MINNEAPOLIS -- Is it heartbreak or optimism?
That depends on how Rutgers ultimately recovers from this latest gut-punch, which came hard and fast on a 28-yard field goal as the Scarlet Knights tried to protect their first lead of the now five-game-old conference season.
At one point headed for a third blowout loss in five Big Ten games under first-year coach Chris Ash, Rutgers led Minnesota with 10 seconds remaining after a wild series of second-half momentum shifts.
The final dagger though was Emmit Carpenter's field goal to send Rutgers to a 34-32 defeat in front of 46,096 at TCF Bank Stadium.