Rutgers’ postseason hopes on life support after road loss to Minnesota | 5 observations

MINNEAPOLIS — There were three minutes and 19 seconds remaining when Athan Kaliakmanis got the ball and a chance at an unforgettable drive.

As he had done on the game’s first three drives, the Rutgers quarterback moved his team down the field methodically, putting it in position to score a game-winning touchdown or force overtime with a field goal.

Then the ball was snapped between his legs.

Standing in field goal territory, center Gus Zilinskas snapped the ball too low for his quarterback, who had to back track before being tackled for a 15-yard loss. The Scarlet Knights could not recover from there, with Dane Pizarro missing his first career field goal attempt from 55 yards out to conclude a grueling 31-28 loss to Minnesota at Huntington Bank Stadium.

Rutgers (3-2, 0-2) falls to 1-4 against Minnesota overall and 0-3 in Minneapolis in a result that puts the program in must-win territory entering its first bye week.

Needing three wins in its last seven games, Rutgers has practically no margin for error on its road to the postseason.

With little hope of upsetting titans Oregon, Penn State or Ohio State, the Scarlet Knights need to go 3-1 in games against Washington, Illinois, Maryland and Purdue — a tall task for a team that fell short against Iowa and Minnesota teams that are roughly on the same level.

Here are five observations from Rutgers-Minnesota:

1.KALIAKMANIS INCONSISTENT IN RETURN TO MINNEAPOLIS

The quarterback was on fire out of the gates, completing 10 of his first 13 pass attempts of the game, including his first nine. But he was unable to keep up that momentum.

Kaliakmanis completed just 11 of his final 21 attempts, throwing a killer interception and another couple near-turnovers in the process. He finished with 249 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

He entered the week with the most completions in passes of 10-plus yards (36) in college football, and he added to that total immediately with connections of 18 and 29 yards with receivers KJ Duff and DT Sheffield, respectively. Although the Scarlet Knights did not cash in then, they did score two touchdowns on their next two drives, with Kaliakmanis connecting with Sheffield and Duff on touchdowns of four and 14 yards.

Kaliakmanis’ momentum stalled abruptly from there, however. He missed five of his next seven attempts, including a telegraphed interception that led directly to Minnesota’s second touchdown, which tied the game at 14-all midway through the second quarter. Kaliakmanis entered the game without recording a single turnover-worthy pass in the first four games, per ProFootballFocus, but he put the ball in harm’s way at least three times on Saturday.

After stalling on the first drive of the second half, the quarterback picked things up as coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca shifted the strategy: out with the long ball, in with the short pass. Kaliakmanis dinked and dunked it to Raymond and tight end Kenny Fletcher, leading to a go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

But after its defense could not get a timely stop, the offense could not respond on its final drive of the game.

2.RED-HOT ANTWAN RAYMOND LOOKED LIKE HIS PREDECESSOR

The sophomore running back kept his scorching streak going with a big performance, rushing for 161 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries against the Gophers. He became the first Scarlet Knight in 52 years (JJ Jennings) to score multiple rushing touchdowns in four straight games, having scored 14 in his past seven appearances.

Raymond looked like Kyle Monangai at times, breaking tackles and making big blocks in pass protection. He came up clutch on two third-and-longs, converting them with big runs and scored a touchdown on the ensuing play.

3.DISASTROUS DEFENSE MAKES NO BIG PLAYS

Robb Smith’s unit started off well, forcing back-to-back three-and-outs to open the game, and showed up in spurts.

But when it was bad, it was really bad.

On the first play of the third drive, Lindsey connected with Jalen Smith on a 78-yard completion, the longest pass allowed by the Rutgers defense this season. Three plays later, Minnesota scored its first touchdown. Less than a minute later, after Kaliakmanis threw an interception, the Scarlet Knights conceded a second score.

Rutgers got a pair of stops at the end of the first half, including a turnover on downs that prevented a Minnesota score before the half, but that momentum came to a screech at the start of the second half.

The Golden Gophers scored on a touchdown and a field goal on its first two drives out of the break, holding the ball for 12 minutes and 38 seconds. On the first possession, they threw the ball 11 times on a 13-play touchdown drive that tied the game at 21 as the Scarlet Knights struggling to get any pressure on Lindsey. On the next drive, Minnesota took its first lead with a field goal.

Rutgers’ offense managed to get the lead back, and on the ensuing drive, Smith’s defense forced a three-and-out. But when Minnesota got the ball back with 6:24 to play, the Scarlet Knights put up no resistance as the hosts waltzed on a game-winning seven-play, 72-yard touchdown drive.

The biggest problems for Rutgers’ defense were the same that followed it all season: it could not get to the quarterback, recording just two sacks, and it does not force any turnovers. The Scarlet Knights have forced three turnovers in five games, and two of them came against a Norfolk State team that has losses to Towson, Sacred Heart and Wagner.

4. SPECIAL TEAMS STRUGGLES AGAIN

After playing a major role in Rutgers’ first loss of the season against Iowa last week, the Scarlet Knights’ special teams unit had another rough day against the Golden Gophers.

— After hitting a program record 18 consecutive field goals, kicker Jai Patel is moving in the opposite direction. He missed both of his attempts against Iowa last week, then his first attempt Saturday was blocked from 22 yards out after he kicked it too low.

To his credit, Patel did go 4-of-4 on PATs.

After giving up a 104-yard touchdown return in the opening play against the Hawkeyes, the Scarlet Knights nearly suffered another disaster in the final play of the first half against Minnesota. Defensive back Isaiah Crumpler was beaten badly by Perich, who got to the Rutgers 32-yard line before being tackled by Michael Robinson II.

The Scarlet Knights lucked out when Gophers kicker Brady Denaburg missed the ensuing 50-yard attempt.

5. BONUS ROUND

Here are some other thoughts from Huntington Bank Stadium and around the Big Ten.

a. While Ian Strong has earned the plaudits, his former high school teammate KJ Duff has shown rare consistency. By catching six passes for 84 yards, he became the first Scarlet Knight to record at least five receptions in the first five games of a season since program great Marco Battaglia in the 1995 season.

b. Rutgers is down another three players for the season — starting linebacker Moses Walker, reserve OL Nick Oliveira and true freshman defensive tackle Braxton Kyle — but the injury concerns did not stop there.

Several Scarlet Knights went down during Saturday’s game, though all returned to the game eventually. Tight end Colin Weber left in the first quarter after getting popped on his only reception of the day, but he returned on the opening drive of the second half.

Abram Wright started in Walker’s place, making the first start of his college career.

c. Huntington Bank Stadium remains one of the 12 Big Ten venues Rutgers has yet to win in since joining the league. The Scarlet Knights have only earned a road victory at Illinois’ Memorial Stadium, Maryland’s SECU Stadium, Michigan State’s Spartan Stadium, Indiana’s Memorial Stadium and Purdue’s Ross-Ade Stadium.

d. Just about a year after he sustained a season-ending injury at Wisconsin, Samuel Brown made his return to the field. The running back made his season debut on the first drive of the game, then played sporadically in Raymond’s place. He finished with 12 rushing yards five carries.

e. Other Big Ten games to keep an eye on:

— Illinois and USC are in a tight contest in Champaign. The Scarlet Knights head there in a month’s time.

— Washington, who Rutgers will visit after its upcoming bye week, will host No. 1 Ohio State this afternoon. The Huskies could legitimize their 3-0 start if they put up a fight against the defending national champions.

— Iowa will host Big Ten sensation Indiana after it put a generational beatdown on the Illini last week. Depending on how the Hawkeyes do, Rutgers fans can feel better about last week’s loss or even more upset that the Scarlet Knights did not pull it out.

— Penn State hosts Oregon in the game of the week. Rutgers will host both of them later this fall, including a Homecoming matchup against the Ducks next month.

f. The best burger in the Big Ten is in Minneapolis. While we welcome other suggestions, we will not budge on that assessment.