Athan Kaliakmanis doesn’t appear to have suffered a severe injury in Minnesota’s 28-20 win over Syracuse in the Pinstripe Bowl on Thursday.
The freshman quarterback who is considered by most to be QB on the rise in the Big Ten, suffered an apparent leg or foot injury during the second quarter. He took a low hit to his left side after completing a 12-yard pass to Le’Meke Brockington to convert a 3rd-and-8.
He was helped off the field by two trainers and then helped by teammates to the locker room and he didn’t return to the game. He was shown on the sidelines in the second half wearing a walking boot.
Head coach P.J. Fleck didn’t talk specifics about the injury, but said afterward that it was “not minor but not major.” He said if the injury had happened in the regular season, Kaliakmanis probably would miss a couple weeks.
Being spared a more catastrophic injury like a torn ACL is a big boost for Minnesota because there is early talk about a more aggressive passing attack with Kaliakmanis in 2023, perhaps similar to the potent attack that saw Tanner Morgan and wide receivers Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman dominate en route to Minnesota winning 11 games in 2019.
Kaliakmanis will have fresh weapons to work with. Not only is Chris Autman-Bell returning on a medical exemption, but tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford has announced he’ll return next season. Throw in highly-touted transfers Elijah Spencer and Corey Crooms and all of a sudden Minnesota has a dynamic group of receivers.
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