Wisconsin was looking for its 12th win of the season and its first undefeated regular season in more than a century. The only team left that was standing in its way was its rival directly to the West, the Minnesota Gophers in the annual battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe. The Badgers were on a 13-game winning streak over the Gophers, with its last loss coming on a last-second field goal in 2003. In the previous meeting, Wisconsin overcame a 17-7 halftime deficit to score 24 consecutive points and win 31-17 at Camp Randall Stadium. Interestingly, the Badgers had won their last three games in Minneapolis convincingly, compared to having to come back from double-digit deficits the last two games in Madison. The previous week for Minnesota, P.J. Fleck’s bunch gained only 182 yards against Northwestern in a 39-0 loss in Evanston. It did get any better against the No. 5 Badgers, gaining only 133 yards in another shutout defeat. This one was never in doubt, as the Badgers celebrated with the Axe once again, winning 31-0 and headed to Indianapolis with their first undefeated regular season record since 1912.
The Badgers started a bit slow, as they gained a combined two first downs in their first two drives before punting both times. The 12-play drive would start with Wisconsin picking up two first downs in its first three plays of the series. The Badgers faced two third downs on the drive, with the first being a 3rd-and-8 from midfield. Alex Hornibrook found an open Troy Fumagalli for a first down to the 40. Soon after that, Hornibrook found an open A.J. Taylor on a play action pass for 23 yards down to the Minnesota 6. The Wisconsin quarterback would find Fumagalli once again on a third down to give the Badgers the 7-0 lead with 24 seconds left in the opening frame. The much-maligned quarterback was 6-for-7 on the drive for 62 yards and the touchdown.
That would open the floodgates. After punting on its first two drives, Bucky would not punt again until 4:29 left in the fourth quarter when the Badgers were led by Jack Coan at quarterback. Following a Minnesota punt, Wisconsin went back to work. The 9-play drive was capped off by a short Rafael Gaglianone field goal. The big play of the drive was a handoff to fullback Austin Ramesh, who received a block in the backfield and went around the outside for 41 yards down to the Minnesota 15. Goldy’s defense would stiffen and Gaglianone’s field goal made it 10-0 with 9:08 to go in the first half.
I mentioned Wisconsin did not punt again until late in the game. Well, the next drive would be the only drive in which it did not score points. With Wisconsin facing a 3rd-and-3 from its 49, Jonathan Taylor did something that plagued him all year: he fumbled. Minnesota recovered and took over at its own 49. It was the star freshman’s fifth lost fumble on the season. Fortunately for the Badgers, though, Ryan Connelly sacked Demry Croft on the first play following the turnover and the Gophers didn’t threaten to score after the takeaway.
Taylor was benched for a series after his fumble, but Hornibrook still led his troops down the field with ease. Wisconsin only faced one third down, which was a 3rd-and-2, on the 7-play drive that put the game away. The drive traveled 79 yards with Chris James providing the biggest play, a 29-yard scamper across midfield. Fellow reserve tailback Garrett Groshek added a 27-yard carry on a similar play to James’ run. On the very next play, Hornibrook threw a beautiful pass to reserve tight end Kyle Penniston in the back of the end zone where Penniston was the only one who could grab it. He did just that and Wisconsin went ahead 17-0. At this point, the Badgers were in complete control, as they actually had more points than the Gophers had total yards of offense (15 plays for 13 yards). Minnesota would put together easily its best drive of the half with a 47-yard march, but it would end with a missed field goal, as Emmit Carpenter pushed a 46-yard attempt to the right and it remained 17-0 at the half.
Minnesota had a nice drive going to start the third quarter, on the strength of a Will Reger reception of 26 yards, one of the just three completions for Croft on the game. The drive would reach the Wisconsin 33, but once again a Connelly sack derailed the promising Gophers drive and the Badgers would take over after a touchback.
Jonathan Taylor would carry the ball five times for 38 yards on the 8-play touchdown drive that put the game away. The only third down of the draft just happened to be the last play of the drive, a Hornibrook 5-yard slant pass to Danny Davis. That was the freshman wide receiver’s second touchdown grab of the season. Hornibrook was 2-for-2 on the drive for 36 yards. His 31-yard pass to an open Kendric Pryor along the sideline got the Badgers in the red zone and set up the score. Considering the Gophers lack of a passing game, Minnesota did not have much of a shot at coming back.
Any chance Minnesota had at coming back was nailed shut on Wisconsin’s following drive. You could sense Jonathan Taylor was close to popping one, especially after gaining 17 yards on his two carries to start the drive. But then.....BAM! Hornibrook took the snap from the shotgun and gave it to Taylor, who blasted through the hole and received a block from Davis and outraced everybody to the end zone for the 53-yard score. Start the celebration for 12-0!
The shutout was secure on Minnesota’s next possession as Carpenter missed another field goal and the lead remained 31-0. After the Wisconsin touchdown, the crowd just starting singing songs and having a good time. After all, it is not every year the Badgers have an undefeated regular season.
Wisconsin would head into Indianapolis to face Ohio State, but the Badgers could not earn a College Football berth as big plays did them in and they fell 27-21 in the Big Ten Championship. The Badgers did rebound, though, with a victory in the Orange Bowl over Miami to earn a program-record 13th victory. Still, this was one game that will be remembered for years to come by Badgers fans.
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