Wisconsin vs. Minnesota Preview: Is it finally the year to reclaim the Axe?

It’s Axe week, Badger fans!

The Wisconsin Badgers take on P.J. Fleck and the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Huntington Bank Stadium this Saturday. Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m. on FS1, and the Badgers are 1.5-point favorites.

The Badgers are coming off their most impressive win of the season last Saturday against No. 21 Illinois, 27-10. It was a fantastic defensive effort from Wisconsin, as the Badgers racked up five sacks for the second consecutive game. Darryl Peterson led the charge with three sacks of his own and received the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week award.

What should Badgers fans know about the Minnesota Golden Gophers?

Opponent Preview

P.J. Fleck’s “Row The Boat” crew owns a 6-5 record, but they have lost three of their last four games. Their previous game might have been the toughest to swallow. Minnesota held a 28-13 lead over Northwestern at Wrigley Field only to see the Wildcats tie the game at the end of the third quarter. After Northwestern took a late 38-35 lead, the Gophers drove down the field to set up a Brady Denaburg game-tying field goal attempt from 40 yards.

Redshirt freshman Drake Lindsey has put together a respectable first season as Minnesota’s starting quarterback. Lindsay has 2,145 passing yards on the season, along with 15 touchdown passes and six interceptions.  He is coming off a solid performance against Northwestern, where he threw four touchdown passes against the Wildcats.

Like Illinois, the Gophers do not possess a strong rushing attack. In fact, Minnesota enters this game ranked dead last in the Big Ten with 1109 rushing yards on the season. Two Gopher running backs have over 400 rushing yards. Star running back Darius Taylor, who’s dealt with the injury bug this season, has 454 rushing yards this season. Fame Ijeboi is right behind him with 416 yards.

In the passing game, redshirt senior wide receiver Le’Meke Brockington leads the Gophers with 460 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Second in receiving yards is Miami (OH) transfer wideout Javon Tracy with 430 receiving yards. Tracy was a significant factor in Minnesota’s last game against Northwestern, catching three touchdown passes to keep the game alive.

The Gophers’ defense is among the best in the conference in making plays behind the line of scrimmage. Minnesota leads the Big Ten with 34 sacks and is second overall with 79 tackles for loss. Leading that charge to the quarterback is defensive lineman Anthony Smith. Smith owns a Big Ten-leading 10.5 sacks on the season and is tied for first with 13.5 TFLs. Linebacker Maverick Baranowski has the most total tackles among Gopher defenders with 79.

Score Prediction

Minnesota is no slouch, and its skill position players will test Wisconsin’s defense. Fortunately, we are getting P.J. Fleck’s crew at a perfect time. The Badgers are playing great football, while the Gophers are struggling. This game, barring a miracle, is the Badgers’ bowl game, so Wisconsin is coming into this game with nothing to lose and an axe to gain. For the first time in what feels like forever, I’m finally taking the Badgers to win a football game.

Prediction: 17-13 Wisconsin