Minnesota’s offensive woes started before Saturday’s game when long-time starter Tanner Morgan was ruled out, making freshman Athan Kaliakmanis the starting QB. The young quarterback couldn’t pull off the win in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania, and the Gophers ended up losing to Penn State 17-45.

Penn State’s annual whiteout-themed game is known for its vicious atmosphere toward opposing offenses. The Gophers were no exception.

On their first offensive drive, the Gophers committed two false start penalties, making the crowd louder. The penalties moved the first down line too far back for the offense to convert on third down, so they decided to punt.

Gophers linebacker Mariano Sori-Marin put Penn State away on their next drive with a key tackle on third down. Penn State would give the ball back to the Gophers after back-to-back three-and-outs.

The offensive stalemate continued after another unsuccessful offensive drive by Minnesota. They punted the ball to Penn State, but in just two plays, Gophers cornerback Justin Walley got the ball back off of an interception thrown by Penn State’s quarterback, Sean Clifford. Walley then returned the pick to the Penn State 14-yard line, setting up an eventual Minnesota field goal (FG).

Clifford was able to redeem himself next possession by connecting with tight end Theo Johnson for 43 yards. The plays set Penn State up for a 41-yard FG response to tie the game at 3.

The Gophers had a chance to get into a rhythm with points on the board. Instead, they failed to convert on 3rd down for the third time in the game.

The failures were uncharacteristic of Minnesota. They entered the game with the best 3rd down conversion percentage in the FBS (66%). Penn State’s defense held them to a rate of 15%.

“When we don’t have rhythm, we’re not very good,” head coach P.J. Fleck said in a press conference after the game. “It falls on me, one hundred percent, to find ways to be able to get rhythm on the offensive side.”

The game quickly turned sour for the Gophers. Penn State capitalized on Minnesota’s missed tackles and captured the lead on a 38-yard TD pass to a wide-open Tyler Warren. They would hold onto the lead for the rest of the game.

“When we’re behind the sticks on offense, we’re not very good,” Fleck said. “And then defensively if we’re not limiting explosive plays, we’re not very good.”

Both Penn State and Minnesota scored a touchdown before the end of the second quarter, keeping the game at a one-score difference.

Minnesota showed a lack of discipline under the unique atmospheric conditions. They accumulated seven pre-snap penalties by halftime, five more than Penn State. Six of the seven came on offense.

The second half started great with a sneaky block-and-release catch from Minnesota’s big-bodied tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford for 18 yards, but the Gophers found themselves in yet another third and long situation that proved too difficult to convert. Penn State blocked the punt and recovered it at their 36.

Penn State then began raining explosive plays late in the third quarter. Clifford threw a 35-yarder to receiver Parker Washington, who caught it over Gophers cornerback Terell Smith, eventually making it a two-score game.

“We’re built to play great defense; we’re not made to get into shootouts,” Fleck said. “Where we stand right now seven games in, we need to play great defense, and we just didn’t do that.”

Minnesota’s defense gave up two more touchdowns in the third quarter: one on the ground from Penn State running back Nick Singleton and the other in the air to a non-covered Mitchell Tinsley.

During the fourth quarter, Kaliakmanis and running back Mohamed Ibrahim took advantage of the time available and checked off some career milestones.

In a drive where Ibrahim converted a 4th and 2, he reached 100 yards rushing in the game, marking the 15th consecutive game doing so.

On the same drive, Kaliakmanis threw his first career touchdown pass. Soon after, he completed a deep pass to receiver Michael Brown-Stephens for 49 yards.

He finished with 220 total yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception and went 9/22 on throwing attempts.

“That kid is going to be a really good player,” Fleck said. “That’s what I [will] take away from this.”

The mistakes Minnesota made on both offense and defense provided for the ugliest performance this season. Penn State outplayed them in the run game (175 yards to 165) and in the pass game (304 yards to 175).

Minnesota will need to address their persistent issues next week when they return home and host 4-3 Rutgers on Oct. 29.