It doesn’t take much of an artist to connect the dots between the Gophers football team, their opponent on Saturday and the quarterbacks for both teams.
Late last season, Gophers coach P.J. Fleck told his quarterbacks that there would be an open competition for the starting job in 2024. Around that time, graduate transfer Max Brosmer came in while young 2023 starter Athan Kaliakmanis entered the portal. He wound up at Rutgers, meaning it will be Brosmer’s Gophers vs. Kaliakmanis’ Scarlet Knights on Saturday in New Jersey.
It’s a great plot line, but it will quickly fade. The more interesting question is this: Given how well Brosmer has played, particularly in clutch moments as the Gophers have rallied from fourth quarter deficits in three games during their current four-game winning streak, will Fleck make a habit of dipping into the portal for an experienced, starting-caliber quarterback in 2025 and beyond?
It’s hard to know what the future holds, but at least we know this: Fleck has to be tempted to try this again based on this year’s success.
Brosmer has improved as the season has gone along, thriving in clutch situations. He’s completing 68.2% of his passes (a big upgrade over Kaliakmanis). He’s also shown the type of poise and veteran leadership needed to win close games late. His numbers aren’t eye-popping: 1,989 yards passing, 13 TDs and four INTs but he has given the Gophers their most consistent and credible QB play since Tanner Morgan in 2019.
That said, there are downsides to cycling through quarterbacks like Brosmer.
First, you won’t always have success doing it. If Brosmer hadn’t been ready to jump from New Hampshire’s level to Minnesota’s level, the Gophers would have been in trouble.
