After Minnesota’s Adam Weber fumbled on the second play of the game, the Bucky train drove down to the 2-yard line, where Dustin Sherer found Garrett Graham in the back of the end zone on fourth down to give the Badgers an early 7-0 lead. That was the good news. The bad news was that were the only points of the first half for Wisconsin.
The Badgers would go onto lose three fumbles in the first half, including two well into Minnesota territory. The Gophers scored seven points off those three turnovers and the Gophers took a 21-7 lead into halftime looking for their first win in the series since 2003 and first in Madison since 1994.
That set the stage for a wild second half. P.J. Hill opened the second half with a 38-yard run and Philip Welch kicked a 47-yard field goal in the freezing cold to cut the Badgers deficit to 21-10. After a Minnesota punt, Wisconsin drove 72 yards in 11 plays to cut into the deficit further. The biggest play of the series was a 31-yard completion from Sherer to Minnesota native Isaac Anderson on 3rd-and-7 to give the Badgers a fresh set of downs. Anderson finished with career highs in both receptions (6) and receiving yards (114) in the game. Anderson caught another pass for a first down to set up the Badgers at the 1, and Hill took it in from there to cut it to 21-17.
Minnesota kicked a field goal on its next possession to give the Gophers a 24-17 lead. This is where the craziness starts. After a sack by Minnesota’s Willie VanDeSteeg forced the Badgers to a 2nd-and-19, Sherer found Nick Toon for a gain of 17 and then Minnesota was flagged for a personal foul on Tramaine Brock, giving the Badgers a first down on the Gophers 40. On the next play, Sherer found Anderson deep over the middle down to the Gophers 1 for a gain of 39. Initially ruled a touchdown, Anderson’s knee was clearly down in the field of play, so it was first and goal from inside the 1. Hill took it in and the Badgers tied the game a 24.
On Welch’s kickoff, he kicked it to the left, where it was received by Minnesota return man Troy Stoudermire. He quickly realized he had no blockers for him, so he tried to do too much and tried running to the left to elude the coverage men for Wisconsin, but the ball was knocked out of his hands and the ball went through the back of the end zone for the safety and Wisconsin’s first lead since the first minutes of the game.
After a Wisconsin punt, Minnesota took over inside its own 10. On the three play drive, Mike Newkirk sacked Weber twice, include in the end zone of third down to put the Badgers in front 28-24.
The turnover parade continued on the Gophers next possession as after Wisconsin punted, Minnesota’s Shady Salamon fumbled on the second play and the Badgers recovered. Two John Clay runs later and the Badgers were up 35-24.
Salamon redeemed himself as he made a diving catch in the corner of the end zone to cap off a 60-yard drive to cut into the Wisconsin lead. Salamon also ran in the two-point conversion and it was 35-32.
Wisconsin did nothing on its next possession, so the Gophers had a shot to tie or to win it, but Weber threw an interception to Niles Brinkley on their final drive and Wisconsin escaped with the 35-32 win.
This would be the last bit of happiness in the 2008 season as Wisconsin would go onto barely squeak by Cal Poly the following week before being blasted by Florida State in the Champs Sports Bowl.
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