Minutes before the Golden Gophers were set to kickoff the program’s biggest football game in 50 years, Heather Fleck couldn’t help but be struck by the scene at TCF Bank Stadium.

Just two weeks ago, there were plenty of empty seats for the 7-0 Gophers game against Maryland. Now as they prepared to take on No. 4 Penn State, there was maroon and gold as far as the eye could see. Fleck took out her phone and grabbed a video of the festivities for her husband, P.J., who too often lets the chill of the present be overcome by the sweat of preparation.

“It was like an ah-ha moment for me, and I took a video for him because sometimes you get so caught up in the future and what’s going on. You’ve got to enjoy the moments,” she said. “I have to record this and make sure he remembers it.”

There were ah-ha moments all over the stadium on Saturday in a landmark victory. For the coach’s wife who has watched her husband pour his...