P.J. Fleck introduced a new what-if talking point this past week during his annual media tour at the Minnesota State Fair.

During stops at the KFAN and FOX 9 booths on Thursday, the Gophers football coach wondered aloud what the perception of this year’s team would be if it had not blown leads in 2023 losses to Northwestern in September and Illinois in November.

Minnesota allowed a game-tying touchdown to the Wildcats with two seconds left in regulation and lost 37-34 in overtime at Ryan Field. Two months later, the U surrendered a long touchdown pass with 50 seconds remaining to the Illini and fell 27-26 at Huntington Bank Stadium.

With those two stinging defeats, the U finished 6-7 last season. It came after consecutive 9-4 campaigns in 2021 and ’22.

“There is still a bad taste in our mouth from those games,” Fleck said on his weekly radio show. “But let’s say we did (win those two games) and let’s say we go 8-5. … The narrative would be, ‘Oh my gosh. Minnesota (had) another good season: eight wins. And they got everybody back.’

“But we lost in the final second of two games that we know we shouldn’t have (lost). Then people say, ‘Oh, 6-7.’ Now people wrote us off.”

The Gophers have 15 of 16 starters returning this fall and believe they have upgraded at the other spot — quarterback — with sixth-year transfer Max Brosmer replacing Athan Kaliakmanis.

But the U’s over-under win total for 2024 is set at 5 1/2 wins.

On his weekly TV show at the Fair, Fleck said that the program held one team meeting to address external expectations. He said he doesn’t like to dive into hypotheticals, but he repeated what he had just said within the hour on the radio.

While it’s certainly plausible the Gophers could have finished off the Illinois and Northwestern games last season, Minnesota also benefitted from two close games that went the other way late for wins — against Nebraska in August and versus Iowa in October.

In the season opener, receiver Daniel Jackson caught a pass on the edge of the end zone, scraped his big toe in-bounds just before his other heel touched out of bounds for a touchdown . After that tying score with two minutes remaining, Dragan Kesich made a 47-yard field goal as time expired for a 13-10 win over the Cornhuskers.

Then in the rivalry game in Iowa City, Hawkeyes returner Cooper DeJean’s punt return touchdown was called back for an invalid fair catch signal and the U won 12-10 at Kinnick Stadium.

That’s literal inches and a fortuitous video review that led to a rare call from officials from those two wins becoming two other late losses.

In that alternative universe where all the bad luck becomes a sinkhole, the Gophers finish 3-9. They don’t end the regular season at 5-7, which is what happened, and can’t benefit from their strong Academic Progress Rate (APR) to get a chance for a sixth win in a bowl game.

Hypotheticals can be presented just as easily in a less-favorable direction, too.

But some coaches and rosy-eyed fans want to entertain this what-if game to make themselves feel better, boost their team up and ponder what might have been after disappointing seasons. Part of Fleck’s job, of course, is to motivate.

The 2023 Gophers were 6-7; that’s a fact. As the adage goes: You are what your record says you are.

The refreshing thing is the Gophers don’t have to look back any longer. After nine months, a new season is upon them and they can start to set their new record in the season opener against North Carolina on Thursday, followed by 11 more games to try to improve it.

“Internally, we feel like we are a really good football team,” Fleck said on FOX 9. “We have a lot of depth. We keep the outside noise as noise; I’m really proud of our team for doing that.

“And they believe in each other,” Fleck continued. “They have committed so hard to one another in the offseason. I get to see that every day. The outside people that make those (win/loss) predictions don’t get a chance to see the heart and soul and the spirit of your team — really what they are made of. That is what we get to see. I love our football team. I’m really confident in them. and look forward to the season.”

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