The Wisconsin football team erased a 14-point halftime deficit to tie Minnesota 24-24 by the start of the fourth quarter Saturday. The final quarter has posed problems for the Badgers, but that was not the case Saturday.
Back-to-back safeties and a subsequent fumble recovery by the defense led to 11 points on the board for UW within the first three minutes of the final quarter. The Gophers managed to score one more touchdown, but Wisconsin came out on top 35-32 to retain Paul Bunyan's axe for the fifth straight year and
become bowl-eligible with six wins.
You can't ever throw in the towel,"" said senior linebacker Mike Newkirk, who led the defense with seven tackles and two sacks. ""You have to keep going, keep grinding and you can't get down.""
Rather than begin to falter like they had before, the Badgers (3-5 Big Ten, 6-5 overall) pulled out a stellar fourth quarter. Just three plays in, junior quarterback Dustin Sherer launched the ball from the 40-yard line down the field to sophomore wide receiver Isaac Anderson. Anderson snagged the ball while between two Gopher defenders and dove over the goal line for what he thought was his first collegiate touchdown. Unfortunately for Anderson, the officials reversed their call on a Minnesota challenge and placed the ball at the one-yard line.
""I thought I had my first [touchdown] honestly, but it was good to make the play and get us in a position to score,"" Anderson said. ""It was definitely a big confidence booster.""
Junior tailback P.J. Hill pummeled up the middle to cap off the drive with a UW touchdown.
Hill ended the game with 123 yards on 24 carries. Sherer completed 18-of-31 passes for 242 yards, and Anderson had the most catches with six for 114 yards.
More than any other statistic, however, turnovers dictated the balance of the game. UW's three fumbles came in the first half while Minnesota lost two fumbles and an threw interception in the second half.
On the kickoff following Wisconsin's score, freshman defensive back Antonio Fenelus got the ball out of Minnesota kick returner Troy Stoudermire's hands with a solid hit to force a fumble. The ball then bounced out of the end zone to give UW a safety, which was good for a two-point lead and an offensive possession.
""I thought we had a chance to get on that ball in the end zone and get seven points ... instead of two, but that's just a head coach being greedy,"" head coach Bret Bielema said.
The Badgers went three-and-out on the next drive, but Brad Nortman 'spunt left the Gophers on their own seven-yard line. Newkirk caused a second consecutive safety by taking down Minnesota quarterback Adam Weber twice - first for a five-yard loss to move the ball to the two-yard line and again in the end zone.
""All the credit really goes to the defensive ends,"" Newkirk said. ""[Weber] tried to break out either way and he had nowhere to go but right at me, so that sack really goes to them.""
But the defense wasn't done. The very next drive, senior linebacker Jonathan Casillas picked up a fumble by Gopher running back Shady Salamon for the defense's third consecutive turnover.
The Badgers only had to move the ball 11 yards to go up by 11 points. All it took was a couple of handoffs to freshman tailback John Clay, who powered his way to the goal line. The Gophers answered with a touchdown of their own, but it was too little, too late.
The script was flipped in the first half however, as Wisconsin players fumbled the ball three times. Hill fumbled twice in the second quarter while UW was in field goal range and sophomore wide receiver Kyle Jefferson fumbled after taking a nasty blow to the head near halftime.
""The turnover ratio was the story of the first half,"" Bielema said. ""Every time we seemed to have a long drive we'd fumble at the end of it.""
While Wisconsin's bowl-fate remains uncertain, the seniors capped off their final Big Ten game with a dramatic, come-from-behind win that was satisfying, even if the season didn't turn out as some hoped.
""You can't get spoiled on the wins,"" Newkirk said, reflecting on his last conference game in a Badger uniform. ""The way that things went today made it that much sweeter. We had some adversity, we've had some things that we've had to overcome, and today we were able to do it.
