STATE COLLEGE, PA. – Quarterback Tanner Morgan, who had started 45 consecutive games for the Gophers, missed Saturday night's game at No. 16 Penn State because of a head injury suffered the previous week at Illinois.
Redshirt freshman Athan Kaliakmanis, who finished the game at Illinois, made his first career start in the frenzied atmosphere of an expected 107,000 at Beaver Stadium during Penn State's "White Out" game, completing nine of 22 passes with one touchdown and an interception in a 45-17 loss.
Morgan participated in early pregame warmups but returned to the full-padded warmups wearing his jersey and sweatpants.
Morgan was injured when he took a hit to the head in the fourth quarter at Illinois and did not return to the game. He was evaluated at a local hospital and returned to Minnesota on the team flight. On Monday, coach P.J. Fleck said Morgan "woke up Sunday and surprisingly felt really good.'' Morgan was expected to attend practice this week, Fleck said, but didn't reveal to what degree the quarterback would participate.
Kaliakmanis completed two of six passes for 17 yards with two interceptions in relief of Morgan last week. For the season, the Antioch, Ill., native was 5-for-11 for 84 yards and had rushed seven times for 5 yards entering Saturday.
A little diplomacy
Gophers defensive coordinator Joe Rossi grew up in Pittsburgh and attended Central Catholic High School. He had teammates who played at both Pittsburgh and Penn State, and this week he was asked if he was a Pitt fan or Penn State fan as a youth.
"When I was growing up in Pittsburgh, most of the city was Pitt [fans], but some were Penn State,'' he said. "At that time, Penn State was probably having more success than Pitt. But it was kind of cool when those two teams would play each other.''
As for his preference? "I was a Steeler guy, to answer your question,'' Rossi said. "I'll take the third option.''
