It certainly looked like the Wisconsin Badgers were finally going to surrender Paul Bunyan's Axe to the Minnesota Gophers.
After an uninspiring first half in which the Badgers trailed 17-7, Wisconsin simply dominated the second half to beat the Gophers for the 13th consecutive time, 31-17, and retain the Axe.
Wisconsin was in a malaise offensively in the first half and had trouble stopping Minnesota's run-pass mix in the first two quarters.
But in the final 30 minutes, everything changed as Wisconsin was efficient on offense, picked off four passes and shut down a Gophers team which threatened to post the best offensive numbers against the Badgers this season.
However, there's a reason they play two halves and the real Wisconsin team woke up after an early slumber, allowing the Badgers to win the Big Ten West Division, not back into the conference title game and keep the playoff dream alive.
A recap of Saturday's game:
CLASS LESSONS
-- Whether by (bad) design or Wisconsin's play, Minnesota became one-dimensional in the second half -- and it wasn't a good dimension. After Minnesota gained 115 yards on 21 carries in the opening half (5.5 average), Wisconsin held the Gophers to 13 yards on 17 carries (a 0.8 average), which includes four sacks. This lack of success -- and partly due to Minnesota for whatever reason going away from its zone read -- made Gophers quarterback Mitch Leidner put the game on his shoulders. That didn't work out well. Leidner completed just two passes -- both on Minnesota's opening drive of the half -- with four interceptions.
-- The Badgers' defense was most dominant in the fourth quarter. Minnesota had six drives in the final quarter -- five of them lasted just three plays and the other went two plays. The Gophers' longest drive in the fourth went for 22 yards. The other five went for 0 yards or lost yardage.
-- Of Leidner's four interceptions, two came after the quarterback had to rush his throw due to pressure (once by T.J. Watt the other Garret Dooley) while another, the first, occurred when Leo Musso flew in front of Rashad Still in the end zone. That latter pick, which happened in the third quarter, seemed to energize the Wisconsin crowd.
-- In the first half, a litany of things didn't go right for Wisconsin, including dropped passes, struggling against the run, two punts from plus territory, starting quarterback Alex Hornibrook being injured after his head bounced off the turf following a hit by Gophers linebacker Jack Lynn and a short kickoff which was returned 69 yards and helped quickly erase a Badgers lead.
-- Putting safety D'Cota Dixon on Minnesota receiver Drew Wolitarsky didn't work well for the Badgers and it could have been worse. Wolitarsky beat Dixon for Minnesota's lone receiving touchdown and probably should have had two -- but after getting behind Dixon in the end zone, he dropped a Leidner pass (Minnesota would eventually get a field goal).
-- In their last home game, a number of seniors stepped up for Wisconsin. Corey Clement overcame a fumble and rushed for 100 yards and two touchdowns, Dare Ogunbowale added a rushing TD, Sojourn Shelton had two interceptions and Leo Musso one, Bart Houston played well in a relief role, Rob Wheelwright had a clutch catch at the Minnesota 2, Vince Biegel had eight tackles and a sack and Andrew Endicott made all his extra points as well as a 33-yard field goal (barely).
-- One more senior who made a big play but didn't show up in the stat sheet was tight end Eric Steffes, who had a key block in Jazz Peavy's big 71-yard run on a jet sweep. Steffes paid the price as well, injured due to an illegal block by Minnesota's Ki'Ante Hardin.
-- Credit to Peavy on that long run for keeping his head on a swivel to make sure no defender came upon him out of nowhere to attempt to strip the ball. Peavy also had a 13-yard run on another jet sweep. Minnesota head coach Tracy Claeys said afterwards that the Gophers saw the jet sweep on film and knew it was coming, yet it still worked for the Badgers. Just amazing that Wisconsin can have repeated success with that play. Peavy has run the ball 17 times this season and eight have gone for 10-plus yards and 10 for a first down.
-- Clement's second touchdown, which put Wisconsin ahead, was a lesson in running back patience. Clement waited for his blockers then hit the hole and ran into the end zone for the score.
-- P.J. Rosowski has been a touchback machine, but he had a very short kickoff right after Wisconsin took a 7-3 lead. Hardin caught the ball at the 18 and returned it 69 yards. One play later, the Gophers retook the lead. If you're going to kick short, the ball should go to the 1 or 2, not the 18. Or maybe Rosowski should just stick to booming the ball into and/or out of the end zone.
DULY NOTED
-- The Badgers had a season-high five sacks. Minnesota had allowed just 10 sacks in its first 11 games.
-- Of Wisconsin's three second-half touchdown drives, the longest lasted just 1:19.
-- Clement has 100 yards rushing in six of the last seven games. Clement has seven 100-yard rushing games this season, tying for the 14th most in a single season in UW history.
-- In his last two games against Wisconsin, Minnesota QB Mitch Leidner had two touchdowns and seven interceptions.
-- Olive Sagapolu played for the first time since the Ohio State game and had his first tackle since against Michigan. Sagapolu also recorded his first career sack and regular-season tackle for loss (he had one last year in the bowl game vs. USC).
-- Leon Jacobs, who has been moved from outside linebacker to inside back to outside back to inside to fullback and back to inside linebacker hauled in his first interception.
-- Pin this for next year: the all-time series is now tied 59-59-8, the first time it has been even since 1901, when the series was 6-6. Wisconsin has never -- never -- led in the series. Hello, 2017.
WHAT IT MEANT
Wisconsin was already headed to the Big Ten championship game win or lose, but the Badgers still have hope to make the College Football Playoff -- but might need Clemson or Washington to lose (presuming UW wins next week). The Badgers once again proved to be a resilient team and certainly didn't fold after a horrible first half.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
In a game where a lot of seniors stepped up we're going to give this to another player who might have played his final game for Wisconsin -- junior linebacker T.J. Watt. Watt finished with six tackles and had 1.5 sacks. One of his sacks helped lead to the first Sojourn Shelton interception (see below) and his hurry and hit on Leidner forced the quarterback to throw quickly and too long, resulting in Shelton's second pick. This certainly could have gone to a number of defensive players, but, at least in this opinion, Watt made the biggest impact.
DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME
Bart Houston was the forgotten man after Wisconsin's first three games, after being replaced by Alex Hornibrook and losing his job as the starter. Then, head coach Paul Chryst had the idea to play both QBs -- and Houston has flourished. The move really paid off against Minnesota as after Hornibrook was injured and lost for the game, Houston didn't have to shake off any rust, like a backup who never plays would have had to do. Houston didn't throw a touchdown, but did complete 9 of 14 passes and had impressive completions to Quintez Cephus and Rob Wheelwright, the latter getting the ball to the Minnesota 2 and preceding Clement's game-tying touchdown.
THAT MOMENT
Wisconsin was trailing 17-10 and coming off its worst series of the game, a three-and-out in which the Badgers lost 13 yards and a punt gave Minnesota the ball at the UW 47. A sack on second-and-9 by T.J. Watt forced the Gophers to pass. Wide receiver Eric Carter ran a deep route but quarterback Mitch Leidner threw short -- and into the waiting arms of Sojourn Shelton, who zig-zagged his way downfield for a 40-yard return, setting up the Badgers in prime territory at the Minnesota 19. It was quite the flip of the script.
THIS NUMBER
71 -- yards for Jazz Peavy on his fourth-quarter jet sweep, which set up Wisconsin's go-ahead touchdown. It was the longest play from scrimmage this season for Wisconsin and the longest run for a Badgers wide receiver since David Gilreath went 90 yards at Indiana on Nov. 8, 2008.
THEY SAID IT
"Certainly the takeaways were huge, and the ability of our offense to finish in the second half." -- head coach Paul Chryst
"In the fourth quarter we just kind of just locked in. You know what, no more. The rest speaks for itself." -- cornerback Sojourn Shelton
"He grabbed the Axe and he goes, 'It doesn't matter the outside noise. Who cares about Senior Night? Who cares about the Big Ten West? It's only about this Axe, which symbolizes us, coming, finishing the job we were supposed to do,' and the second half speaks for itself." -- quarterback Bart Houston on the halftime speech given by senior safety Leo Musso
WHAT'S NEXT
Wisconsin advances to the Big Ten championship game for the fourth time, the Badgers having won two of their three previous contests there. UW will face 10-2 Penn State, which has won eight straight games. The Nittany Lions are 3-2 away from home this year, with wins over Indiana, Purdue and Rutgers and losses to Michigan and Pittsburgh.
Dave Heller is the author of the upcoming book Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth's Shadow as well as Facing Ted Williams Players from the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns
