Athan Kaliakmanis threw three touchdowns against his former team, including a go-ahead 4-yard score to Ian Strong with 7:41 remaining in the fourth quarter, in Rutgers’ 26-19 home victory over Minnesota on Saturday afternoon in Piscataway, N.J.
Kaliakmanis completed 17 of 33 passes for 240 yards against the Golden Gophers, for whom he played two seasons, including in 2023 when he threw 14 touchdowns in 12 games.
Rutgers improved to 5-4, 2-4 in the Big Ten in snapping a four-game losing streak.
Kaliakmanis threw a pair of first-half TDs to Dymere Miller before Rutgers’ defense set up the go-ahead score that gave the Scarlet Knights a 23-16 lead.
On first-and-16 from the Minnesota 6-yard line, tight end Jameson Geers fumbled when he was hit by Tyreem Powell at the 10 and Shaquan Loyal recovered.
Two plays after the fumble, Rutgers’ Strong cut up the middle and was left open for an easy TD pass when Minnesota defensive back Ethan Robinson backed off.
Following Strong’s go-ahead score, the Scarlet Knights increased their lead when Jordan Walker sacked Max Brosmer in the end zone for a safety with 6:53 left, and Jay Patel kicked a 22-yard field goal with 2:45 remaining.
Brosmer finished 27 of 45 for 262 yards and Geers had eight catches for 73 yards, but Darius Taylor was held to 28 rushing yards on 10 carries as the Golden Gophers (6-4, 4-3) saw their four-game winning streak stopped.
Rutgers earned the win despite missing star running back Kyle Monangai due to undisclosed injury that hampered him in its loss at Southern California two weeks ago. Antwan Raymond replaced Monangai and finished with 73 yards on 22 carries.
The Scarlet Knights held a 14-9 lead by halftime thanks to two TDs to Miller.
Miller made a diving 1-yard catch with 3:31 left in the first quarter on fourth down for a 7-6 lead. After Minnesota ended the first period with a 9-7 lead on a 51-yard field goal by Dragan Kesich, Miller hauled in a 17-yard TD with 9:54 left in the second quarter.
Minnesota regained the lead on its first series of the second half when Brosmer rolled out for a 17-yard pass to Marcus Major with 9:07 left in the third quarter.
