Athan Kaliakmanis ( ) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. He previously played for the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Te ...

Early life

Kaliakmanis attended

Antioch Community High School Antioch Community High School, Antioch, or ACHS, is a public four-year high school located in Antioch, Illinois, a far north suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Community High School District 117, which also includes La ...

in Antioch, Illinois. In the 2021 season, Kaliakmanis was named the Gatorade player of the Year in the state of Illinois after completing 77 of 132 passes for 1,158 yards, and 15 touchdowns to just one interception on the season. He also rushed 40 times for 245 yards and four touchdowns. Kaliakmanis committed to play

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

over other schools like FAU and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

College career

Minnesota

Kaliakmanis redshirted as a freshman at Minnesota. In his sophomore season, he made his debut against New Mexico State and had his first touchdown against

Western Illinois Forgottonia (), also spelled Forgotonia, is the name given to a 16-County (United States), county region in Western Illinois in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This geographic region forms the distinctive western bulge of Illinois (area west of ...

. In Minnesota's seventh game of the season, Kaliakmanis got his first career start at

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

after starting quarterback

Tanner Morgan Tanner Morgan (born April 17, 1999) is an American football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Minnesota. Early life and high school career Morgan was born on April 17, 1 ...

went down with a concussion. In his first start he struggled, completing 9 of 22 passes for 175 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in a 45–17 loss. Kaliakmanis got his next chance in a week nine matchup against

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

after Tanner Morgan again went down with an injury in the third quarter. Kaliakmanis would go six for 12on his pass attempts for 137 yards as he helped lead the Golden Gophers to a 20–13 win after being down 10–0 at halftime. In the next week Kaliakmanis earned his first win as a starter after going seven of 13 for 64 passing yards in a 31–3 win over Northwestern. Kaliakmanis would get his third start against

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

going seven for 15 for 87 yards and an interception in a last-second loss as Iowa kicker Drew Stevens made a field goal to beat the Golden Gophers 13–10. Kaliakmanis started the Golden Gophers' season finale against

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, in which he would have the best game of his career completing 19 of his 29 passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns including the game-winning touchdown to La'Meke Brockington as the Golden Gophers won 23–16. For his performance, he was named the Big Ten co-freshman of the week. Kaliakmanis started in the teams

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

against

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. He got off to a hot start completing seven of his nine passes for 80 yards and a touchdown, however he suffered a lower leg injury and missed the rest of the game. Kaliakmanis became the Golden Gophers starting quarterback in 2023. On November 28, 2023, Kaliakmanis announced that he would be entering the transfer portal.

Rutgers

On January 2, 2024, Kaliakmanis announced that he would be transferring to

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

to play for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

College statistics

References

External links

Minnesota Golden Gophers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaliakmanis, Athan Living people American football quarterbacks Minnesota Golden Gophers football players People from Antioch, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois Year of birth missing (living people) Rutgers Scarlet Knights football players