One of the bigger storylines surrounding the Minnesota Golden Gophers the last two weeks has been the play of Gophers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis.
It's overall been a tough season for the first-year starter, completing just 54.1% of his passes for 1,290 yards and 10 touchdowns while throwing seven interceptions. But over the last two weeks, the Illinois native appears to be beginning to piece things together, completing a combined 25-of-42 passing attempts for 367 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception. One of his best two-game stretches of the season.
On Wednesday, Kaliakmanis had the opportunity to discuss his recent play and where improvements still need to be made while meeting with the media. Here are the biggest takeaways from his few minutes with the media.
"Not seeing ghosts"
"I think preparation and confidence in going out there and executing the gameplan," Kaliakmanis said when discussing his improvements over the last few weeks. "I think that's something that's been one of my top priorities, just executing the game plan. Not seeing ghosts, seeing what I've seen on film and just executing."
Kaliakmanis not "seeing ghosts" has been evident over the last two weeks, Kaliakmanis has completed 59.5% of his passes, 5.4% higher than his completion percentage for the season. In the two games prior, albeit against elite defenses in Michigan and Iowa, the Illinois native struggled mightily completing 15-of-40 passing attempts for 178 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. It was a two-game stretch that could easily break a quarterback's confidence but it's a credit to Kaliakmanis and the Gophers coaching staff that he has bounced back as strong as he has over the last two weeks.
Improvements still need to be made
Despite the improvements, Kaliakmanis and the Gophers know that there are still improvements to be made especially in the second half of games. "I think we have to accelerate in the middle and finish strong," he said in response to a question on Wednesday. "I haven't done that in the second half, that falls on me, I have to come and be more accurate. I have to come out with our adjustments and the other team's adjustments and still execute the game plan."
Last week in the Golden Gophers' 27-26 loss to Illinois, Kaliakmanis completed just 2-of-11 passing attempts in the second half as the Gophers struggled to move the ball in the final 30 minutes as they looked to close out the Fighting Illini before ultimately falling short.
However, it's not just the second-half struggles that the Golden Gophers need to improve upon in their last three regular season games. "We just gotta start fast, accelerate in the middle, and finish strong," he said.
Acknowledging the need for improvement, he took ownership of the offensive struggles, stating, "We haven't put together a complete game, that falls on me, as the leader. As the QB, that falls on me. But I'm going to be better, I don't like to say it necessarily, I just like to do it. I got to come out in the second half, be a better football player, I got to be a better leader. We just have to put it together, and we will. We will put it together."
The Golden Gophers have at least three games remaining against Purdue, Ohio State, and Wisconsin. Sitting at 5-4 on the season, the Gophers will have three cracks at becoming bowl-eligible for the fifth straight full season under head coach P.J. Fleck. Their first opportunity will come this weekend against the Purdue Boilermakers, losers of four straight who sit at just 2-7 on the season. The Gophers traveling to West Lafayette will look to return the favor of 20-10 loss that the Boilermakers provided the Gophers last season.
"They do a lot of the same things as Illinois, but they also do a lot of different things," Kaliakmanis said about Purdue. "They're really disciplined once again, their head coach has done a great job being a defensive coordinator at Illinois last year and now being a head coach. Translating and making things a little different. Their disguising has been really good. We know we have to bring our best. We have to be all together," he added.
============================
- Talk about it INSIDE GOPHER NATION.
- SUBSCRIBE TO LOGoldenGophers
- Follow us on Twitter: @MinnesotaRivals, @AlexCarlsonTGR, @SeanW_Rivals, @DylanCC_FB, @GopherKaneRob, @LOGoldenGophers, @drew_toennies
- SUBSCRIBE to The Gopher Report.
