Minnesota's passing offense really is as bad as it looks

Only Air Force, Navy and Iowa have worse passing attacks.

There are 130 Division I football teams and three Big Ten squads are among the ten least productive passing offenses in the country. That's a remarkable stat considering the Big Ten is one of five power conferences that are supposed to be superior to the rest of college football. 

Here are the 10 worst passing attacks in the country after Saturday's games. 

1. Air Force: 82.0 passing yards per game
2. Navy: 100.8
3. Iowa: 129.8
4. Minnesota: 132.8
5. UL Monroe: 133.0
6. Nebraska: 141.8
7. Eastern Michigan: 146.0
8. Kent State: 147.0
9. Utah: 153.8
10. Jacksonville State: 154.3

Air Force and Navy are always among the worst because they run the triple-option and rarely throw the ball. Air Force has attempted 19 passes through five games and Navy has thrown the ball just 66 times. Iowa has chucked the ball 146 times and the Gophers have thrown it 138 times. 

The Army Golden Knights, who have passed the ball 79 times, are averaging more than 20 yards per game more than the Gophers and Hawkeyes. 

Iowa and Minnesota are two of only four D1 teams without a completion of 40+ yards. Iowa's long is 36 and Minnesota's longest passing play is 37 yards. They rank 129th and 130th nationally in that category, respectively. 

For Minnesota, the passing ineptitude is surprising because the talk before the season was all about how the aerial attack would be a big improvement from 2022 when the Gophers averaged 182.2 passing yards per game. 

Athan Kaliakmanis was the big-armed quarterback Minnesota thought would produce bigger numbers with what appeared to be an upgraded receiving corp with transfers Corey Crooms and Elijah Spencer joining Daniel Jackson and tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford. 

Kaliakmanis has struggled mightily with just 797 yards, six touchdowns and six interceptions in six games, and his 110.8 passer rating ranks 147th in the country among 150 qualified passers. He passed for 52 yards against Michigan on Saturday including two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns. 

"I think I just gotta be more accurate in those situations," Kaliakmanis said Saturday night abou this interceptions.  

Kaliakmanis had zero passing yards in the second half, which was a product of three-and-outs in the third quarter and attempting zero passes in the fourth quarter.

The production from Crooms and Spencer is making Minnesota look like the place where transfer wide receivers go to die. After catch 57 passes for more than 800 yards at Western Michigan last season, Crooms has 19 catches for 227 yards as a Gopher. 

Spencer was at Charlotte last season and produced 57 catches for 947 yards and nine touchdowns. He has three receptions for 27 yards at Minnesota. 

Spann-Ford, considered one of the top tight ends in the country before the season began, has 13 catches for 66 yard. Jackson leads Minnesota with 22 catches, though he has just 13 grabs in the last five games after catching nine passes in Week 1 against Nebraska. 

"We're still a really good football team. A really good football team," Fleck said after getting smashed 52-10 by No. 2 Michigan Saturday night. 

Minnesota has a bye week and then takes on Iowa on Saturday, Oct. 21. 

Related: 5 things that stood out in the Gophers' blowout loss to Michigan