MINNEAPOLIS — In a frigid border battle between two Big Ten foes, it was the[media-credit name=”Andy Fate” align=”alignright” width=”336″][/media-credit]Wisconsin football team’s commanding defensive play that heated up the field in TCF Bank Stadium to bring the highly coveted Paul Bunyan’s Axe back to UW.

It was performance that by all standards seems remarkable, holding a Minnesota (8-3, 4-3 Big Ten) team that entered the battle riding four-straight conference victories scoreless against the Badgers’ (9-2, 6-1 Big Ten) defensive squad.

“It’s a tough-minded group, the defense played extremely well, they did a nice job of getting out of the drives, being physical and taking care of business,” head coach Gary Andersen said. “I was proud of them.”

Yet, for Wisconsin, it has become somewhat of a routine as the defense has now allowed a touchdown in three-straight Big Ten meetings — against Iowa, Indiana and now Minnesota. The last time the defense gave up a seven-point score in conference play was back on Oct. 19 against the Fighting Illini.

The Golden Gophers’ only score of the game came early in the second quarter as redshirt junior linebacker Aaron Hill completed a textbook pick-six, sniping a pass from redshirt sophomore quarterback Joel Stave and running 39 yards into the end zone to put the Minnesota up 7-3.

The first time UW has fallen behind on the scoreboard since its 6-0 deficit to open play against Iowa, the Badgers’ defense made sure Minnesota would not see itself dancing into the maroon and gold end zone again.

It wouldn’t be until its final possession of the game that UM entered Wisconsin’s red zone, and it was senior linebacker Chris Borland who halted the late Gopher attack with a tackle on fourth down at the Wisconsin 13-yard line to seal in UW’s 10th-straight victory over Minnesota.

“I think early on they were moving the ball. I have a lot of respect for Minnesota’s offense. They are very physical and maybe that caught us a little bit by surprise. It is hard to emulate that in the week,” Borland said. “We responded well and adjusted to that and to not let up any points to a team that has at least been moving the ball against some good defenses. It’s a performance to be proud of.”

A continuing sign that Borland is one of the nation’s top linebackers, No. 44 silenced an exuberant crowd all afternoon, recording a team-high 12 tackles. Though his performance all game assisted UW in its domination over the Gophers, it was Borland’s pair of fumble recoveries that may have been the difference maker.

In their first offensive drive following the pick-six touchdown score, the Gophers looked to extend the four-point lead. Redshirt senior offensive linebacker Brendan Kelly would have no part in that, sacking sophomore quarterback Philip Nelson for a loss of six yards and stripping the ball loose for Borland who returned the ball nine yards to midfield.

Looking for an extra opportunity, or simply another yard, Borland even attempted to push the ball off into the hand of sophomore linebacker Joe Schobert, who was steps ahead but was moments too late as Gopher junior center Tommy Olson came in for the tackle.

After Wisconsin added its final seven points to the board, the senior standout again came up big in the third quarter on the opening Gopher offensive play. Going in for a tackle of running back David Cobb for a loss of three, Borland managed to end the play with the ball himself.

“He is a leader of the defense. There are a lot of leaders on the defense,” Andersen said. “He is one of the highlighted guys and deserves to be. There are a lot of […] seniors that are on that defense that played a lot of snaps.”

It was a standout night for Kelly as well, as the Minnesota native recorded four tackles and a team-high two sacks including the forced turnover on Nelson in the second quarter.

“The biggest thing is when those were happening. Minnesota had some momentum driving there, so a couple turnovers is huge,” Kelly said.

The forced turnover by Kelly made for a Wisconsin offensive drive that took just five plays for 49 yards to give UW a 10-7 lead, and one they would not let down for the remainder of play.

While the UW linebacker contingent once again owned the day for Wisconsin, its secondary play that has received mixed scrutiny all season long came together for an equally impressive performance. Completing just seven of his 23 pass attempts, Nelson and his Gopher offense were held to just 83 passing yards on the day after an average of 198 passing yards in its past four conference games.

Dropped passes and missed opportunities appeared to be the theme of the night for the Gopher offense, but it was a combined effort of the young Badger secondary, led by sophomore safety Michael Caputo with four tackles. Redshirt freshman Nate Hammon and redshirt sophomore cornerback Darius Hillary also each recorded three tackles on the night, with Hammon forcing the first Gopher turnover of the game to start the second quarter.

“We had some good pieces to the puzzle and had to replace some people in the back end. If you look at that crew it is pretty amazing,” Andersen said, looking at the progress of his defense this season. “There are a lot of kids playing in that back end and that was the challenge, to put it together and it’s a credit to the kids.”