What’s worse than ending your season with a loss? Ending it with a game you should’ve won and carrying it with you all offseason. Ask any Rutgers fan how that Pop-Tarts Bowl ended and you’ll probably get an eye-roll, a sigh, or a ‘don’t remind me.’ Because yeah, that 44–41 collapse against Kansas State? It still stings. And apparently, the players feel the same way, especially QB1.
So how do you bounce back from a season that left fans pacing the living room and muting the TV? You remember it. You fuel off it. You treat every practice like it’s 4th-and-goal with the clock ticking down. And that’s exactly what’s been happening in Piscataway this offseason. No false hype. Just a bunch of guys who hated how things ended and are laser-focused on flipping the script in 2025.
Nobody’s leaning into that more than quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis. At Big Ten Media Days, he got real about the way 2024 closed out. “I feel like the season left a bad taste in our mouths,” Kaliakmanis said. “Because of how it ended in the bowl game. It’s never enough. Standard’s a standard and the standard’s high at Rutgers, and you know, we feel like we just have to be better, and we’ve been working really hard this off-season getting together, all of us, and just working and being the best that we could possibly be,” he added.
Despite the rocky bowl loss, Kaliakmanis had his best year, throwing for 2,696 yards and 18 touchdowns while adding 251 on the ground. His total yardage of 2,947 put him in an elite territory for a Rutgers QB, but the goal was never stats. It’s always been about wins. And that’s what he’s chasing now. And he’s got help. He’ll have wide receiver Ian Strong by his side, who was brilliant last season (676 yards, 5 touchdowns). It’s important for both of them to forget what happened last season and start fresh. The defense has also shown flashes of being legit, and the team is now tired of ‘almost.’ Rutgers went 7-6 last season; however, they won three out of five games in the end, which was a positive to build on. Now, with a QB who’s matured and a hungry roster, the foundation feels stronger than ever.
How Greg Schiano’s culture molded a new QB1
Standing at 6 feet 4 inches and weighing 220 pounds, Athan Kaliakmanis has the frame of a modern Big Ten quarterback. But it’s what’s under the helmet that’s evolving. After transferring from Minnesota, his confidence has grown, his leadership presence is clearer, and of course, the numbers back it up. But more than anything, he’s embraced the culture Greg Schiano has built in Piscataway.
“It’s the culture. When I transferred here, I completely bought into his culture. And it changed me not only as a football player, but as a person.” Kaliakmanis said. “It’s the focus and mental toughness to hit that spot over and over and over again. And you know, it’s very hard to go every day and give it everything you’ve got and not let up. And I learned that here. I learned the focus and the mental toughness to keep going and going and going,” he concluded.
That kind of mindset is exactly what Rutgers needs as it looks to turn the page. While the program hasn’t been where it wants to be in recent seasons, the energy inside the locker room is different, and Kaliakmanis is setting the tone. He has learned the hard way what it takes to win in this league. Now, he’s putting everything into making sure that “bad taste” turns into something much sweeter this fall.
The post ‘Left a Bad Taste’: Athan Kaliakmanis Owns Up to Past Mistakes as Rutgers QB Vows Big in Strong Statement appeared first on EssentiallySports.