With Paul Bunyan’s Axe and a trip to the Big Ten Championship on the line, the stakes were high in college football’s oldest rivalry. Despite racing to an early 17-3 lead, the Gophers sputtered late in the first half and at times in the second, eventually falling, 34-24, to Wisconsin.
Big Mistakes
The Gophers jumped out to a 14-3 and were about to tally another touchdown when a questionable hands to the face call stalled Minnesota’s drive. The Gophers racked up seven penalties for 72 yards on the day; something that is very uncharacteristic of a Jerry Kill football team.
“I thought we lost our composure on the field a few times,” said Kill. “Which wasn’t needed. We don’t need to do that. That’s composure, that’s not being very smart. Teams I coach, we don’t make those kind of mistakes.”
A number of other errors, including a fumble that led to a Wisconsin field goal to end the first half, gave the Badgers life, helping to shift the momentum.
“We had momentum,” said Kill. “I thought we had really good momentum and then they got the momentum. You could tell. They went down and kicked that field goal and we could have been up more…It was a big momentum shift; I don’t think there’s any question about that.”
Facing Gordon
Coming into this matchup, the Gophers knew that Heisman Trophy candidate, Melvin Gordon, would rack up yards; the goal was to limit the big plays. For the most part, Minnesota did just that. Gordon had a long run of only 24 yards and rushed for 151 yards, 40 below his average.
“I think we did pretty well the first half, we stopped him pretty good,” said Cedric Thompson who had a team-high 12 tackles. “He’s a good back so he’s going to have his big runs. On the short runs we stopped him. I think overall we did a pretty good job.”
Although the Gophers were able to limit Gordon, the Wisconsin offense found other ways to generate points. Corey Clement rushed for 89 yards and a touchdown while Joel Stave threw for 215 yards and two touchdowns.
“We tried to take away what they do well and that’s handing the ball to Gordon,” said Jerry Kill. “We just got hurt in some other ways.”
Cobb Plays, Breaks Record
The Minnesota coaches didn’t know until Saturday afternoon that David Cobb would be available to play. Hampered by a pulled hamstring, Cobb worked hard all week to get back on the field.
“He didn’t practice Tuesday, Wednesday; he didn’t practice on Thursday,” explained Kill. “I said there’s no way he’s going to play. He’d been working with our trainers and doctors. They worked him out Friday morning and they made him open up and see if he could run…He practiced on Friday and we did a little bit more on Friday but they took him out here before the game to make him open up and go.”
As has been the case many times this year, Cobb was Minnesota’s top offensive weapon. The senior rushed for 118 yards and one touchdown.
“What he did today, I haven’t seen very often for the situation he’s been in,” said Kill of his running back. “He ran hard.”
In the process, Cobb surpassed Laurence Maroney’s single season rushing record. Although the loss was Cobb’s main concern after the game, he was quick to give credit to his teammates for contributing to his success.
“Hats off to the o-line for really working all year for me,” said a gracious Cobb. “Those guys wanted me to have [the record] more than anything. The fullbacks and receivers and tight ends gave up a lot just to see me succeed. I definitely appreciate that and it doesn’t go unnoticed.”
Looking Forward
The Gophers finished the regular season 8-4 overall and 5-3 in the Big Ten. Minnesota ended the year just one game short of playing for a Big Ten title. Moving forward, the players know what they have to do to get back to this point.
“We were right there,” said Thompson. “This is the game that would have gotten us to the Big Ten Championship. There will definitely be a lot of momentum and a lot of greed and a lot of hunger to get back to this position to get back to the Big Ten Championship.”
Despite the disappointing finish to the season, the Maroon and Gold still have one more game to play in the coming weeks.
“We’ve got a ways until that bowl game and we’re going to use these practices to our advantage,” said Mitch Leidner. “Our coaching staff will do a great job helping us get better and just move forward from that. Come out of those practices and keep getting better.”
Having lost their previous two bowl games, the Gophers are looking to end this season with a victory.
“We’re a hungry team still,” said Leidner. “Looking back on our bowl game last year, and what happened there, we don’t want that to happen again.”
Even after a tough loss, the Gophers will remain ambitious and continue to grow together as a team.
“That’s what I love about this team,” said Thompson. “It’s not about the wins and losses. It’s not about how many stats a guy had during the game. It’s about the relationships that we’ve built during the year. We all love each other. Blood couldn’t make us closer. That’s what it’s really all about.”