The scent of lit cigarettes and cigars emanated out of the visiting locker room at Camp Randall Stadium on Friday afternoon. That smoke signal meant the Gophers had beaten the host Badgers for Paul Bunyan’s Axe

Minnesota had set a smoke-‘em-if-ya-got-‘em celebratory precedent by lighting up after their road win in Madison, Wis., two years ago, with senior linebacker Mariano Sori-Marin puffing on his stogie after he went into the next-door media room for a news conference.

For Minnesota, this holiday weekend’s dominating 24-7 win over Wisconsin meant the U has posted its first winning season — 7-5 overall and 5-4 in Big Ten — since 2022. After a 5-7 regular season a year ago, the bounce back should be considered a success with a rivalry game win amid a rugged schedule in an expanded power conference. And with preseason oddsmakers pegging the U to win five games again this fall.

“I’m really proud of our team,” head coach P.J. Fleck said postgame. “I’m really proud of the resolve and the resiliency all year.”

But the 2024 season also comes with a list of what-ifs that might have pushed the Gophers’ win total to eight, nine and maybe even 10 wins. Look no further than their 3-4 record in one-possession games; those four defeats were by a combined 13 points.

“It could be a lot of different things,” Fleck said. “I don’t live in the coulda, woulda, shoulda world, but there is a really good football team who fought, scratched and clawed all year and kept rowing the boat.”

One or two more wins would be the difference in going to Duke’s Mayo, Music City or Guaranteed Rate bowls — their current possible destinations  — and going to one of the Florida bowls — Citrus and ReliaQuest (former Outback). Three more wins and the Gophers would be flirting with a spot in the expanded College Football Playoff.

Yet let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. One danger of hypotheticals is the flip side. Southern California and Illinois — which were the Gophers’ two ranked wins in 2024 — can share similar laments of how those one-possession games slipped away from them.

A look at the Gophers’ roster shows how they could have won more this season. The U did a great job retaining its players after the 2023 season and had 20-plus seniors on the roster, including more than a dozen key contributors.

And transfer Max Brosmer provided the Gophers their best quarterback play since peak Tanner Morgan in 2019. Brosmer was highly reliable with a 67 percent completion percentage, 2,617 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and only five interceptions. He added five more rushing TDs.

Next year, the U will hand the keys of the offense over to Drake Lindsey. The redshirt freshman has made strides in his opening year at Minnesota, but growing pains are to be expected in his debut season at the most important position.

Fleck feels “really good” about the Gophers’ ability to keep key returning players out of the NCAA transfer portal and on the roster for next season, but only time will tell how successful they will be. (Some players are bound to leave, and that might not necessarily be a bad thing if they are low on the depth chart.)

Given these circumstances, those four losses make fans wonder about what might have been this fall:

Aug, 19: 19-17 home loss to North Carolina

It’s likely a win if … all-Big Ten kicker Dragan Kesich makes a 47-yard field goal on the final play of the game.

But … Minnesota missed too many tackles in the season opener, and Brosmer was a bit jittery in his first start at the FBS level.

Why it stings: The Tar Heels were a .500 team in 2024, gave up 70 points to James Madison a few weeks after beating Minnesota and fired head coach Mack Brown last week.

Sept, 28: 27-24 road loss to Michigan

It’s likely a win if … an offside call against the Gophers on an onside kick doesn’t negate a U recovery in the final two minutes.

But … the Gophers would have still needed to drive down the field for either a game-tying field goal or game-winning touchdown. No guarantee there. Also, they dug a huge 24-3 hole and allowed a 14-play, 58-yard field-goal drive that ended up putting the game out of reach at 27-17.

Why it stings: The Wolverines are unlikely to be this beatable going forward. The Big Ten changed its officiating mechanics after acknowledging the offside was too close to call, but that’s of little consolation.

Nov. 9: 26-19 road loss to Rutgers

It’s likely a win if … tight end Jameson Geers doesn’t fumble in the shadow of the Gophers goalposts midway through the fourth quarter.

But … Minnesota failed to apply enough pressure on ex-U quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis in the first half, and the Gophers offensive line allowed Brosmer to be harassed too often, including on a damaging safety.

Why it stings: Kaliakmanis got revenge on his former team with three touchdowns, and the loss snapped the U’s four-game winning streak.

Nov. 23: 26-25 home loss to No. 4 Penn State

It’s likely a win if … Minnesota doesn’t settle for three field goals and doesn’t finish minus-2 in turnover margin.

But … the U’s failed trick play of a throwback to left tackle Aireontae Ersery in the fourth quarter led to one of those FG drivers. Brosmer’s fluky fumble and first interception in 206 pass attempts — along with no defensive takeaways — aren’t in recipe for pulling off an upset.

Why it stings: The Nittany Lions appeared ripe for the picking this year, and a dramatic win would have harkened back to the U’s previous upset of Penn State in its dream season of 2019.

Bottom line

Nearly every college football team can point to a few games that got away and wonder how things might have been different.

The 2023 Gophers were the same way, suffering regrettably losses to Northwestern, Illinois and Purdue. Yet it didn’t change their overall record.

In the end, no matter how close it might have been, and how if one thing went differently, those games are still marks in the loss column.

So, it’s better to enjoy what you have — and a winning record, with a victory in a rivalry game, is nice. And a bowl game in a newer destination — not Detroit — is an upshot.

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