It’s amazing how sports can remind us so there’s so much more to life than them.

Just ask Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan, who underwent a rowboat-load of scrutiny after a poor performance against Bowling Green last week, then smiled his way through a press conference while talking about how much his dad, who died of cancer before the season, meant to him.

Or receiver Dylan Wright, who missed Saturday’s game to be in his Texas hometown after the shooting death of high school teammate Aaron Lowe. The Utah cornerback is the second friend Wright has lost in the past year.

The platitudes and acronyms can wear on you, but the Golden Gophers’ “F.A.M.I.L.Y.” one should resonate. “Forget About Me I Love You.”

It puts things in perspective. And, to a much less important extent, it allows them to hang tough in adverse circumstances like the ones they faced Saturday.

Purdue in a rainstorm isn’t exactly hell on Earth (well, Ross-Ade Stadium in the muck might be). Kidding aside, though, after everything Minnesota has been through, Saturday could’ve easily turned into a tide-turner in the wrong direction.

That was especially true when linebacker Mariano Sori-Marin went down in the first quarter.

But a much-improved defense held tight. Morgan made enough plays to be dangerous and took care of the ball. And the Gophers did a little more than enough in a 20-13 win on the heels of one of the worst upsets in recent memory.

This is what a PJ Fleck-led Gophers group looks like with its back against the wall in its own burrow.

For the first time in 18 tries under Fleck, Minnesota came back to win after trailing at halftime.

“I’m just proud of the resilience of this football team,” Fleck said, “and not only through the game, but what they went through this entire week to stick together.”

The external noise was calling for Morgan to be benched after a dismal showing against Bowling Green, a 30.5-point underdog a week ago. One local paper even sought out Fleck to ask him if he was considering benching his starter since 2019.

Good thing he didn’t.

Morgan wasn’t perfect in a locale that’s within driving distance of his Kentucky hometown. But he was better, especially in the turnover category. His 32-yard touchdown pass to Chris Autman-Bell and a couple well-placed deep balls to Mike Brown-Stephens reminded folks how good that arm can be when it’s protected and in rhythm.

“Winning is fun, and football is fun, too,” Morgan said. “In football, it’s not always going to be the highs. It’s going to be the lows, too. You’re going to have to respond.”

And after ranking near the bottom of the Big Ten in most defensive categories last season, Minnesota held Jeff Brohm’s oft-tricky attack in check.

The Gophers tallied 4 sacks for the third consecutive week. Purdue didn’t score after the break.

“We just had to swallow (last week) and get back to work,” said linebacker Jack Gibbens.

Now comes a bye week. Then Nebraska at home.

Oh yeah, Nebraska. The team Minnesota beat despite missing 33 players due to COVID-19 last season.

This team isn’t perfect. May or not make a bowl game. But it sticks together.

And that’s a lesson in unity that can extend well past the white lines of a football field.

“Just a gutsy win for us,” Fleck said. “It was a very hard week.”