MINNEAPOLIS'It is said that history repeats itself. If this is true, then the Wisconsin football team has had a repeating nightmare.
In a contest that typified the Badgers' 2001 season, poor defensive schemes obscured a strong offensive effort as Wisconsin fell to rival Minnesota 42-31 at the Metrodome Saturday.
\We couldn't come up with answers for [Minnesota's] offense,"" Wisconsin Head Coach Barry Alvarez said.
In a game filled with offensive prowess, the Badgers (5-7, 3-5 Big Ten) struck first as freshman tailback Anthony Davis scored on a 3-yard score to cap a 12-play, 80-yard drive and give the Badgers an early 7-0 lead.
Minnesota (4-7, 2-6) roared back four plays later on a 59-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Asad Abdul-Khaliq to sophomore tight end Ben Utecht.
As quickly as the Gophers tied the game, Wisconsin retook the lead as junior quarterback Brooks Bollinger bootlegged from four yards out to give the Badgers a 14-7 lead.
Minnesota scored on its next two possessions, capped by a 38-yard touchdown pass to Utecht early in the second quarter.
Then Davis struck back for UW. Breaking through the Gopher line, Davis headed off for a touchdown. However, before he broke the plane of the goal line, the ball was popped loose by Minnesota junior defensive back Mike Lehan and went through the endzone. Despite replays that showed otherwise, the back judge called the play a touchdown, knotting the score at 21-21.
Late in the second quarter, Minnesota junior running back Tellis Redmond ran around the left side on an end around and scampered for 60 yards down to the Wisconsin 1-yard line. One play later, Gopher freshman halfback Marion Barber III scored to give the lead back to Minnesota 28-21.
The Badgers regained momentum midway through the third quarter as senior wide receiver Nick Davis put UW's offense on Minnesota's 4-yard line with a 66-yard punt return.
Davis felt he had the capability of breaking a long run on the punt.
""I just saw that I had a little bit of room as I caught the ball,"" Davis said.
One play later Anthony Davis'who finished the game with 208 rushing yards'ran in his third score of the day, tying the game again at 28-28.
With his performance Saturday, Davis set a NCAA record with his 10th 100-yard-plus rushing day. The old mark was nine, held by former tailbacks Tony Dorsett of Pittsburgh and New Mexico State's Ron ""Po"" James.
After a field goal by sophomore kicker Mark Neuser gave the Badgers the lead again at 31-28, the Gophers struck back quickly as senior wide receiver Ron Johnson beat senior cornerback Mike Echols and scored a 45-yard touchdown to give Minnesota a 35-31 advantage.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Gophers faked a 49-yard field goal as junior punter Preston Gruening shoveled a pass to sophomore tailback Thomas Tapeh to get a critical first down. Six plays later, Minnesota capped off a 16 play, 71-yard drive with a touchdown to put the final margin at 42-31.
Alvarez said he felt the Gophers' quick strike offense was the difference in the game.
""We just gave up too many big plays [defensively],"" Alvarez said.
Obscured in the loss was junior wide receiver Lee Evans, whose nine receptions for 151 yards gave him the Big Ten record for most receiving yardage in a season. Hauling down 1,545 yards, Evans broke former Ohio State receiver David Boston's mark of 1,435 yards.
