Injury may force a changing of the guard for Gophers at quarterback

On Oct. 20, 2018, Tanner Morgan relieved injured starting quarterback Zack Annexstad to start the second half of the Gophers' 53-28 loss at Nebraska. Morgan, then a redshirt freshman, led two touchdown drives in the third quarter, pulling Minnesota within 28-22 before the Cornhuskers took over.

"It was gritty, gutsy," coach P.J. Fleck said of Morgan's performance. "That's what he is."

With Annexstad recovering from a midsection injury, Morgan was under center for the next week's game against Indiana, the first of 45 consecutive starts he would make.

Four years later on Saturday, Athan Kaliakmanis relieved injured starter Morgan in the second half of the Gophers' 20-13 victory at Nebraska. With his team trailing 10-0 at intermission, the redshirt freshman led four second-half scoring drives, two for TDs and two for field goals.

"I thought he played outstanding," Fleck said of Kaliakmanis, "and he led our football team to victory."

Will there be a changing of Gophers starting quarterbacks, just like there was four years ago?

That answer will play out in the coming days and weeks as the Gophers (6-3, 3-3 Big Ten) hit the homestretch of the season, beginning with Saturday's home game against Northwestern.

First and foremost for Fleck is the health of Morgan, who suffered a concussion on Oct. 15 when he took a hit to the helmet during the fourth quarter of the Gophers' loss to Illinois. He missed the next game at Penn State but went through concussion protocol and was cleared by the team's medical staff to play in last week's 31-0 victory over Rutgers.

On Saturday, Morgan was sacked by Nebraska's 310-pound defensive tackle Ty Robinson, who took Morgan hard to the turf on the final play of the first half. Fleck didn't give specific details on Morgan's new injury, saying only that it was "upper body" and that medical personnel ruled him out for the second half.

"The number one concern for us is Tanner being OK," Fleck said. "I think Athan will tell you the same thing."

If Morgan's injury is diagnosed as a second concussion within a month, expect the medical staff to be extremely careful about when, or if, he could return. With three weeks left in the regular season, his chances of playing again after another concussion — again, if that's the diagnosis — would appear to be slim.

Then there's the other part of the equation: Kaliakmanis is playing better than Morgan and is this team's future at QB.

Since passing for 268 yards and three TDs in a 34-7 romp at Michigan State, Morgan has no TDs with four interceptions in four games. In the loss at Illinois, he was 4-for-12 for 21 yards. Not all offensive ills can be blamed on a QB, but a change can create a spark, and Saturday qualified as such.

Though Kaliakmanis' action this season has been less than two full games, he's shown the ability to move the offense by air or land. He led two touchdown drives in the 45-17 loss at Penn State in front of a "White Out" crowd of nearly 110,000, then led the Gophers to 20 second-half points at Nebraska in front of 86,248.

"I said this back at Penn State: The 'White Out' was not going to be too big for him," Fleck said. "And neither was Lincoln, Nebraska. He's not rattled by those things."

The Gophers made Kaliakmanis available for postgame interviews at Nebraska, something that didn't happen after his first start at Penn State – and something that might or might not be a signal of change.

Kaliakmanis was quick to credit teammates for his success Saturday, especially Morgan.

"I couldn't even put into words what that guy has done for me," he said. "Every day, really, since I first got here, he has gone out of his way to meet with me. He has done so much for me in my football life, and I just couldn't be more thankful for him. I really hope he's OK. I really do."