Gophers defensive back Aydan West hauled in a game-changing interception with five minutes remaining in the third quarter of Minnesota’s historic home win over Michigan on Saturday.

Amid the euphoric celebration with his teammates, West dropped the ball to the turf.

The moment it touched synthetic grass, Maverick Baranowski and Matt Kingsbury stopped in their tracks and turned back to retrieve the pigskin and hand it to the officials.

The ball is the program.

It’s one of many mantras in P.J. Fleck’s football program. And, as is the case with all of them, it is valued to the maximum degree.

“The ball is everything. It’s so important, they named the game after it,” Fleck said. “If the ball is the program, it’s gotta be a huge deal. So, when we go hand the ball to the official, that’s a big deal in our program.”

To the point where, one day after claiming the Little Brown Jug on home soil for the first time since 1977, a point of emphasis was handing the ball to the referee.

“We’re not doing an elite job of that,” Fleck said.

The ball cannot touch the turf. Even at practice, the only people allowed to throw the ball are the quarterbacks and the punter.

It sounds over the top, as many things with Fleck often do. But, as is also usually the case, there’s a method to the madness. It’s why Minnesota wins football games.

The Gophers trailed 14-7 at halftime as a product of two Drake Lindsey interceptions that resulted in all 14 Wolverines points.

But Michigan returned the favor in the second half, turning the ball over thrice in a span of four touches — a muffed punt and two Bryce Underwood interceptions — which led to 13 Gophers points and, ultimately, the victory.

Fleck cited a stat that Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham is 104-17 all-time when his teams win the turnover battle. The winning percentage drops to 38% when he loses it.

“If we didn’t win the turnover battle,” Fleck said, “we weren’t going to win that game.”

Which is often true, especially in this era of college football. Minnesota is at a resource deficiency when compared to the Big Ten’s prominent programs. The Gophers’ aren’t flush with NIL money, nor five-star recruits.

Fleck’s challenge: Find a way to win anyway.

There is one single stat on display in the Gophers’ team room: the program’s record in one-possession games year by year during Fleck’s tenure. The Gophers are 29-17 in that department since he took over in 2017, and 6-1 since the start of last season.

This year, Minnesota is 2-0 after opening the conference slate with one-possession wins over Washington and Michigan. The Gophers, who play Saturday in Purdue, win on the margins. They’ve turned what should be a 50-50 proposition into an advantage.

They do so by not beating themselves. Fleck’s program is one of the most disciplined in the country.

Since the start of the 2022 campaign, Minnesota has won or tied the turnover battle in 72% of its tilts, including 15 of its last 18. In the last four and a half seasons, the Gophers have tied or won the penalty yards battle at a 74% clip. Minnesota does not shoot itself in the foot.

“To win games, you have to stop losing it first,” Fleck said.

Those percentages represent the discipline you’d expect out of a military academy. Fleck’s program produces them through an “obsessive” commitment to details.

“I’m not saying we’re perfect. We’ve lost a lot of games, at Western Michigan and at Minnesota,” Fleck said. “But do you give your team the best chance to win? And do they believe and buy into the best chance to win? And are they doing it on a daily basis, obsessively?”

That’s where Fleck’s job as the “accountability coach” kicks in. It’s why he wears a microphone at practice. If someone drops the ball 90 yards away, he calls it out. It’s not a convenient or necessarily even efficient way to run things, but seemingly small things aren’t allowed to slide.

“Is it kind of not a big deal? Or is it the biggest deal? If the ball is the program, it’s gotta be a huge deal,” Fleck said. “That doesn’t make or break the game but to me, it does. Because if we’re going to obsess over the ball and say it is the program, then it has to be coached. … That’s the discipline to make sure that every single thing is coached. And that’s hard. That’s a decision people make.”

That approach extends far beyond turnovers. Those draw the headlines, but Minnesota also emphasizes tackling and explosive plays on both sides of the field, situational football and, yes, penalties.

Fleck has worked with many coaches with varying beliefs. Some don’t want to be “the least-penalized team” for fear of that signaling a lack of aggression or “not playing hard enough.” He takes a different approach.

“I want to be the least penalized team in the country — one of them,” he said. “And I want them to be able to play harder than anybody else. And I want to be the best team we possibly can be and be built on heart, how, toughness, discipline. You want all of that.

“Well, you’re going to get what you emphasize.”

For Minnesota, it’s the minutiae that not only aids in development — something the program prides itself on — but also the pursuit of victories.

“It’s not just teaching the fundamentals, it’s the attention to detail you give that technique and fundamentals within that scheme that you’re creating. And then you’ve got to do it under the pressure of the situation,” Fleck said. “So, it’s constant.

“We do a ton in the offseason, a ton in fundamental development, because we have to. If you’re a developmental program, then you have to develop. And the way you develop in football, in my opinion, is you’ve got to play it and you’ve got to work on the fundamentals and techniques of the game. Because I think that’s where the margin is.”

“I’m not saying we’re perfect and I’m not saying we have the only formula,” Fleck added. “There’s a lot of ways to do it, there’s a lot of ways to win. But whatever way you pick, you’d better believe in it. And we believe in our way.”