6. Wisconsin 38, Minnesota 34 (2005)

It’s the axe game, ‘nuff said! Because of this game, I doubt poor Justin Kucek will ever have to buy a beer in Madison again. Wisconsin was licking its wounds after giving up an incredible 674 yards of total offense and 51 points in a 51-48 loss the previous week in Evanston, while the Gophers were riding high and coming off their first win over Michigan since 1986 to bring the Little Brown Jug back to Minneapolis. Minnesota was trying to win the axe back after losing it in 2004, but would have to do it without starting quarterback Bryan Cupito. Backup Tony Mortensen made his first start, but the Gophers still had the deadly running back duo of Laurence Maroney and Gary Russell. After a slow start to the game, the Badgers and Gophers had a track meet in the second half. With Wisconsin down 10 late in the game, Bucky came back with two late touchdowns in the final minutes to stun Minnesota. Kucek, Minnesota’s punter, would become a well-known figure in the Wisconsin/Minnesota rivalry. In one of the wildest endings you’ll ever see, the Badgers blocked Kucek’s punt and recovered it with 30 seconds left to defeat their archrival and retain the axe.

Like I said earlier, the game started slowly. The score would be 10-10 at the half. Every time the Badgers would score, Minnesota would come right back to tie the game up. Wisconsin scored first on a 1-yard run by Brian Calhoun with less than a minute to play in the first quarter. The 68-yard touchdown drive was highlighted by a 38-yard pass from John Stocco to Jonathan Orr and a 21-yard pass from Stocco to Brandon Williams on a 3rd-and-14 to move into the red zone to set up the touchdown run by Calhoun.

Minnesota would tie it up on the next possession. The Gophers would score on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Mortensen to Matt Spaeth. Mortensen was 3-for-3 for 32 yards on that drive, including throwing his first ever touchdown pass to tie the game up early in the second quarter.

The teams traded field goals the remainder of the half and the game was tied at 10 heading into halftime. After a snoozefest in the first half, the fireworks would come early and often in the second half.

After Minnesota stuffed Calhoun on a 3rd-and-1 on the opening drive of the second half, the Gophers took over on their own 6 after a Ken DeBauche punt. The first play of the drive was a Maroney run for a yard. The second play was a Maroney run to the house. On the long touchdown run, Mortensen pitched it to the right, but Maroney cut it back to the left and found all kinds of running room. He was able to elude a tackle attempt near the 25 and went untouched the rest of the way down the left sideline for the 93-yard touchdown run to give Minnesota its first lead of the game.

The Gophers would add to the lead minutes later on a 49-yard field goal by Jason Giannini. Minnesota would start with good field position on the drive after a 22-yard punt return by Logan Payne to the Gophers 48. Gary Russell rushed for 21 yards on four carries to move Goldy into field goal range.

Just when people thought the Gophers were on the verge of opening up the game, Bucky Badger would fight back. Calhoun would gain 58 total yards of the 68 yards on the drive, and would end the drive on an 18-yard scamper into the end zone to cut the Minnesota lead back down to just three.

But Minnesota would counter Wisconsin’s jab with a jab of its own in this back-and-forth second half. Russell would do the honors this time, rushing for a 37-yard touchdown to cap off the 80-yard march. He would receive the pitch to the right side and find a lane, where he exploded for the touchdown, nearly untouched. That put the Gophers ahead 27-17. People thought Minnesota had the game won on the following drive, as Stocco was sacked and he fumbled. The Gophers would pounce on the loose football at the Wisconsin 18. With Minnesota having scored on its last four possessions, most thought the Gophers would score on this drive as well to put the game away. But the Gophers lost four yards on the drive and Giannini would miss a 40-yard attempt wide left to keep it a 10-point game.

Wisconsin got a huge break on the missed field goal and would take advantage. After a Williams punt return to the Minnesota 44, Wisconsin blew down the field. The Badgers needed just four plays to travel the 44 yards to cut it to 27-24. After a 14-yard completion from Stocco to Orr, Calhoun did the rest. The star running back rushed three times to cover the final 30 yards of the drive and scored from two yards out.

This is when Minnesota fans thought the game was over. The Gophers were going to win back the axe after they scored on a 19-play drive that covered 80 yards and ended with a Russell 1-yard touchdown with just 3:27 to play. Of the 19 plays on the drive, 18 of them were runs. It took nearly eight minutes off the clock and when the dust settled the Gophers had a 34-24 advantage. Despite the fact that Maroney rushed for 258 yards, this was mostly Russell’s drive. Russell, who also had a great day on the ground, rushed for 43 yards and the score (which many thought would be the clincher) on the possession. Russell would rush for 139 yards on 19 carries and the two scores. The Gophers, as a team, rushed for an incredible 411 yards. That meant that in the past two games, Wisconsin had given up a total of 724 yards rushing and 1,184 yards of total offense. Ouch!

On Wisconsin’s next drive, ESPN’s Lou Holtz made the quote of the game. Holtz, during a preview for the post-game show, made a comment that Minnesota had the Little Brown Jug and now they have the axe. After knowing how the game ended, his comments have made me laugh every time I hear them. The Badgers would zoom down the field, traveling 71 yards in a little more than a minute to cut it to 34-31. Williams would do most of the damage on this drive, catching three passes for 60 yards on the drive and the touchdown. On the scoring play, Stocco threw a pass over the middle into the end zone and Williams hauled it in despite being on the receiving end of a vicious face mask penalty.

The penalty moved the kickoff ahead 15 yards and Wisconsin would attempt the onside kick. The attempt pinballed around and bounced all the way down to the Minnesota 8, where it was covered by Maroney. One first down would be all it would take for the Gophers to seal the win. Unfortunately for them, the Badgers knew Minnesota would be running the ball. There was no way the Gophers were going to put the game in the hands of the backup quarterback. Two Maroney runs gained seven yards, so the Gophers faced a 3rd-and-3 as Bucky used his last timeout. It was do-or-die time for the Badgers, and the give to Maroney would gain only two yards. Minnesota would not go for it from its own 17, even if it only needed a yard for the first down. So on came the punting team...

Kucek made a mistake that will live in infamy. On the punt, he muffed it, and tried to roll out to the right and kick it instead of kicking it out of the back of the end zone for the safety. If he would have kicked it out of the back of the end zone, Minnesota would have maintained the lead. But he tried to kick it downfield and freshman Jonathan Casillas blocked it and the ball bounced into the end zone. There was a scrum in the back of the end zone. For a few seconds, people thought the ball may roll out of the end zone for a safety, but Ben Strickland recovered for the Badgers in the end zone for the score and Wisconsin took a 38-34 lead with 30 seconds left. The crowd was stunned.

Not only was Minnesota now trailing, but the Gophers were needing a touchdown and had to do it with a backup quarterback. Unless Minnesota had a great kickoff return, things were looking bleak for the home team. Mehlhaff’s kickoff went to Jakari Wallace at the goal line and he ran along the right sideline, but was hit and fumbled. DeAndre Levy recovered for Wisconsin at the Gophers 17 and all Wisconsin had to do was take a knee and the game was over.

This game was just another game in a memorable season. Not many thought Wisconsin would do much in 2005, but the Badgers would go onto have a special season, which would end with an upset victory over Auburn in the Capital One Bowl.