STATE COLLEGE, PA. – The red taillights stretched for miles in all directions early Sunday morning as the crowd of nearly 110,000 at Beaver Stadium made their way home, fulfilled by all the fun they had on "White Out" night that was capped by their Nittany Lions' 45-17 dismantling of the Gophers.
Meanwhile, P.J. Fleck sat in a stuffy and cramped visitors media room, offering his reasons for what went wrong in his team's third consecutive defeat after a 4-0 start. Defensive breakdowns, sporadic rhythm on offense and a tipped punt on special teams led to the Nittany Lions erasing an early 3-0 Gophers lead and seizing the game by the throat in the second and third quarters.
There also was something shiny for the Gophers that lay in the rubble: a glimmer of hope for the future in the form of Athan Kaliakmanis.
The redshirt freshman quarterback, starting in place of concussed sixth-year senior Tanner Morgan, did not lead the Gophers to an upset victory over the No. 16 Nittany Lions, but he did do enough to add intrigue to a season that's gone south in a hurry.
"He handled himself very well," Fleck said. "Now again, we're gonna nitpick how we played, but to handle your first start in front of 110,000 people on the road, I couldn't be more proud of him, just taking on that challenge."
While Kaliakmanis' stats might not show it — 9-for-22 passing, 175 yards, one touchdown, one interception — he brought a presence that the Gophers needed. He gave the offense the added dimension of a running threat at QB as he rushed seven times for 45 yards and took only one sack for 1 yard.
"I told you he'd be poised," Fleck said. "I'm not sure how many plays he'd be rattled. I'd love to be able to see those on film. I didn't see it. He was confident the entire time."
Kaliakmanis made his biggest mark late in the second quarter. With the Gophers trailing 17-3 and backed up to the 10-yard line on the end of the field where the raucous Penn State student section makes life miserable for opponents, he promptly drove the Gophers 90 yards for a touchdown that cut the Nittany Lions' lead to 17-10.
The Antioch, lll., native had three big plays during the nine-play drive.
- Facing third-and-8 from the 12, Kaliakmanis delivered a precisely thrown deep ball down the left sideline to Le'Meke Brockington, who made a great catch and got a foot inbounds for a 33-yard gain.
- After a 13-yard Mohamed Ibrahim run to the Penn State 42, Kaliakmanis ran left for an 11-yard gain to the 31.
- On the next play, he found room in the middle of the defense and took off for 16 yards to the Nittany Lions 15. Three Ibrahim runs later, and the Gophers were within a touchdown.
"Gutsy," Fleck said of Kaliakmanis' performance on the drive. "He's going to be a really good player, everybody. … You look at his stat line, and you're like, 'Yeah, so?' But you watch that kid and his composure, the way he got out of the pocket when he needed to."
The question going forward for Fleck and his coaching staff is this: will Kaliakmanis be the starter moving forward?
After the game, Fleck said Morgan was doing "surprisingly well." Who'll start against Rutgers on Saturday will play out during the week.
The loss at Penn State left the Gophers tied for fifth in the Big Ten West standings at 1-3 with Illinois, Purdue, Nebraska and Wisconsin ahead of them. With the goal of the West title alive mathematically but not realistically, the Gophers are playing to first get to six wins and secure a bowl berth, then for bowl positioning. At best, they can finish 9-3. Their bowl destination likely would be to places like New York, Charlotte, Nashville or Detroit.
Seems like a good time to see if the future is now.
