Gophers QB Tanner Morgan named Big Ten player of the week

It was Morgan's third time receiving the honor, with the other two coming in 2019.

September 26, 2022 at 4:55PM
Gophers quarterback Tanner Morgan (2) celebrated a touchdown pass against Colorado on Sept. 17. (Elizabeth Flores, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Gophers quarterback Tanner Morgan on Monday was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in Minnesota's 34-7 victory at Michigan State on Saturday.

Morgan, a sixth-year senior, completed 23 of 26 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns as the Gophers improve to 4-0 in their Big Ten opener. He had TD passes of 23 and 4 yards to wide receiver Daniel Jackson and 6 yards to tight end Nick Kallerup. It was the fourth time that Morgan has completed 83% of his passes or better.

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Morgan also rushed three times for 27 yards, converting three first downs with a 15-yard scramble on third-and-12 in the first quarter, a 10-yard scramble on third-and-9 in the second quarter and a 2-yard sneak on third-and-1 in the third quarter.

Morgan is the first Gopher to earn conference offensive player honors since Nov. 9, 2020, when running back Mohamed Ibrahim received the honor. This is the third time in his career that Morgan has been named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. He also was honored on Nov. 11, 2019, and Sept. 30, 2019.

"He constantly wants to get better, wants to make everybody around him better,'' Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said of Morgan. "… That's what Tanner does really well, and sometimes we take that for granted.''

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Randy Johnson

College football reporter

Randy Johnson covers University of Minnesota football and college football for the Star Tribune, along with Gophers hockey and the Wild.

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