Timeline of P.J. Fleck's first four years with the Gophers

Fleck at Minnesota

P.J. Fleck carries a 26-19 record into his fifth season with the Gophers. The details:

Year 1 5-7

High point: The Gophers steamrolled Nebraska 54-21 on Nov. 11 to reach 5-5, one win short of bowl eligibility.

Low point: A week later on a windy, sleet-filled day in Evanston, Ill., the Gophers fell 39-0 to Northwestern.

Quotable: "It's unfortunate. It hurts. It's not pretty whatsoever and there are no excuses for it, so I take 100 percent blame. We've got to get better.'' — Fleck after the Northwestern loss.

Year 2 7-6

Low point: The Gophers surrendered 430 rushing yards and 646 yards total in a 55-31 loss at Illinois. The next day, Fleck fired defensive coordinator Robb Smith and promoted Joe Rossi to the role.

Quotable: "When you hold the Axe, now you know why everybody wants it so much. It's a very surreal feeling.'' — Fleck after the win at Wisconsin.

Year 3 11-2

High point: In front of a sellout crowd at TCF Bank Stadium, the No. 13 Gophers beat No. 5 Penn State 31-26, their first win over a top-five team since 1999.

Low point: A week after beating Penn State, the Gophers came out flat at Iowa and trailed 13-0 on the way to a 23-19 loss. Had they won the game and other results stayed the same, the Gophers would have played in the Big Ten Championship Game.

Year4 3-4

High point: Playing without more than 30 players because of COVID-19 and injuries, the Gophers beat Nebraska 24-17 in Lincoln.

Low point: The Gophers aren't competitive at all in a 35-7 loss to Iowa in which they scored their only points with 14 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz used all three of his second-half timeouts with 19 seconds left.