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Morgan

Morgan (6’0/204) was a five-year starter for Minnesota and spent six seasons with the Golden Gophers. A below-average athlete (3.61 RAS) with underwhelming size, Morgan will need his football prowess to shine in camp if he ever hopes to earn a roster spot. While he’s shown steady improvement over the last several seasons, his production drastically petered out after a 2019 campaign in which he posted a 3,253-30-7 line. Morgan completed 66 percent of his passes in 2022, a new career high. He’s shown improvement in ball placement and accuracy, but his arm strength will limit him at the next level. His 4.1 percent career Turnover Worthy Play rate, per Pro Football Focus, is a lowlight and something he’ll need to improve on if he hopes to crack the Steelers’ 53-player roster.

The score could have been much worse, as Minnesota missed a short field goal, fumbled it in WVU’s red zone and kneeled the ball at the WVU 3 to end the game. It was total domination for the Golden Gophers, who physically outmatched the Mountaineers in the trenches. The offensive line created huge holes for the running game, and the defensive line pounded opposing QB Jarret Doege all night. Morgan (6'2/215) had very little to do in this one, and just managed the victory without affecting anything much either way. His interception wasn’t even his fault, as his receiver was open but slipped which allowed Charles Woods to come up with the pick. Morgan will return for another season, but expect Minnesota to keep leaning on the same two things they did tonight in 2022.

Morgan (6'2/215) will indeed return for a sixth and final season with the Gophers, that will come as good news to some fans, and not so good news to others. Morgan has started 38 straight games for the Gophers, with his first start coming on October 26, 2018, and is the winningest quarterback in program history. He enjoyed a breakout season in 2019 when he threw for 3,253 yards and 30 touchdowns, but took a massive step back in 2021, completing 141-of-236 passes for 1,935 yards, 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Minnesota finished with an 8-4 season, but some fans will wonder what might have been, or what 2022 could be, if Morgan were not under center.

While he wasn’t dynamic, Morgan played a solid game, especially a rough interception early. On a classic RPO, Morgan had a defender right in front of his face, threw it anyway and it got tipped, turning into a pick-six. After a Gophers interception, Morgan threw a beautiful RPO to Brevyn Spann-Ford up the seam for 26 yards, setting up a Ky Thomas touchdown run. At the end of the third quarter, Morgan threw a perfect deep out to Chris Autman-Bell for a 27-yard touchdown. Finishing the season 8-4 and keeping the Badgers out of the Big-10 title game, the Gophers look to be primed for a New Year’s Day bowl game.

Morgan (6'2/215) wasn’t going to have to do much more than be a game manager in this one with the Golden Gophers able to run for 195 yards and three touchdowns, but he was able to add to the fun with a pair of scoring passes to Chris Autman-Bell. It’s the first multi-touchdown passing game for Morgan since October 16 against Nebraska, and he’s up to nine on the season against seven interception. Less-than-inspiring numbers, but today was solid, if unspectacular. Morgan will have a chance to build on this next Saturday in a tough showdown with Wisconsin.

Two years ago, on an offense that featured Mo Ibrahim, Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman, Morgan was one failed late-4Q scoring drive away from upsetting the Hawkeyes. Two years later, with Ibraham hurt and Johnson and Bateman long gone to the NFL, it was a similar story -- only Morgan’s TD/INT ratio is now 7/7, down from 30/7 TD/INT in 2019. Down 24-22 with 2:18 remaining in the game, Minnesota went for it on 4th & 17 at their own three-yard line. Morgan made arguably his best throw of the game, a strike to Mike Brown-Stephens past the sticks… that Brown-Stephens dropped. Iowa wasn’t able to punch it in, kicking a field goal, and Minnesota got it back one last time. On a 2nd & 10 at Iowa’s 39 with 12 seconds remaining, Morgan bizarrely tried to scramble around EDGE Joe Evans, who had beaten his man. When he was stripped of the ball, Morgan was 12 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Minnesota recovered and the final seconds ticked off the clock. Now 6-4, Minnesota has a potential get-right matchup next Saturday against Indiana.

This one will end on Morgan’s Mount Rushmore of bad performances, along with his showing in the home loss to Bowling Green earlier this year and last year’s no-show loss to Iowa. Trailing 14-0 today, the Gophers were booed off the field by the home crowd at halftime. At times Gophers HC PJ Fleck mixed in backup QB Cole Kramer in an attempt to manufacture some offense via Kramer’s mobility — with limited success. Illinois’ gameplan was simple: Stuff the box, don’t give the Gophers running lanes, and force Morgan to beat us. It was, of course, brilliant. The 6-3 Gophers travel to Iowa next week to face another team with a struggling quarterback who’s pulling his offense down.

Morgan (6'2/215) wasn’t asked, nor needed to do much, as the rushing game carried the Gophers offense. The 24th-ranked ground attack gained 308 yards rushing, allowing Mordan to pick and choose his spots. Morgan’s interception was a frustrating one. He led the receiver just a little too much and it got tipped in the air, allowing Brandon Joseph to make a dynamic interception. After losing to Bowling Green, Morgan and the Gophers have rattled off four wins in a row, and look to continue that at home against Illinois on Saturday.

Even despite the turnovers, Morgan was sharper today that we’ve seen him since the opener against Ohio State. Morgan is hampered by a lack of arm strength and middling athleticism, but he showed off some touch by lofting a 28-yarder to Mike Brown-Stephens between three Cornhuskers in the end zone for a second quarter touchdown. Minnesota never trailed in this game, so they didn’t ask much of Morgan in the second half. Next week, Minnesota takes a 4-2 record into a home date with Maryland.

The game was played in a downpour. This definitely qualifies as a bounce-back performance after Morgan no-showed last week’s brutal home loss to Bowling Green. The Gophers protected Morgan today and didn’t ask him to do a ton. To his credit he took care of the ball and took advantage of a few Boilermaker coverage breakdowns downfield. Next up for the 3-2 Gophers is Nebraska next weekend.