Not that long ago, Zack Annexstad was the Gophers’ QB1 but those days feel far far away now that he too has announced his intention to leave.

Thank you, @GopherFootball pic.twitter.com/kKTVuMZCuA

— Zack Annexstad (@ZackAnnexstad) November 29, 2021

In 2018, Zack played in 7 games and threw 187 passes (97 completions, 1,269 yards, 9 TD, 7 INT) but an injury before the 2019 season left the job for Morgan. Even after Annexstad regained his health for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. At some point, Annexstad should’ve gotten a chance to lead the Gophers but that clearly wasn’t going to happen and he knew it.

2022 QB1: Tanner Morgan

If there’s one thing to take away from the Jacob Clark and Zack Annexstad transfer portal entries over the last 24 hours, it’s that Tanner Morgan’s status as Minnesota’s QB1 was never in jeopardy once he decided to return. Both Clark and Annexstad wanted a fair shot to start in 2022 but clearly didn’t feel they were going to get that under PJ Fleck and behind Tanner Morgan.

In all reality, Annexstad was the only challenger for Morgan, entering the 2021-2022 offseason. Now that he and Clark are entering the portal, wildcat QB Cole Kramer and the QB of the future, Athan Kaliakmanis, remain to backup Tanner. I expect Kaliakmanis era to begin in 2023.

Given the two-straight days of QB transfer portal announcements we’ve seen, it looks like everyone else sees that path too. Sure, it’s possible (and legal) for Fleck to dig Morgan’s immediate QB competition out of the transfer portal but that’s highly unlikely. Fleck hand picked and raised both Zack Annexstad and Jacob Clark for five and three years, respectively.

If he isn’t willing to open the starting quarterback job to them, I doubt he’d trust a transfer portal acquisition. If you’re a Minnesota Gophers football fan, you should prep yourself for another season of Tanner Morgan.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

The Minnesota coaching staff is already on the recruiting trail, marking the start of two crazy recruiting weeks that will culminate in National Signing Day (December 15). While the coaches are on the road, many current players have their own future decisions to make. Others don’t.

The seniors who can return, if they so choose:
– QB Tanner Morgan
– RB Mohamed Ibrahim
– WR Chris Autman-Bell
– OL Blaise Andries, Daniel Faalele, John Michael Schmitz & Axel Ruschmeyer
– DE Boye Mafe, Esezi Otomewo & Thomas Rush
– LB Mariano Sori-Marin
(cont'd)

— The Daily Gopher (@TheDailyGopher) November 22, 2021

What older guys do will trickle down to younger players on roster, who can now hit the transfer portal and immediately play elsewhere next season. Oh, and let’s not forget that Selection Sunday is less than a week away, at which point the (8-4) Minnesota Gophers will find out their 2021-22 bowl fate.

Morgan Returns, Clark Hits Portal

As I foreshadowed in my blog on Saturday, which called for an open QB competition for next year’s starter, Tanner Morgan will return for a super redshirt senior season in 2022. He will join Mohamed Ibrahim, who did the same earlier last week.

Following Morgan’s announcement, Jacob Clark (a former high school star QB from Rockwall, TX) entered his name into the transfer portal. I was excited about Clark as a prospect but he seemingly had fallen down the depth chart and next year will be his 4th as a college football player.

The remaining QB’s who could start in the seemingly near future are now Tanner Morgan, Zack Annexstad, Cole Kramer and Athan Kaliakmanis. Jacob Knuth, a 3-star QB prospect out of South Dakota, is also expected to sign his National Letter of Intent in December.

O-Line: Faalele Accepts Senior Bowl Invite

Most have expected Daniel Faalele to enter the NFL Draft after this season, Hell, many thought he would do it last year, even after missing the season due to COVID-19 concerns. This morning, the junior accepted an invite to the Reese’s Senior Bowl, which is the top destination for NFL Draft prospects hoping to showcase their skills in a postseason Pro Bowl type game.

Please welcome OL Daniel Faalele @DanielFaalele_ from @GopherFootball to the 2022 @Reeses Senior Bowl!!! #RTB #SkiUMah #TheDraftStartsInMOBILE™️ @JimNagy_SB @PaniniAmerica #RatedRookie pic.twitter.com/WlWonhIHDw

— Reese's Senior Bowl (@seniorbowl) November 29, 2021

Daniel isn’t the only offensive lineman departing Dinkytown after the 2021 season is complete. Starters Connor Olson and Sam Schlueter have to leave, along with everyone’s favorite 2022 NFL TE prospect, Ko Kieft. (OL) Austin Beier is also believed to be leaving.

Big Turnover on Defense

The Minnesota Gophers could have a lot of fresh faces on defense in 2022. The many departures start with two grad-transfers, (DT) Nyles Pinckney and (LB) Jack Gibbens, who were HUGE figures in the 2021 defensive turnaround.

Other regulars without any eligibility remaining are (DT) Micah Dew-Treadway, (DT) Val Martin, (CB) Coney Durr, (S) Phil Howard and (CB) Justus Harris. One major unknown who still could return is (DE) Boye Mafe, who was expected to enter the NFL Draft but hasn’t announced anything yet and didn’t pen a letter to the University of Minnesota or the fanbase like other intended departees have. A Boye Mafe return tour would be significant, especially given his freak athleticism and extreme draftability.

The linebacker room will not only lose Jack Gibbons to graduation but also James Gordon, who is one of the first guys you let off the bus… but struggled to find the field. Over the weekend, he entered the transfer portal. With Braelen Oliver, Mariano Sori-Marin, Donald Willis and all of the other linebackers expected to return, Gordon obviously didn’t see that changing.

More announcements/movement expected

There should be more announced in the coming weeks as more players decide what to do with their future. We’ll keep you up to date when those decisions are made. The two players to keep an eye out for are (WR) Chris Autman-Bell and the aforementioned Boye Mafe.

Context: Given Boye’s #NFLDraft stock, belief is he'll turn pro. Fleck said last week fourth-year O-lineman Daniel Faalele is expected to depart after 2021. But more uncertain for others, such as Tanner Morgan and Chris Autman-Bell, who said last week they haven’t decided plans.

— Andy Greder (@andygreder) November 23, 2021

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Well, the Gophers played Maryland today. They spanked that ass…. again, for all of the same reasons they’ve spanked that Big Ten ass all year. Because they are better, and they take the field more focused and more prepared than they’re lesser conference opponent. That’s what good teams do.

That’s all I need to write, correct? I mean fuck… what else needs to be said?

But, I won’t stop there. Let’s at least get into the first half. There was a lot of action to be had. It was a slaughter-fest on Halloween weekend at The Bank. It only took two plays from the line of scrimmage, for this game to feel out-of-hand. Maryland had run over the Gophers defense, during their last two meetings, so they caught our defense off-guard when they passed on the first play, for a WHOPPING 7 yards. On 2nd-and-3 though, Tyrrell Pigrom tried the middle of the field…. where Antoine Winfield Jr. lay in wait…

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Understatement: Antoine Winfield's (@AntoineWJr11) done a lot of this in his @GopherFootball career. pic.twitter.com/YBLIRxORaQ

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 26, 2019

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Like I said before, it got out of hand quickly after that interception led to Tanner Morgan playing “.500” with Rashod Bateman, for a touchdown. Then, the defense forced a 3-and-out, before Tanner Morgan drove the offense 74 yards, on 12 plays, and Seth Green punched it into the endzone on a 10-yard keeper out of the Wildcat. That drive took 7 minutes and 29 seconds, in total. The Gophers had the ball for 10:32 out of 15:00 of the 1st quarter minutes.

The first quarter wasn’t even over yet and the Gophers were looking for more points. 2 minutes and 31 seconds into the 2nd quarter, they found what they were looking for, through the air again. This time, Tanner paid off his trusty senior for a 16-yard score; the Gophers’ easiest yet.

The 1st half onslaught finally ended in fireworks, when Coney Durr took a tipped pass 72 yards, to the house. At that point, it was 28-0 and the turtles were dreaming of roads they could be laying shell-down on.

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Even when you know it's going to Rashod Bateman, it's tough to stop.@R_bateman2
| @GopherFootball pic.twitter.com/n9EEaG6wjt

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 26, 2019

The formation's called the “Green Line,” and it resulted in a Seth Green TD.@seth_mgreen | @GopherFootball pic.twitter.com/r5zOV4JuCY

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 26, 2019

They've done it all season, and they just did it again.@GopherFootball's Tanner Morgan finds Tyler Johnson for 6. pic.twitter.com/dDRqB6zDVB

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 26, 2019

Halftime Stats:

Tanner has tossed a pair of TDs.

Five players have combined to rush for 121 yards.

Sori-Marin has filled in nicely in replace of Martin. He has already tied his career high with six tackles.

Winfield and Durr (Pick-6) each have an INT. pic.twitter.com/GT8qmAZHrf

— Minnesota Football (@GopherFootball) October 26, 2019

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Maryland found a way to slow down Tanner Morgan late in the first half (once), when he overthrew (yes, I guess it is possible) Rashod Bateman. After a big return and a couple of big plays, the defense would hold and force the Terrapins into a field goal. Their luck wouldn’t get any better in the 2nd half.

The Gophers would score two more touchdowns, both on the ground. Rodney Smith finished off a drive in the 3rd and Seth Green got his second TD of the game in the 4th. There isn’t much else to get into, when it comes to gameplay that mattered. It was a massacre. The Terrapins scored a TD late in the 4th quarter, off of a fluke mistake on defense, but it was long-over by then.

Jacob Clark and Treyson Potts found the field as freshman, late in the game. Potts looked damn good in limited action, carrying the ball 4 times for 42 yards and a touchdown. Clark got to show off his deep ball once too. It’s beautiful.

Now, the Gophers will wait two weeks before hosting Penn State, in by far the most important college football game held in this state in over 60 years. Both teams will be undefeated after Penn State beat the shit out of Michigan State today too.

Bring it.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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Nice weather we're having. ? pic.twitter.com/WQB7PS6zU0

— Minnesota Football (@GopherFootball) October 26, 2019

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