PISCATAWAY – There were so many connections between Rutgers and Minnesota, both among players and coaches, it was like a family reunion at SHI Stadium Saturday. So it was only fitting that the game-winning scenario for Rutgers was a storyline that typified the current era dominated by Name, Image and Likeness, and the transfer portal.

Athan Kaliakmanis, the former Minnesota quarterback, dropped back for the Scarlet Knights midway through the fourth quarter and found Ian Strong on a 4-yard-TD pass to put the Scarlet Knights up, 21-16.

It was his third TD pass of the game, the first two to former Monmouth star Dymere Miller, and it effectively saved the Rutgers season, providing the winning points in a 26-19 victory.

More: Takeaways | Rutgers football snaps skid with win over Minnesota, moves 1 win from bowl bid

It was the steady stream of Minnesota players who congratulated him after the game that had the biggest impact of all.

“That meant everything to me if you want the honest truth,” Kaliakmanis said. “That meant everything. They all came up to me. It was like the entire team. But that just show that it wasn’t on bad terms. We still talk to each other. I still care about those guys. I’m somewhere else but I still care about them.”

In snapping a four-game skid, the performance breathed new life into the Scarlet Knights’ post-season quest. Rutgers needs one more victory over their final three games to go bowling - something which seems more realistic than it did a day earlier.

“He was on the money today. You could see it in his preparations, you could see what he was going to do in this game,” Miller said.

“We’re just getting together, correcting mistakes. When we’re playing our best, all 11 guys are executing their jobs, and that is what we did today, 11 guys executing.“

Another who sought him out after the game was Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck.

“(Fleck) told me that he was happy for me, and that meant a lot to me to hear that from him,” Kaliakmanis said. “He went out of his way and came up to me and told me he was happy for me and happy for what I have been doing, and I’m really happy for him, too. I had a great relationship with him for three years.”

For Kaliakmanis, the heroics are part of a season that’s seen him stabilize the position post-Gavin Wimsatt, giving them a fighting chance with the ability to throw the ball downfield. But with a strong ground game, he’d been more a game manager than a difference maker.

But he came through with his best performance in a Big Ten game when Rutgers needed it most, playing for its season without star running back Kyle Monangai, as the ground game was limited to 109 yards. He finished with 17 of 23 for 240 yards, with a number of drops taking away from his final stat line.

And it came against a Minnesota team that had already punched its postseason ticket, coming in with six wins already.

The game-winning points came after a defensive fumble recovery at the 12-yard-line, and just before a Rutgers sack in the end zone resulted a safety to put them up 23-16.

Kaliakmanis’ performance could not have come at a more critical juncture in an important season for Rutgers football.

There was the momentum generated by becoming bowl eligible a year ago, and beating Miami in the Pinstripe Bowl. And the program’s place in a Rutgers resurgence, alongside a preseason top-25 basketball team. All at a time when the school is trying to find its place in an expanding Big Ten, while trying to squeeze booster, alumni and businesses for NIL the dollars needed to compete in the new age of big-time college athletics.

It was all amplified by a 4-0 start that seemed to secure a path to the postseason. Now there’s a chance to salvage something, even if it doesn’t measure up to some of the lofty preseason prognostications.

Kaliakmanis finished with a rating of 136.5, his highest since league play began. He opened the day with a 1-yard TD pass to Miller, before the two hooked up on a 17-yard TD connection in the second quarter to put Rutgers up 14-9.

Everything is year-to-year now college football. What happened a season ago doesn’t matter nearly as much at a time when the sport has become so transactional. You take care of business today, and worry about next season when the current one’s over.

The Rutgers season comes down to next weekend’s game at Maryland, a home clash with Illinois and a regular seasons-ending showdown at Michigan State, needing one win to qualify for a bowl bid.

Were it not for Kaliakmanis’ heroics against his former team, however, those three games would have a lot less meaning than they do right now.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Rutgers QB torches ex-teammates in season-saving win over Minnesota