The Minnesota football team's record (0-8 Big Ten, 1-11 overall) coming into Saturday's match up with Wisconsin (5-3, 9-3) was no indication of the way the battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe would turn out.
However, the Badgers were down at halftime 13-10 and tied at 20-20 in the third quarter before the cardinal and white were able to open up a two score lead on the heels of freshman running back Zach Brown. Brown, who finished the game with 250 rushing yards, fourth most in UW history for a true freshman.
Zach played very well today and was able to get another 100 yard performance,"" said UW head coach Bret Bielema following the 41-34 victory. ""After P.J. Hill got hurt, Brown really stepped up his game. As a freshman, it is a difficult task to step in and perform, but Brown was able to do this and help us get to a bowl game.""
Since the injury to sophomore running back P.J. Hill in the Indiana game, Brown has rushed for 461 yards, 421 of which have come in games he has been the starter.
""Every week, I'm proving myself over and over,"" Brown said. ""Every week is a brand new week and you can't go by what you did last week, you have got to keep coming out.""
Almost every time the Gophers scored to tie the game or come within one score, Brown would break off a big run, including two rushes of 64 and 60 yards to set up the Badgers with an opportunity to score.
""I see confidence in his eyes,"" senior quarterback Tyler Donovan said. ""A young guy that loves to play the game ... it was up to him to go out and make it happen and he's done all that.""
Another young playmaker who performed well in the Metrodome was freshman kick return specialist David Gilreath. The New Hope, Minn., native amassed 226 return yards in his ""homecoming.""
""Gilreath had a huge impact on the game today,"" Bielema said. ""He made some big returns that gave us short yardage situations. If this game is any indicator, then I can see only good things to come from David.""
As the Badgers held on to a closer than expected victory, the rivalry between the two schools is clearly alive and heated.
""There was a lot of trash talking. I take it, they don't like us and vice versa so we were going out there and playing for the Axe,"" freshman defensive back Aaron Henry said. ""When you play a rivalry game, you can throw all the records, everything that goes into the game, out the window.""
With Saturday being Minnesota's final game of the season, the battle for the axe was figuratively the Gopher's bowl game, so UW knew they would get a solid effort.
""They were going to go out fighting, and they did a heck of a job doing that,"" senior defensive back Ben Strickland - who capped his final regular season game with an interception - said. ""We were just able to come up with the plays that we needed to and the ball just bounced our way.