Paul Bunyan’s Axe remains in Madison for the 11th straight season, and the Badgers are headed to Indianapolis.
After yet another rough start, No. 14 Wisconsin gutted out a 34-24 dogfight over No. 22 Minnesota to win the Big Ten West and earn a spot in the conference championship game next Saturday.
UW overcame an eerily familiar 17-3 second-quarter deficit, the same score it faced in the second quarter two weeks prior against Nebraska. Like the Nov. 15 contest against the Cornhuskers, Wisconsin struggled on both sides of the ball in the first quarter.
The Badgers (7-1 Big Ten, 10-2 overall) forced Minnesota (5-3, 8-4) into a three-and-out on its first drive, but Kenzel Doe fumbled on the ensuing punt return, giving the Golden Gophers the ball at Wisconsin’s 13-yard line.
Two plays later, quarterback Mitch Leidner executed the read option to perfection, pulling the ball from the running back at the last possible moment and beating everyone to the left pylon to put Minnesota up 7-0.
Later in the quarter, after a poor Drew Meyer punt that gave Minnesota the ball in UW territory, running back David Cobb broke off a 40-yard touchdown run on the Gophers’ first play of the drive. Cobb was able to shake off linebacker Marcus Trotter at the line of scrimmage and cruise in for an easy score.
However, from that point forward, the Wisconsin defense stiffened, allowing just a field goal later in the half and touchdown midway through the fourth quarter. Trotter attributed the turnaround to the team’s battle-hardened persona.
“I think one of the reasons why our defense is so good too is that we have a short memory,” Trotter said. “It was easy for myself to beat myself up, or any other guy [who misses] a tackle too. We’re very good at adversity and we always look at the next play, so [Cobb] is a good running back and that’s going to happen sometimes.”
After conceding 153 yards in the first half, the Badgers gave up just 119 yards and forced Minnesota to punt four times in the second half, which gave the offense time to work out its own kinks.
The Badgers did not score a touchdown until late in the second quarter, when Joel Stave was able to slip a four-yard pass to Melvin Gordon, who found space between the linebacker and the safety in the end zone.
It took some work to get the ball into the red zone on that touchdown drive, however. Facing a third-and-8 at his own 22-yard line, Stave was able to hit a wide-open Alex Erickson on a deep streak that went for 70 yards and pushed the ball to Minnesota’s 8-yard line.
“I was able to get inside on the cornerback, leverage him back out and hold the numbers there,” Erickson said of his route. “The safety was low and I’m not sure where he was going, and Joel put it right where it needed to be and I made a play.”
Following a Cobb fumble on the next drive, Stave and Erickson connected on passes of 35 and 14 yards, which set up a 38-yard Rafael Gaglianone field goal that made it 17-13 in favor of Minnesota as time expired in the half.
Sophomore running back Corey Clement, who came into the game with a nagging shoulder injury, made his presence known in the second half. His first carry did not come until about midway through the third quarter, but it was well worth the wait. Clement burst through the left side of the line of scrimmage, kicked out to the right when he reached the linebackers and broke through two converging safeties at the goal line to give the Badgers a 20-17 lead they would not relinquish.
Clement finished with 89 rushing yards on just seven carries, which complemented Gordon’s 151-yard performance. The Heisman Trophy candidate broke Ron Dayne’s Big Ten single-season rushing record of 2,109 yards, set in 1996, on his first carry of the game. Gordon added a one-yard rushing score in the fourth quarter and now has 2,260 rushing yards on the year.
While Gordon and Clement were reliable as always, Stave’s command of the offense stood out in particular. He finished 11-18 for 215 yards and two touchdowns, and he converted on three key third downs through the air.
“We knew that we would have to be able to hit a couple passes, convert some third downs to win this one and I think we did a good job of doing that,” Stave said.
Wisconsin will play in the Big Ten championship for the third time in four years. Head coach Gary Andersen feels that the matchup with Ohio State is truly a meeting of the Big Ten’s elite.
“We’re excited to be in the spot we are,” Andersen said. “There’s two special teams playing. Double-digit wins on the season, we have the opportunity to go to the conference championship, you’re part of a special crew.”
