Junior quarterback for Minnesota. 2025: 350 passing yards, 1 TD, 0 INT.
6′1″ · 205 lb · Fort Lauderdale, FL · Cardinal Gibbons
The numbers
passing yards · 2025
The play that turned itSwung Liberty from 21% to 60% to win.Kennesaw State at Liberty · 48-42
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Junior quarterback for Minnesota. 2025: 350 passing yards, 1 TD, 0 INT.
Michael Merdinger
Michael Merdinger has played for two head coaches across two seasons and two programs. One game to point at: 212 pass yds, 13 rush yds against Kennesaw State — Week 14, 2025.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
His career
The role got bigger.
Career arc
Where He Ended Up · Transfer
Transferred to Minnesota
| Season | Team | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Liberty | 21 | 41 | 51.2% | 350 | 8.5 | 1 | 0 | 131.0 | 41 | -- | -- |
| 2024 | North Carolina | 9 | 12 | 75.0% | 86 | 7.2 | 0 | 1 | 118.5 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 30 | 53 | 56.6% | 436 | 8.2 | 1 | 1 | 128.2 | 41 | -- | -- |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Liberty | 19 | 28 | 1.5 | 1 | -- |
| 2024 | North Carolina | 5 | -31 | -6.2 | 0 | -- |
| Career | 24 | -3 | -0.1 | 1 | -- |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 5 games
| Wk | Opp | CMP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | YPA | QBR | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 3 | L 13-23@ Bowling Green | 0/1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | |
| Wk 4 | L 13-31vs James Madison | 2/6 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 3.5 | 24.6 | |
| Wk 5 | L 7-21@ Old Dominion | 6/11 | 77 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 13.2 | |
| Wk 10 | W 59-30vs Delaware | 1/2 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 20.0 | 98.9 | |
| Wk 14 | L 42-48vs Kennesaw State | 12/21 | 212 | 1 | 0 | 10.1 | 66.1 | Season-high 212 yds |
| Total | 21/41 | 350 | 1 | 0 | 8.1 | 40.6 |
Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|
The plays that mattered most
Season context · Team result + system
Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort
Box-score percentiles
Elite: interceptions (99th percentile). Strength: fumbles lost (91st percentile). Concern: pass yards (0th percentile).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Zeitgeist Passer Rating
2025 · our own passing-efficiency number, shown next to the 1979 formula it does not replace.
Thin sample: 46 dropbacks41Zeitgeist Passer Ratingnot ranked until 125 dropbacks
--NCAA passer ratingno box-score line yet
Positive-play rate weight 24%
40.4%13th pct of FBS QBsshare of dropbacks that gained expected points · +3.5% schedule adj.Yards per attempt weight 56%
6.8743th pct of FBS QBssacks excluded · +0.4 schedule adj.Sack rate weight 21% (penalty)
13.8%0th pct of FBS QBsthe input passer rating cannot see · -1.4% schedule adj.Opponent-adjusted; garbage time excluded (2 of 48 dropbacks dropped). 50 = FBS average; the number is pulled toward 50 when the sample is thin. How ZPR is built.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 5 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home3g | 91.0 | 0.3 | 11.2 | 0.0 |
| Road2g | 38.5 | 0.0 | 3.5 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-73g | 32.7 | 0.0 | 3.5 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 126 | 0.5 | 15.1 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
P.J. Fleck
Pass share
57.1%
112 pass / 84 run
Plays / game
65.3
3 games
Scheme: Pass-leaning.
Player standing · 2025
Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.
Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
1 of the team's 23 inside-the-5 carries (4.3%).
The No. 1,048 recruit in the country is starting at quarterback in the Big Ten as a junior.
OVERVIEW: Enrolled at Minnesota in January 2026 • spent the 2025 season at Liberty and the 2024 season at North Carolina. PREVIOUS SCHOOLS: Played one season at Liberty (2025) and one season at North Carolina (2024). LIBERTY: Played in five games (two starts) and completed 12-of-21 passes for…