Minnesota and Rutgers squared off Saturday in a Week 11 game that was not without plenty of storylines.

The Scarlet Knights, led by transfer quarterback and former Gopher Athan Kaliakmanis and former Minnesota OC Kirk Ciarrocca, entered the game in need of a major bounce back. Meanwhile, the Golden Gophers entered on the heels of a 4-game winning streak with new starting QB Max Brosmer.

In the end, the story of the game became Rutgers’s defense and a crucial 4th-quarter surge by the Scarlet Knights. After carrying a 16-14 lead into the final quarter, Minnesota fell on the wrong side of 12 straight points from the Scarlet Knights. That stretch was punctuated by a safety from Rutgers with the final 8 minutes of the game dominated by Rutgers.

It led to a 26-19 win for the Scarlet Knights in a major bounce back. Here are the key takeaways from that game:

Athan Kaliakmanis shines against former team

With star running back Kyle Monangai, the leader of the offense, unavailable, it was even more important for the Scarlet Knights to rely on Athan Kaliakmanis. He responded with a crucial outing against his former program.

While the completion percentage lagged a bit as Kaliakmanis completed just 17-of-33 passes, but those completions went for 240 yards. It gave Kaliakmanis an average yards per attempt of 7.3, helping the Scarlet Knights pick up big gains in key moments.

As a result, Rutgers had completions of 65, 37 and 20 yards in the game. Kaliakmanis also delivered 3 key touchdowns, including the ultimate game-winner in the 4th quarter.

After leaving the Gophers via the transfer portal, this one had to feel a bit sweeter for the QB.

Darius Taylor shut down by Rutgers

Minnesota’s recipe for success has been a simple one all season long. Get Taylor to 100 yards from scrimmage, and let the rest take care of itself.

Okay, it’s not that simple with the defense playing well this year, but Taylor has been the driving force all season long. His work on the ground has allowed the offense to stay ahead of the sticks and helped open up the lanes for the passing game.

This week, Taylor was limited and ultimately shut down by the Scarlet Knights. He was limited to just 28 yards on the ground (2.8 yards per carry) against a unit that has traditionally struggled to stop the running game. Taylor’s only 2 catches against Rutgers also went for -3 yards.

It marks just the 4th game all season Taylor has fallen below 100 yards of offense. The Gophers are 1-3 in those games.

Scarlet Knight defense delivers big moments late

Minnesota struggled in this one all game long, but it still looked like the Gophers were in a position to put things away at the midway mark of the fourth quarter. With a 16-14 lead, the Gophers received a punt deep in their own territory.

Unfortunately, that possession would not last long.

A quick completion to Jameson Geers resulted in a fumble that the Scarlet Knights would recover deep in Minnesota territory. Rutgers needed just 2 plays to score a go-ahead touchdown with Athan Kaliakmanis finding Ian Strong for 4 yards.

That drive alone would have been okay for Minnesota had it not been for the ensuing drive. Koi Perich put the Gophers in another hole by getting dragged down at the 13-yard line on a kick return, and things only went worse from there.

Brosmer was sacked on 1st down, threw an incomplete pass on 2nd and was then sacked for a safety on 3rd-and-long. It gave the Scarlet Knights a 23-16 lead late in the game with Minnesota’s offense already struggling.

The Golden Gophers would get some chances to get back into the game, but they could not close the gap.