As the Badgers returned across the Minnesota-Wisconsin border after Saturday's game, they did so without one of their most prized possessions, Paul Bunyan's Axe. They lost the storied weapon, along with the game, to the Golden Gophers, 37-34 on Saturday afternoon at the Metrodome. After a knock-down, drag-out brawl for four quarters, the outcome was decided by the foot of Gopher junior kicker Rhys Lloyd, who scored a 37-yard field goal with one second left in the game.
The Gophers' rushing attack, the second-highest in the nation, compiled 336 yards off of 55 carries and drove the offense for most of the game. Badger Senior quarterback Jim Sorgi had a career game, completing 23 of 34 attempts for 305 yards and four touchdowns, the most since Darrell Bevell threw for four in 1993.
\It was a good college football game,"" said Wisconsin Head Coach Barry Alvarez. ""It was just disappointing that we lost the football game.""
Led by sophomore Marion Barber III and freshman Laurence Maroney, Minnesota tallied the first points within the first minute of the game, going 66 yards on three carries. Maroney finished the drive with a 30-yard score from an option pitch by senior quarterback Asad Abdul-Khaliq. This would be a telling sign of the Badgers' defense all day, as they proceeded to give up major chunks of yardage to the Gopher ground game.
""Frustrating,"" said senior linebacker Jeff Mack. ""Definitely frustrating to see [the Gophers] run that way on our defense ... especially against running plays that we've seen forever.""
For a majority of the first half, the Badgers' offense drove down the field behind Sorgi's arm and Gopher miscues, including a 15-yard defensive pass interference penalty on Minnesota freshman cornerback Trumaine Banks. But they were unable to capitalize on those drives with touchdowns. Instead, they settled for two Mike Allen field goals from 27 and 22 yards.
Meanwhile, the Gophers were steamrolling the Badgers behind Barber and Maroney. With two minutes left in the first half, senior running back Thomas Tapeh dove in for a six-yard score, putting the Gophers up 24-6.
""We were playing our asses off but we just couldn't make a tackle,"" said UW senior defensive lineman Nick Cochart.
But the Badgers refused to quit. Sorgi drove the Badgers down the field in 39 seconds by completing passes to receivers junior Darrin Charles and sophomore Brandon Williams. After a 12-yard quarterback keeper to the Gopher 27, Sorgi hit sophomore tight end Owen Daniels down the middle of the field for a touchdown. On the following drive, Abdul-Khaliq injured his shoulder on a diving run and prompted the Gophers to take their 11-point lead into the locker room.
The Badgers picked up where they left off as Sorgi hit Williams for a 47-yard play to start the second half. A couple of minutes later, Sorgi found senior wideout Lee Evans for a 17-yard score to cut the Gopher lead down to four. A Lloyd field goal put the Gophers up by seven. But the Badgers pressed onward, mixing up the pass with the running of freshman back Booker Stanley, who finished with 68 yards on 20 carries. Toward the end of the third quarter, Sorgi and company drove to the Minnesota 27. Instead of kicking the field goal, Alvarez decided to attempt a pass, which fell incomplete. However, the referees called a pass interference penalty on junior cornerback Ukee Dozier, which gave Wisconsin the ball at the Minnesota 13. Two plays later, Sorgi found a crossing Charles and connected with him for a game-tying score with a 1:35 left in the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Minnesota capitalized on Sorgi's only interception for the game by driving down the field. Barber shed three Wisconsin tacklers along the right side of the defense and punched it in to put Minnesota up by seven. However, Wisconsin struck back with another Sorgi strike to Daniels from 27 yards out with seven minutes left in the game.
After exchanging possessions, the Gophers drove from their 20 yard-line with 2:49 left to play. Backup senior quarterback Benji Kamrath hit senior receiver Aaron Hosack for 23 yards on 3rd and nine to keep the drive alive. Barber exploited the Badgers for runs of 11 and 12 yards to bring the Gophers to the Badger 19-yard line, setting up Lloyd's game-winning score.
While the Badgers regroup for this Saturday's game against Michigan State at Camp Randall, the sight of seeing the Gophers jubilantly rushing over and snatching the Axe away from the Badgers will give next year's team something to think about.
""There's nothing worse than seeing another team run over to your sideline and take that axe from you,"" said junior safety Jim Leonhard, ""So I don't want that ever to happen again while I'm here.\
