P.J. Fleck’s Gophers have three games to define their season. Here’s what to expect.

The 2026 Gophers football season , which through nine games is three-fourths complete, won’t go down as a campaign without accomplishments. The evidence sits in the team’s Hall of Fame room, where space was cleared for the Little Brown Jug and Floyd of Rosedale to spend the next year in Dinkytown after the Gophers’ victories over Michigan and Iowa . For Gophers fans, it’s been a season with fun — but not total fulfillment — at Huntington Bank Stadium, where there have been field-storming celebrations after those wins over the Wolverines and Hawkeyes. The Gophers own three victories this year against teams that were either in the Associated Press Top 25 or the AFCA Coaches Poll at the time Minnesota played them. Washington joins Michigan and Iowa in that category. Expanded image view Minnesota Gophers fans stormed the field to celebrate the football team defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes 13-10 on a last minute field goal on Oct. 24, at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. ( Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune ) With three games remaining, the Gophers have a 5-4 overall record and a 3-3 mark in the Big Ten, right in the middle of the conference standings. That reality, though, points to the opportunities they have lost, chances to put a stamp of excellence on the season. And if the Gophers can’t finish strong in the final three games, the season could become downright forgettable. The lost opportunities have been glaring the past two weeks . Advertisement On Oct. 31, the Gophers had defending national champion Indiana all but defeated when kicker Luke Drzewiecki nailed a 60-yard field goal to put Minnesota up 16-13 with 19 seconds to play in the fourth quarter. They didn’t win that game, giving up a 33-yard catch to Hoosiers wideout Charlie Becker, a play that set up Paddy McAteer’s 60-yard field goal to force overtime. In the extra session, Becker quickly caught the winning TD pass. Drzewiecki’s clutch kick went all for naught, just like the Gophers’ fourth-quarter comeback on Saturday against No. 5 UCLA at Huntington Bank Stadium. Minnesota rallied to forge a 17-17 tie with the Bruins 2:10 into the fourth quarter on Drake Lindsey’s 4-yard touchdown pass to little-used tight end George Rohl. On the very next play from scrimmage, UCLA wide receiver Aidan Mizell ran straight down the field, hauled in a pass from Ty Dieffenbach at midfield and frolicked to the end zone for a 75-yard TD and 24-17 Bruins lead. Expanded image view UCLA Bruins wide receiver Aidan Mizell (1) makes a 75-yard reception for a touchdown against the Minnesota Gophers in the fourth quarter at Huntington Bank Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 7, in Minneapolis. ( Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune ) The Gophers answered with a field goal to make it 24-20 with 7:31 to play. Immediately, UCLA went for the jugular, with Dieffenbach hitting Mizell for another 75-yard TD play.