Axe Up For Grabs on Saturday
November 20, 2002 | Football
There is more at stake than just a win or loss on the team record when Wisconsin and Minnesota face each other on the gridiron. The most-played rivalry in NCAA Division I-A football (111 meetings, including every year consecutively since 1907) is also a battle for possession of Paul Bunyan's Axe. The winner of the game each fall gets to keep the Axe on its campus.
'The records can be thrown away when these two rivals meet on the football field,' said Coach Barry Alvarez. 'It didn't take very long for me to understand the importance of the game and the history associated with it. '
Probably not many people in attendance realized the history they were watching on Nov. 15, 1890. That was the first time that bordering state universities from Wisconsin and Minnesota met on the gridiron in Minneapolis.
The game was just the Badgers' fourth gridiron battle ever. The Golden Gophers won the inaugural battle 63-0, but the start of one of college football 's hottest rivalries was born.
The schools met for 15 consecutive years after that (the Badgers won seven and the Golden Gophers won eight) before the series took a one-year hiatus in 1906.
The resumption of the series was a 7-7 tie in 1907 and the schools have met every year since. It is the longest-running rivalry in Division I-A football.
Madison and Minneapolis have alternated hosting the historic matchup since the beginning of the modern era in 1946.
Much prestige has always been associated with the game, but another factor was added in 1948. After Minnesota won a hard-fought 16-0 decision in 1948, the Wisconsin lettermen's group (the National W Club) presented Minnesota with an axe wielded by legendary lumberjack Paul Bunyan.
Each year since, the winner of the annual battle between the Big Ten rivals is presented with the axe, complete with final scores painted on its handle, for display on its campus.
The Badgers have taken six of the last seven games from their border rivals. Wisconsin also won six straight in the series between 1978-83.
In the all-time series, Minnesota holds a 58-45-8 advantage. Wisconsin has a 27-22-6 mark in Madison and the Gophers have registered a 36-17-2 mark in Minneapolis.
There have been many notable contests between Wisconsin and Minnesota. Consider these:
' In 1961, Wisconsin intercepted three Gopher passes and upset No. 3-ranked Minnesota 23-21. The loss was Minnesota's only conference defeat of the season and cost it a share of the Big Ten title.
' No. 3 Wisconsin met fifth-ranked Minnesota in 1962 at Camp Randall Stadium. The Badgers, playing for a league title and Rose Bowl berth, won a 14-9 decision. Ralph Kurek scored the winning TD with just 1:37 left.
' Fifth-ranked Wisconsin dropped a 28-21 verdict at the Metrodome in 1993, costing the Badgers an undefeated season. 'The loss to Minnesota in `93 might have cost us a national championship,' said Alvarez. Wisconsin got a school-record 423 passing yards from Darrell Bevell, but UW had six turnovers.
' With Alvarez watching from a hospital bed after knee surgery, the 1999 Badgers escaped with a 20-17 win. Kicker Vitaly Pisetsky ended the first overtime game in school history with a 31-yard field goal.
'There are a lot of folks who have personal attachments to this matchup,' Alvarez said. 'The game is a critical one each season for our players and supporters.'
NCAA Division I-A Most-played Rivalries
Wisconsin vs. Minnesota (111)
Missouri vs. Kansas (110)
Nebraska vs. Kansas (108)
Texas vs. Texas A&M (108)
Baylor vs. Texas Christian (106)
Miami, Ohio vs. Cincinnati (106)
North Carolina vs. Virginia (106)
