In three games against top-5 opponents Texas Christian, Ohio State and Iowa this season, the Gophers have scored late touchdowns to cut leads to seven points or less.
On the next special teams play, Minnesota has attempted to recover onside kicks and really put the pressure on. But all three times a poor kick gave the Gophers little to no chance of pulling off an upset.
The latest anticlimactic finish came Saturday after the Gophers cut No. 5 Iowa's lead to 40-35 with 1:16 to play. Kicker Ryan Santoso's drop kick sped out of bounds 2 yards shy of the requisite 10 yards and failed to give his teammates a chance to recover.