MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — UW head coach Barry Alvarez built Saturday’s game up to be a dog fight for a very coveted trophy.
In the end the game lived up to the coach’s billing, only it wasn’t his team that walked away as victors.
After falling to Minnesota 42-31 Saturday at the Metrodome, the Badgers were forced to give up the coveted axe of Paul Bunyan that has been a part of the UW locker room for the last six years.
After enduring a teeter-totter type game that saw many ties and switched leads three times, several Badgers left the field promptly after the end of the game, unable to watch the Gophers celebrating their new possession of the axe.
One of these players was senior tight end Mark Anelli.
“I didn’t want to see it,” Anelli said of the Minnesota celebration.
Before several Gophers came to the UW bench to take the trophy away from UW in the closing seconds, the game had several momentum swings that it made it appear that the border battle was up for grabs.
In fact, it was Wisconsin that jumped out the early lead.
In its first series of the game, UW marched 80 yards downfield to open up a 7-0 lead. Anthony Davis (208 yards) rushed for 34 yards in the series, capping his running performance off with a one-yard run over the goal line. Quarterback Brooks Bollinger (17-37 passing, 238 yards, 1 interception) also connected with flanker Lee Evans (nine catches for 151 yards) for three catches for 36 yards in the scoring drive.
After opening up the early seven-point lead, Minnesota answered right back, scoring a touchdown of its own. After quarterback Asad Abdul-Khaliq (17-25 passing, 265 yards, three touchdowns) connected with wide receiver Ron Johnson on two catches for 21 yards, he found tight end Ben Utecht open for a 59-yard touchdown.
With the first quarter score tied at seven all, the Badgers came out on top again after scoring in their next series.
Nick Davis started the momentum swing with his 24-yard kickoff return, and the energy carried into the scoring drive. At first and 10, Bollinger connected with Evans for a 10-yard completion, a catch that not only gave UW a first down, but also gave Evans the Big Ten record (1,545 yards) for receiving yards in a season.
Bollinger and Evans connected for a 34-yard completion two plays later, and after Anthony Davis ran for another 17 yards, it set up a four-yard touchdown run for Bollinger.
However, Minnesota opened up the second quarter with a touchdown, evening the score at 14-14.
With 10:53 left in the half, the Gophers broke that tie, edging ahead 21-14 after Abdul-Khaliq and Utecht connected for a 38-yard touchdown.
Both teams would score again before the half, UW capitalizing on a 61-yard run by Anthony Davis, and Minnesota using the field position set up by a 60-yard Tellis Redmon run. Going into halftime, the Gophers held a 28-21 lead over the Badgers.
UW came back in the third quarter, using a 66-yard punt return by Nick Davis to set up a touchdown. In the next drive place-kicker Mark Neuser made a 30-yard field goal to put UW ahead 31-28.
“I thought we had momentum after we scored [after Nick Davis’ punt return] and then kicked the field goal,” Alvarez said. “We had momentum and they had an answer. They took the momentum back.”
Not only did Minnesota take the momentum away from UW, but they also took the victory away from the Badgers.
Minnesota held Wisconsin scoreless for the rest of the game and at the same time tallied 14 more points of their own. The Gopher victory was sealed early in the fourth quarter when they faked a field goal and earned a much-needed first down. Already holding a 35-31 lead at the time of the drive, Minnesota used the extra set of downs to set up a three-yard touchdown run for Abdul-Khaliq, pushing the lead to 42-31.
That last touchdown would be the final score of the game, but there was still one thing left to settle.
With the clock winding down, the Gophers claimed their prize: the much-coveted axe. And while they celebrated on the field, the Badgers walked off to the locker room — empty handed.
