athan played fine today and even made a clutch throw to give us the lead with 5 minutes left.
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He played about as bad as a quarterback can in the second half you’re delusional.
 

Gopherchase said:
He played about as bad as a quarterback can in the second half you’re delusional.
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So what changed from his first half performance? Or should I say, what didn't change?
 





Gopherchase said:
The really good DT came back into the game, but that doesn’t excuse his overall play he’s wildly inconsistent.
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To my naked eyes at the game, they again got very conservative with the gameplan in the second half.
 

said this in another thread.

AK had an abbreviated career in HS. had some injuries as a SO and JR. His SR year was a short 6-game season due to covid.

Lindsey - the recruit from Arkansas - will likely have more attempts and completions this year than AK did for his entire HS career.

The Gophers recruited AK based on potential with a relatively small sample of HS data for evaluation. He clearly has some talent, but he also has some fairly glaring flaws. So you can blame AK, but the Gopher coaches need to share the blame, because they have not been able to fully develop that potential and eliminate or minimize the flaws.

(time to set the clocks back and go to bed. have to watch more QB follies with the Vikings on Sunday....)
 

As many have said, those 2 plays back to back when we essentially just needed one first down were absolute killers. If Athan puts his foot in the ground and goes upfield on 2nd down at absolute worst we have a 3rd and 1 (maybe we try a slow developing run to the boundary again...JFC) and then on 3rd and 4 or whatever we try the pass to Kallerup and Athan manages to throw the ball both way too high and way too hard. That ball on that play to that player (blocking TE probably has less than 20 career catches and feels like he's been here a decade) is NEVER thrown with that much heat on it.

I do blame the coaching way more than Athan, but I have to wonder how we've had all our eggs in the Athan basket for this long given what he's shown this year?
 

stocker08 said:
He's got a higher ceiling than Morgan....no doubt. But he's got bad mechanics and no touch. Short pass accuracy has been an issue all year. Needs to make a big step up before next year.
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Seems like a good, perceptive QB coach would have spotted the poor mechanics and worked double time since last summer to get them right.
 


mngg11 said:
Leidner was not great but he was fearless. This guy, not so much.
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A comparison of Mitch and Athan through their first 14 games:

Mitch Leidner = (132/247) 53%, 2064 yds, 13 tds, 9 ints || 183 car, 815 yds, 15 tds
Athan Kaliakmanis = (171/316) 54%, 2236 yds, 13 tds, 11 ints || 57 car, 79yds, 2 tds

Mitch W-L (starts)
2013 = 2-2 (0-2)
2014 = 7-3 (5-2) (Iowa 51-14, @Michigan 30-14)

Athan W-L (starts)
2022 = 3-2 (2-1) (@Wisc 23-16)
2023 = 5-4 (3-3) (@ iowa 12-10)

Mitch's next two games (2014):
95 yds pass || 54 yds rush 2tds = @14Wisc. on game 17.
258 yds pass 2tds || -10 yds rush = 16Missouri at the Citrus Bowl.


Athan's next two games:
We'll find out?

Thoughts:
1 - I think the quality of opponents were about the same for both QBs. Mitch played tOSU and Michigan 2x during this span.
2 - Even by strictly passing stats, Mitch outplays Athan. If we include Mitch's rushing game, heh, ouch there is no comparison. Mitch was vastly better.
3 - These are just stats. I'm not saying that Athan's ceiling is low. He had a better game today but there were some huge mistakes. He's a college QB though, I get it. I'm hoping these are moments he learns from and becomes great. But so far, he's far worse than Leidner.
 
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