“We did not play Gopher football and winning Gopher football like we have over the last however many weeks,” Fleck said.

Fleck’s “finish strong” portion of the mantra will be tested again after the Gophers return from their second bye week. Fourth-ranked Penn State visits Huntington Bank Stadium on Nov. 23, and the Gophers finish the regular season at archrival Wisconsin on Friday, Nov. 29.

The last two games have meaning. First, the Gophers are playing for bowl positioning. A 2-0 finish with an upset of Penn State, and maybe they get back in the mix for one of two Florida bowls, the Citrus in Orlando and Reliaquest in Tampa. Go 1-1, and Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte and the Music City Bowl in Nashville are possibilities. An 0-2 finish for a 6-6 record could drop them to the Rate Bowl in Phoenix, the Pinstripe Bowl in New York and even, again, to Detroit for the GameAbove Sports Bowl.

What’s more important than the bowl destination is finishing strong to show that the program is improving, and a 6-6 record does little of that. The four-game win streak, highlighted by the field-storming triumph over then-No. 11 USC and the victory at then-No. 24 Illinois, re-energized the fan base and drew some casual fans to the table. Saturday’s loss to Rutgers was a splash of mud on a previously shiny fender.

The Gophers can buff that right out, though, if they follow the mantra.