MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Minnesota Golden Gophers took a seven-point deficit into halftime after two costly interceptions fed Michigan Wolverines touchdowns, the type of mistakes that can be hard to overcome against upper-level Big Ten teams.

The Gophers weren't fazed. And maybe the Wolverines don't belong in the top tier this year.

“I thought we dominated in every single phase,” Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck said. “Even when it didn’t go well, we were in command of the game because of the response and the belief.”

Drake Lindsey made up for his turnovers with the go-ahead touchdown pass to Darius Taylor early in the fourth quarter, and the Gophers defense overwhelmed Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood on Saturday in a 20-14 victory that was their first over the Wolverines since 2014.

Aydan West and Zack Harden set up scores with interceptions in the second half to help the Gophers (4-1, 2-0) hoist the Little Brown Jug trophy in front of their home crowd for the first time in 49 years and revel in the swarm of fans on the field afterward.

“This win, we knew we had it in us,” said West, a Michigan State transfer.

The Wolverines (3-2, 0-2) had won 35 of their last 38 games in the 134-year-old series since the No. 1 team in the Associated Press poll on Oct. 22, 1977, lost 16-0 at Memorial Stadium.

“I've been in this profession 40-some years, and this is the biggest challenge I’ve had,” new coach Kyle Whittingham said. “We will get it figured out. I promise you that. I'm not sure what the timeline is, but we will get it figured out.”

Underwood went just 10 for 21 for 101 yards and ran 10 times for 20 yards for the Wolverines (3-2, 0-2), who have failed to reach the 20-point mark in four of their five games and have lost their first two conference games for the first time since 2014.

One of Michigan's touchdowns came on a 79-yard interception return by Minnesota native Nathaniel Staehling - a North Dakota State transfer - to give the Wolverines a 14-7 lead with 2:48 left before halftime.

The pressure generated by Wolverines linebackers was by far their best asset. Smith Snowden picked off Lindsey's off-balance heave with Troy Bowles in his face in the first quarter, giving Michigan the ball at the Minnesota 34 to set up a touchdown run by Jordan Marshall.

Special teams weren’t exempt from the blame, either: Andrew Marsh muffed a punt return in the third quarter that the Gophers recovered at the 17 to set up the first of two short field goals by Luke Drzewiecki.

The start time was 11 hours earlier for the Gophers and their body clocks than last week, when they won 27-24 at Washington for their first road win since Nov. 29, 2024, at Wisconsin.

Fox sent its “Big Noon Kickoff” pregame show for the first time to Minnesota, where Huntington Bank Stadium was striped out with fans wearing maroon and gold alternating by section. Fleck crowd-surfed from the studio stage into a sea of students in front of the hockey arena across the street.

Michigan's late collapse in a 20-19 loss to Iowa last week took some luster off this nationally televised matchup, which now occurs only two or three times in every five-year cycle in the Big Ten's schedule format for the recently expanded 18-team league.

Michigan: The Wolverines had just 24 plays for 82 yards in the second half and allowed seven tackles for loss by the Gophers, including three sacks of Underwood, leaving Whittingham mystified about the ineffectiveness of the offense one week after a productive game against a strong Iowa defense.

“We're so far away right now from where we need to be,” Whittingham said.

Minnesota: The Gophers are unbeaten in Big Ten play by winning on the margins. Drzewiecki, a transfer from New Mexico, has not missed a field goal or an extra point. The entire team had one penalty for 5 yards.

Minnesota plays at Purdue next Saturday.

Michigan has next week off and hosts Penn State on Oct. 17.

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