Well the Badgers finally pulled out a convincing win, beating the Hoosiers by a score of 55 to 20. David Gilreath (168 yards), P.J. Hill (126) and John Clay (112) each gained more than 100 yards on the ground at Indiana, the first time in school history that three UW players rushed for at least 100 yards in the same game. Gilreath was the definite star, with 235 all-purpose yards and an average 21.0 yards per carry, including a second-half 90-yard play early in the third quarter. And for my game-watching partners at Rookies (inquiring minds want to know), Gilreath is only a sophomore, so we have a few more years of enjoying his talent (Ram – if you had been at Rookies we know you would have known immediately what year in school Gilreath is).
This week, the Badgers continue their long-standing rivalry with the Minnesota Goofers, with Paul Bunyan's Axe at stake. The game will be shown at 3:30 on ABC – no word yet if it will be televised locally or not. If you head on down to Rookies, you'll know for sure that you'll get to see it. Coverage update: According to the coverage map, the game shown locally will be the North Carolina/Maryland game. So head over to Rookies if you want to watch Wisconsin!
Neither team is rated in the top 25 coming into this game, with the Gophers coming off of a tough 29-6 loss to Michigan. The Badgers are a somewhat surprising 13.5-point favorite for this game. The battle for the axe got a little nasty last year, with Jack Ikegwuonu reportedly being punched below the belt by a Minnesota player (the injured receiver Decker?). And cross-border recruiting has kicked the rivalry up a notch, with Bret Bielema saying in a radio interview last year something to the effect that he treats recruiting in Minnesota as "in-state" recruiting. Sophomore David Gilreath is a player from Minnesota that rescinded a commitment to Minnesota and came to Wisconsin shortly after former Minnesota coach Glen Mason was fired. Wisconsin receiver Isaac Anderson is also a Minnesota native. Wisconsin beat the Gophers by a score of 41-34 at the Metrodome last season, maintaining possession of Paul Bunyan's Axe for the fourth year in a row (11 of the past 13 years, if you're counting).
I've run through the story of the axe before, but for any of you newbies, I'll repeat it. This will be the 118th meeting between the two teams with Minnesota leading the series 59-50-8. It is the most-played rivalry in Division I football, played continuously since 1890 (except for 1906 - I believe this was associated with President Teddy Roosevelt's threat in 1905 to ban the game of football from the United States after seeing a particularly gruesome photograph of an injured player; several colleges reportedly prohibited football because of just such injuries). The game was originally played for the "Slab of Bacon," a piece of black walnut wood carved with a football topped by a letter W or M, depending on which the viewing angle. Scores of each Wisconsin-Minnesota game were printed on the back of the trophy. When the trophy changed hands, it was presented to the winning school by a sorority from the losing school. After the Gophers' 1943 victory, a ceremonial exchange was supposed to take place, but the officials involved could not find each other on the field. Wisconsin sent the trophy to Minnesota's locker room. The Gopher's coach at the time Dr. George Hauser refused to accept it, stating he believed "such trophies should be out for the duration". The trophy subsequently disappeared. It was replaced by Paul Bunyan's Axe in 1948. The Slab of Bacon was missing until 1994, when it was discovered in a storage room at the Wisconsin Athletic Department during a renovation of Camp Randall. Although allegedly "lost", it had apparently been maintained for some of the lost years - when it was officially "found", the scores of every Wisconsin-Minnesota game from 1930 through 1970 had been printed on the back of the slab. The Slab of Bacon is currently housed in the Wisconsin football office at Camp Randall. "We took home the bacon," then-head coach Barry Alvarez said, "and kept it." (Sources: UWBadgers.com and Wikipedia). So here's to the Badgers and another year guarding the axe! Connecticut-Connection Update! Center John Moffitt, who has been doing a weekly blog on the UWBadgers.com website this year, has moved up to the big-time, with a feature on Sports Illustrated's website (go to http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/sioncampus/11/12/moffitt/index.html) John is a third-year sophomore out of Guilford. John's sense of humor has evidently endeared him to the Wisconsin football staff and caught the attention of outsiders, as well. The best of luck to John and thanks for the smiles this season! Edit |
