In the most played rivalry in college football, the Minnesota Gophers took on the Wisconsin Badgers. This will be the 132nd time they will play. After the Gophers’ loss last weekend they were eliminated from the B1G title game. The Gophers came up big and won today 23-16. It also seems we have found our QB moving forward, Athan Kaliakmanis. Here is a summary of each quarter with my overall thoughts at the end.
The first quarter started pretty well, the defense let Wisconsin move down the field to get in Field Goal range on the first drive. The offense came out and answered with Athan Kaliakmanis throwing and running down the field. He ended up throwing a TD to Daniel Jackson. The defense stopped the Badgers on their next drive. After that stop, the offense drove down the field and had a 4th and short as the quarter ended.
To start the second quarter the Gophers decided to go for it, they tried a QB sneak. I thought he made it but the refs decided he was short and it ended up a turnover on downs. Wisconsin took the ball down the field and ended up kicking an FG. The Gophers’ offense stalled out and had to punt. The defense held the Badgers to a first down, then Wisconsin had to punt. The Gophers’ offense has looked good so far today and they move downfield and get a Field Goal as time expires before the half, we go into the half with the Gophers up 10-6.
The Gophers received the 2nd half kick-off, and they were able to get far enough down the field to attempt and make a career-long for Trickett of 50 yards. The Badgers answered with a field goal of their own. The Gophers’ offense after that in typical fashion went 3 and out. The Badgers’ offense marched right down the field and scored the go-ahead touchdown. The rest of the quarter was a defensive battle resulting in 3 and outs by both teams.
The fourth quarter started with the defensive battle ensuing. Both teams stalled on their first drives to start the quarter. The Gophers had the ball and moved down the field to kick the game-tying field goal with 8:01 left in the game. The defense then made Wisconsin go three and out. The Gophers took possession with 6:31 left and threw the ball down the field for the eventual go-ahead TD to Brockington with 3:40 left in the game. The defense came up HUGE with an interception. Sadly the offense couldn’t get us closer than a 47-yard attempt which would have sealed the game, but Trickett missed the Field Goal. The Badgers couldn’t get out of their way as penalties back them up to 1st and goal at the 25-yard line.
The series is now tied and 62-62-8, the Gophers won in back-to-back years for the first time since 1993-1994. Here are some stats of the game for Minnesota:
Athan Kaliakmanis- 19/29 319, 2 TDs, 7 rushes for 14 yds
Mo Ibrahim- 27 rushes for 70 yds(first game under 100)
Brevyn Spann-Ford- 7 catches 95 yards
Daniel Jackson- 5-86-1 TD
Minnesota’s offense put up 416 yards, I do believe they will be in good hands at QB moving forward as long as PJ uses Athan correctly. Athan made some really good throws and it was nice to see we didn’t NEED to rely on the run game for us to win. I do believe the O-line needs to be better heading into next season. The defense played well at times today but they also gave up some big plays. They weren’t able to sack the QB once, which to me is an issue. Next year they have to be able to get after the QB a bit more. Now that the regular season is over the Gophers will wait to see which bowl game they will play in. The Gophers will end their season 8-4 and the Badgers will end their season 6-6.
Phil Kujawa