Thursday was a fitting swan-song to two long-time Gopher football icons, Mohamed Ibrahim and Tanner Morgan. Sixth-year QB Morgan filled in for injured redshirt-freshman Athan Kaliakmanis, who threw 7-9 for 80 yards through 1.25 quarters.
“The thing I just keep coming back to is gratefulness,” Morgan said on playing his final game for Minnesota. “I’m grateful for every teammate I’ve had. I’m grateful for every coach I’ve had.”
The first quarter was all defense as neither team struck gold in the scoring column. Both squads ran for a meager 2.5 (Minnesota) and 2.8 (Syracuse) yards per carry with the Gophers doubling the Syracuse Orange’s time of possession 10 minutes to five.
Kaliakmanis did lead the Minnesota offense down to the Syracuse 16 to end the quarter on a high note. Kaliakmanis completed the longest pass of his short-lived bowl game, 21 yards to Daniel Jackson, who would be a constant force in the Bronx on Thursday.
The drive capped off in the early second quarter with Ibrahim running for a four-yard touchdown. This would be Ibrahim’s 20th touchdown of the season, breaking the Minnesota single-season program record held by Garry Russell. Earlier, he ran past David Cobb’s single-season rushing yards record (1,626) and finished the day with 1,665 in the 2022 season.
He would later break the Minnesota career rushing yards record held by Darrell Thompson and finished his Gophers career with 4,668 yards on the ground. Additionally, Ibrahim broke Cobb’s single-season carries record at 320 (passing 314) and broke the single-season points record with 120.
“Taking it one step at a time,” Ibrahim said on his journey back from his 2021 season-ending injury. “Don’t rush it, don’t look at the finish line…that was my mindset this whole season.”
Ibrahim finished the day running 16 times for 71 yards and with a touchdown. Morgan said he believes Ibrahim’s number 24 should be retired.
With 10:41 left in the second, after passing a 12-yard completion to Le’Meke Brockington, Kaliakmanis would take a low blow following the throw and have to be helped off the field, entering Morgan, who hadn’t seen playing time since Nov. 5 in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Morgan would finish the drive in style, throwing a perfectly placed ball to Jackson for 20 yards. That would be Morgan’s first passing touchdown since Sept. 24 at Michigan State.
Syracuse continued their scoring struggles as Cody Lindenberg would keep the Orange at bay all day…or until he left with a leg injury in the fourth quarter. Lindenberg totaled 11 tackles.
“Questionable for next week,” bluffed head coach P.J. Fleck on Kaliakmanis’ and Lindenberg’s injuries. “They’re going to be okay. I can’t say they’re minor (injuries), but they’re not major. If it was a normal season, maybe a few weeks. So that’s definitely a blessing.”
The Cuse would end the half with their first successful offensive possession of the game with Garrett Shrader passing 4/4 for 85 yards and running in for a 1-yard touchdown, all under 55 seconds.
After notching a field goal to close the Gophers’ lead to 14-10, true freshman defensive back Coleman Bryson picked off Shrader’s pass for a 70-yard return to the house. This was Bryson’s first career start, and he finished with 8 tackles, a PBU leading to player of the game honors.
“Unreal,” Bryson said. “I looked up at the screen, actually, because I couldn’t believe it.”
Another Orange field goal would go through the uprights, but Quentin Redding returned the Minnesota momentum, making his longest kick return of 2022, notching 72 yards. This would set up a 25-yard touchdown from Morgan, once more to Jackson, this time on a screen pass. The Gophers extended their lead to 28-13.
The fourth quarter was relatively quiet but featured some gems such as Darius Green intercepting an errant Shrader pass, solidifying a positive day for the future of Minnesota defensive backs as Michael “Flip” Dixon recently entered the transfer portal.
Shrader would manage to cut the score back to one-score with 2:30 remaining, but it was a little too late as the Gophers would coast to their sixth-straight bowl win, running out the clock on the final possession of the game thanks to a Syracuse penalty on a 3rd and 2, giving Minnesota a first down with less than a minute to go.
“It was a well-fought game on both sides,” Fleck said. “It could have gone either way. I’m just really glad it came out the way it did for us. We couldn’t have asked for a better week, one of the greatest bowl experiences I’ve ever had.”
