Badgers take axe to Gophers
Wisconsin ends rival’s chances at College Football Playoff
MINNEAPOLIS — Jack Coan delivered two momentum-shifting touchdown passes in the snow for No. 12 Wisconsin, Jonathan Taylor added three touchdowns to his FBS-leading total and the Badgers forcefully repossessed Paul Bunyan’s Axe by beating No. 8 Minnesota 38-17 on Saturday to win the Big Ten West Division.
Quintez Cephus caught five passes for 114 yards, including a 47-yarder for a score midway through the third quarter that gave Wisconsin (10-2, 7-2) a 17-7 lead. Coan connected with Taylor for a 28-yard touchdown strike late in the second quarter that gave the Badgers the lead after a slow start, sending them to the Big Ten championship game for a rematch with second-ranked Ohio State.
Tanner Morgan passed for 296 yards and two touchdowns for the Gophers (10-2, 7-2). They watched their dream season take a painful hit from their oldest rival after ending a 14-game losing streak in the series a year ago with a 37-15 victory at Wisconsin.
Minnesota was seeking to go undefeated at home for the first time since 1954, but the Badgers reasserted their recent dominance by taking home the traveling trophy for the 22nd time in the last 25 seasons. They took a 61-60-8 series lead.
Morgan had two turnovers that led to 10 points for the Badgers, who scored touchdowns on each of their first four drives in the second half. Two of them covered 90-plus yards. Taylor, the Heisman Trophy contender who had 200-plus rushing yards in each of his last three games, gained only 76 yards on 18 carries.
Badgers coach Paul Chryst and offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph called a shrewd game, though, with well-timed reverses and screen passes to put the Gophers on their heels after their first four possessions went nowhere. Minnesota had defensive end Carter Coughlin in coverage on the touchdown throw to Taylor after a safety blitz, and Cephus had a favorable matchup with linebacker Thomas Barber on his backbreaking score.
Coan went 15-for-22 for 280 yards, the most of his career in a Big Ten game.
The Gophers delivered the first blow on their second play of the game, when Bateman used a stop-and-go route to badly beat freshman cornerback Semar Melvin for a 51-yard score on a perfect strike from Morgan for a 7-0 lead. With starting cornerback Rachad Wildgoose out with a foot injury and Minnesota boasting the top two receivers in the Big Ten in Bateman and Tyler Johnson, the Badgers had their hands full in the secondary.
They counteracted by harassing Morgan into plenty of off-balanced and hastened throws and hitting him hard when they came close.