Minnesota lost its first game of the season Thursday night, and it made Game 1 mistakes throughout.

But so too did the stadium pyrotechnic crew, who set off fireworks just minutes after the Gophers missed a 47-yard field goal that would have walked off a win for PJ Fleck and Co. GopherHole, a local Minnesota outlet, caught the scene.

 

The Gophers had a 14-7 lead at the half over the visiting Tar Heels on Thursday night. Missing their top running back, Minnesota’s offense was largely ineffective throughout the game but the defense did enough to give Minnesota a chance.

A fumble from quarterback Max Brosmer with a little over 11 minutes to play set North Carolina up just outside the red zone and led to a go-ahead field goal from the Tar Heels. On its next possession, Minnesota drove down to the UNC 10 but got no further and was forced to kick a field goal from the 12 to retake a 17-16 lead.

With 1:44 to play, UNC kicked a 45-yard field goal to take back the lead at 19-17 and give the ball to the home side with time to drive.

Three plays in and Minnesota had moved from its own 25 to the UNC 32. A holding penalty negated a run that would have pushed the Gophers down into the red zone. From there, Minnesota gained just 13 more yards before calling a timeout with 4 seconds on the clock to set up a 47-yard field goal attempt from the right hash.

Kicker Dragan Kesich, who missed from 27 early in the game, pushed the kick wide right.

“I told our team at the very end, this is a team loss. Period,” Fleck told reporters in his postgame press conference. “This isn’t lost by one person. This isn’t lost by one play. We had a lot of opportunities on offense and defense and special teams, just like they did.”

The Gophers return to action next Saturday when they host Rhode Island (noon ET, Peacock).