Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis is in the midst of a career-best senior season at the moment.
Through the Scarlet Knights‘ first three games of the season, Kaliakmanis is completing 72.9% of his passes for 820 yards and seven touchdowns with no interceptions. There’s a lot of excitement around the Rutgers offense because of Kaliakmanis and his play early in the season.
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Iowa‘s defense will have a big test trying to contain him on Friday night. But, the Iowa coaching staff is very familiar with his game.
Kaliakmanis was a four-star prospect in the 2021 recruiting class out of Antioch Community High School in Antioch, Ill., per 247Sports. The Illinois product had 12 offers, including from Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa Hawkeyes. Kaliakmanis was a top quarterback option for the Hawkeyes in that class, but he ultimately committed to P.J. Fleck and the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
After spending two years at Minnesota, where he was a fine quarterback, Kaliakmanis transferred to Rutgers and has truly burst onto the scene. Across 16 career games as a Scarlet Knight, Kaliakmanis has 3,516 passing yards and a 25-7 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
And he was almost a Hawkeye. Kirk Ferentz talked more about he and Iowa’s recruitment of Kaliakmanis and his familiarity with the Rutgers signal-caller at his weekly press conference.
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Iowa football’s familiarity with Athan Kaliakmanis
Sep 13, 2025; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; Rutgers Scarlet Knights quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis (16) looks to pass during the first half against the Norfolk State Spartans at SHI Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
When asked about his familarty with Kaliakmanis through the recruitment process and if that would help with game planning to stop him, Ferentz had this to say.
“Yeah, it doesn’t hurt, but I think most guys when they go to college, it’s such an area of growth and development. Really the story, I think, is the progress that he’s made, which is typical of a good college player. Usually they get better each year.
He had some struggles four years ago, three years ago like any young player, but he’s worked through it. He’s really done a good job. He was a good player last year for them, but he’s playing at a higher level right now if you look at his stats. It’s significantly better right now, so he’s playing his best football.
I think as a coach, Greg would probably tell you the same thing, that’s what you’re hoping for as guys get older, get more mature and get that game experience if they’re benefiting from it, and he clearly is. He’s done a nice job for them.
He’s got a good supporting cast, too. They have good receivers, good skill guys, and they run the football well. It’s going to be a big challenge for our defense. It’s probably going to be the biggest one we’ve faced so far.” – Kirk Ferentz
While the familiarity with him from the recruiting process is nice, Kaliakmanis has developed into a really good quarterback that will require Iowa’s full attention to stop.
This will be a big test for the Hawkeye defense early in the season and it will be very telling of their ability to defend great quarterbacks in conference play. It should be a really fun Big Ten opener in Piscataway on Friday night.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa football discusses familiarity with Rutgers QB Athan Kaliakmanis
