On Nov. 15, 1890, the Badgers took the field in Minneapolis in the first game played in what is now the longest rivalry in college football history. Over a hundred years of wars in the trenches, game winning kicks and heralded running attacks. We need only look back to last season's Jonathan Casillas ""punt block heard round the world"" to understand what makes the battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe so special.
However, although it was just a 38-14 victory by an undefeated Wisconsin team, the Badgers' win over Minnesota in 2004 provided an unforgettable sight.
As Gopher quarterback Bryan Cupito was tackled at midfield, the clock hit :00, and a 5'10"" defensive back raced across the field, making sure he was the very first Badger to get his hands on the trophy. The euphoria in Scott Starks' face could be felt in every seat in the packed Camp Randall, especially those left empty by early departing Minnesota fans.
""There were a lot of other people saying they were going to be first, so I had to get a little head start,"" said Scott Starks, now a member of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars. ""I was basically already out on the field before the last play even ended. It was a dead sprint then.""
It seemed that Starks' entire UW career was a dead sprint. His relentlessness endeared him to coaches, teammates and fans and frustrated his opponents. At his position he was supposedly undersized, but you certainly couldn't tell from the way he played the game.
Starks' determination to get to the Axe first reflected his passion to emerge victorious in the border battle, which he emphasizes, embodies a lot of respect from both teams.
""When you walk into the locker room, you see the big trophy case with the big Axe in it,"" Starks said, reflecting on his glory days with UW. ""You don't want to go the whole next season without the Axe in there because it just looks bad.""
Though Starks' jubilant dash across the field is a great image, the image of No. 2 that sticks out in all Badger fans' minds occurred just two weeks before. With less than three minutes remaining in Wisconsin's battle against also undefeated Purdue, then-Heisman front-runner, Kyle Orton rolled out. As he tried to get down after passing the first-down marker, Robert Brooks laid a devastating hit on him, knocking the ball loose. Starks scooped up the ball and scampered 40 yards for what ended up being the game winning touchdown and the derailment of Orton's season.
At the conclusion of the season, the play was voted the Ponitac Game-changing Performance, giving $1,000 dollars worth of scholarships to five randomly selected UW students.
""It just felt real good to make a big play for the whole university,"" Starks said. ""The best part was to bring a little money into the university and supply a couple students with a little extra money.""
Now, Starks, who says his transition to the NFL is going smoothly this season, again is part of a team that is undefeated midway through the year. The Jaguars are rolling after a 38-0 beat down of the Jets, and Starks says that there's something special about this team that brings back some pleasurable memories.
""It's great. It's just like my last year at college,"" Starks said of the defense that sported stars like Jimmy Leonhard, Antaj Hawthorne, Jason Jefferson and Erasmus James. ""It was good having a great defense then and being part of something great. It's the same thing here. I got a lot of great players around me.""
Though he's hanging with the rich and the famous in Jacksonville, Starks still makes time to watch his old team. What makes him most happy is to see the success of the guys that were just freshmen while he left his post as the Badgers premier defensive back.
""I'm just really happy to see some of the guys that were younger when I was there that were DBs that I was trying to mentor to step it up and become great players like Allen Langford and Jack Ikegwonu,"" Starks said.
But what is most telling about Starks' assessment of the Badgers is his unrelenting praises for new head coach Bret Bielema. Bielema, who became defensive coordinator in Starks sophomore season, made an immediate impact on him.
""Bielema's got it all down real good,"" Starks said. ""As soon as he came in, he just told me what my role was going to be and how he saw me affecting the team in a positive way. I just tried to follow what he asked me to do.""
Whatever Bielema said, Starks has followed certainly—and to a successful career at that.
As for the game Saturday, Starks' pick to get to the Axe first? He says, ""he'll put his money"" on safety Roderick Rogers, without a doubt in his voice that UW will lose the game.
""We just take pride in it,"" Starks said. ""We take pride in the Axe and we take pride in putting that ‘W' on our side.""
