MINNEAPOLIS — Three weeks ago, after Wisconsin beat Iowa and redshirt junior linebacker Marcus Trotter carried the Heartland Trophy along the sideline, he proudly hoisted the bronze bull toward the reach of fans stretching over the barrier between avid and athlete. From the looks of it, Wisconsin had won something.

They definitely did. The Heartland Trophy is, in every fashion, a rivalry trophy; but it’s not Paul Bunyan’s Axe. The Iowa-Wisconsin game isn’t the Minnesota-Wisconsin game, and it was pretty apparent. After that game on Nov. 2, players weren’t ready to equate the two, which is to be expected.

There’s too much history involved in the battle for the axe that the other game will never compare, but the axe just hasn’t been the same recently. It’s been all Wisconsin. There’s been little flair for the fans to build excitement for. Minnesota is always Wisconsin’s rival, but it felt like Ohio State or the Spartans from East Lansing could replace them. That’s why Saturday was nice to see. Wisconsin-Minnesota felt like a rivalry again.

That feeling never left for the players or people closely associated with the program and likely never will. They get a presentation at the beginning of the week; they touch the axe at the end of each practice before they leave Camp Randall. There are reminders everywhere.

But for Wisconsin fans, there hasn’t been much more than proximity. The opponent hasn’t been ranked, nor have the games been very competitive. Wisconsin was a 16.5-point favorite for bettors at kickoff, a spread that steadily grew throughout the week.

The Badgers were expected to roll into TCF Bank Stadium, waltz in the end zone with ease and head home with their ninth victory of 2013, but things were different Saturday.

For one, it was a record crowd in Minneapolis. The announced number of 53,090 came early in the first quarter. While it felt too early to announce an official number, it was impressive in showing no other game at Minnesota in the four-plus years of TCF Bank has been as important, even on its coldest of evenings.

And it wasn’t easy. The battle was a pleasant sight in general — rivalry pushed aside — because the Badgers weren’t stomping a Big Ten adversary. The 25-point-plus drubbings of Purdue, Illinois, Northwestern, Indiana and others can wear on the meaning of a Big Ten battle.

Minnesota was much different. The Badgers earned every point they scored Saturday, as Minnesota’s defense was possibly, surprisingly, the stingiest defense Wisconsin had faced this season. The longest play of the game came on the first snap — a 49-yard broken-tackle scamper from senior running back James White. After that, the game was a grind, points coming almost exclusively from beneficial field position.

At one point, the underdog Gophers were the best team on the field, driving to add to their second quarter lead. A turnover soon aided their fade as the Badgers took control, but it was still more of a fight than the axe game has seen in years.

One will never know if there has ever been more drunk males in their 20s yelling “GopherNation” at lady Badgers fans at least 60-years-old, but that type of pride was on display Saturday. Backing a top-25 team and inviting another into your home will generate that punishing type of vanity. It was the kind that won’t allow a team to parade with the rivalry trophy all over your home field and feign chopping down not just one, but both of your goalposts.

Minnesota didn’t like that Wisconsin’s parade of players crept up on them as they finished reciting the beats of their school fight song. As tradition has bred, Wisconsin wanted to hack at the goalpost, something the Gophers have probably seen too many times over the nine consecutive seasons of border battle defeats.

“It’s a good decade for us,” said senior linebacker Chris Borland, who had freshman cornerback Sojourn Shelton draped over his shoulders after the game, holding a sign that read “10 straight.”

The Gophers stood pat in front of that goalpost. Maroon and gold met the advancing cardinal and white, axe in the middle, held high by the victors.

“Chop, chop, chop. Chop, chop, chop,” the group of Badgers shouted as they pushed Bunyan’s tool onward. Shoving ensued between the two sides, enough to catch the coaches’ interest, but not enough to garner much more. The Minnesota marching band and remaining attendees in the student section combined for one last “Let’s go Gophers” chant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtube_gdata_player&v=wek5hsHv7YE&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dwek5hsHv7YE%26feature%3Dyoutube_gdata_player&app=desktop

“We chopped it from a distance,” senior linebacker and Minnesota-native Brendan Kelly said. “I don’t know if it’s a true chop, but you can count it for what it is.”

It was a tense encounter between those dressed in pride and others dressed in victory. It was a byproduct of a rivalry; an extra level of the “chippyness” noticeable to the athletes on the field, but not always obvious to the fans in the stands.

A rivalry was visible Saturday evening in Minneapolis. That was nice to see again.

Sean is a senior majoring in journalism and communication arts. What do you think of the Wisconsin-Minnesota rivalry? Let him know with an email to [email protected] or with a Tweet to @sean_zak.