The Gophers football team is 6-4, going into one of their biggest rivalry games of the year against the 4-7 University of Wisconsin Badgers.
The Gophers took the Axe home last year after winning 24-7 at Camp Randall, the Badgers’ home stadium. This year’s game is Nov. 29 at 2:30 p.m. at Huntington Bank Stadium, the Gophers’ home turf.
Despite having a rough start to their season, the Badgers were able to get a win against two ranked opponents, No. 23 Washington and No. 21 Illinois.
Grace Cannizzo, junior sports reporter at the University of Madison’s The Daily Cardinal, said the Illinois game was the first time this season the Badgers’ offense was on par with their defense.
The Badgers hired a new offensive coordinator, Jeff Grimes, last season. Their head coach and defensive coordinator are both in their third season.
“Our defense has been pretty consistently good,” Cannizzo said. “The way we run our defense, we only allow pretty short passes, a lot of the time, we play a high cover and get back.”
She added that the Badgers’ defense is quite young this year, with some of their standout defensive men being true freshmen, such as linebackers Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano. Posa has 49 tackles, four sacks and two forced fumbles this season. Catalano has 46 tackles and 2 sacks.
Despite the strengths of the Badgers’ defense, their offense struggled this season and had multiple injuries.
Cannizzo said the Badgers’ offense went through five running backs this season, all of whom have gotten hurt. She added that there has been a similar struggle with their quarterbacks.
“Finding cohesion offensively is really hard when you are going through that many players,” Cannizzo said. “Especially with your wide receivers, they are getting thrown a different ball; there is a different cadence for each quarterback.”
While the Gophers are undefeated at home, they have lost all of their away games this season. The Badgers likewise have yet to win an away game this season.
Cannizzo said the Badgers’ away game struggles are a bit harder to understand since the student section at Camp Randall, the Badgers’ home stadium, has not been the best this season.
“A lot of people have not been happy about the coaching staff; there is kind of a protest element at games,” Cannizzo said. “So that’s why it is kind of hard to pinpoint away specifically, because you are not exactly getting the best support while you’re home.”
Even with the dip in student attendance, the Axe game rivalry means a lot to both Minnesota and Wisconsin students. Cannizzo said this game means more than others.
The Minnesota-Madison rivalry stretches over 134 games, but Paul Bunyan’s Axe was not created until 1948 as a replacement for the “Slab of Bacon” trophy. Since 1948, Wisconsin has won 47 games to Minnesota’s 27.
“Both teams could have lost every game going into this game, and it still matters because it is Minnesota,” Cannizzo said. “It just means more to everyone, and so I would say everyone in general is just more fired up.”
