Badgers Bowl Over Gophers for Axe, 49-31
November 23, 2002 | Football
Badger sophomore Anthony Davis racked up 301 yards and a school record-tying five touchdowns on 45 carries Saturday as Wisconsin defeated Big Ten rival Minnesota 49-31 to become bowl eligible and regain Paul Bunyan's Axe.
'Obviously, I'm very pleased with the victory, very proud of how our football team battled. We made it a big game, put a lot of emphasis on it and I thought we responded,' Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez said.
'The kids are ecstatic. It was an important game for them and they had a little fun with the axe. And we talked about that, that's part of college football, enjoying the celebration of a victory, enjoying the axe with your teammates and coming down and having a little fun in the locker room and then going back out and enjoying the fifth quarter. The guys are really excited.'
In front of a crowd of 78,843 at Camp Randall Stadium, fellow UW sophomore Jim Leonhard picked off two interceptions to help Badger quarterback Brooks Bollinger stage a fourth-quarter comeback win in the signal caller's final home game wearing the cardinal and white.
Leonhard's two picks against the Gophers give him a UW school-record 10 for the season and tie for third-most in a season in Big Ten history. The Tony, Wis., native also returned two Minnesota punts for 24 yards allowing him to surpass Nick Davis' school record for punt return yards with 438 this season. Davis set the previous record with 427 punt return yards in 1998.
Minnesota opened up scoring in the game that would see five lead changes. Kicker Dan Nystrom put the Gophers ahead 3-0 after completing a 39-yard field goal halfway through the first quarter. Three minutes later, Davis scored his first touchdown of the day on a four-yard run at 3:18. UW kicker Mike Allen cleared the uprights on the extra point, the first of seven during Saturday's game, for the 7-3 Badger advantage.
Early in the second quarter, Wisconsin wide receiver Darrin Charles posted his first TD catch of the season on a 12-yard reception following a second Nystrom field goal. Down by eight points, Minnesota quarterback Asad Abdul-Khaliq led the Gophers 87 yards down field looking to tie the game.
UM running back Terry Jackson II capped the drive on a one-yard touchdown run to set up teammate Ben Utecht's pass completion for two extra-points to tie the game. The Badgers regained the lead 21-14 to enter the halftime break on a one-yard scamper by Davis with three seconds left.
After tying the game in the first drive of the third quarter, Minnesota took advantage of a botched punt by the Badger offense to take the 24-21 lead with a field goal at 8:13. However, a timely 25-yard scoring run by Davis brought the lead back to the Badgers to end the quarter 28-24.
With just 15 minutes left to gain bowl eligibility, a win for UW seemed questionable after Abdul-Khaliq connected with Tony Patterson on a 42-yard pass to the Wisconsin three-yard line to set up the eventual two-yard scoring reception by UM 's Thomas Tapeh. The Gophers took a 31-28 lead, but it would be Minnesota 's last.
Wisconsin rattled off the final 12 minutes by continuously pounding the Gophers with Davis runs. UW recaptured the lead on Bollinger's lone touchdown run of the game, before Davis sealed the lead with his last two touchdown runs, including a career-setting 71-yard run for the young back. Leonhard's two late interceptions effectively shutdown the UM offense to ensure the victory and Wisconsin's 7-6 winning season.
Joining Davis in his 100-plus yard game, Bollinger totaled 112 yards rushing on 18 carries, in addition to six passes for 134 yards. It was the fourth time in Bollinger's career that he surpassed 100 yards on the ground. Davis' five touchdown runs matched Billy Marek's total against Minnesota in 1974 and his 301 yards was the third-most by a Badger in school history.
Wisconsin's 49 points against the Gophers Saturday also marked the most points scored by the Badgers since a 59-0 win over Indiana Oct. 16, 1999.
Wisconsin vs. Minnesota, 11/23/02
Post-Game Quotes
Wisconsin Head Coach Barry Alvarez
Opening Statement: 'Obviously, I'm very pleased with the victory, very proud of how our football team battled. We made it a big game, put a lot of emphasis on it and I thought we responded. We knew that it would be that type of game. Every game we've had with Minnesota has been a four quarter game; it's been a game to see who can hang in there the longest. We made plays down the stretch, we did what we had to do, I really like the way our offense answered. We went into the game offensively saying that we'd have to ride Anthony and Brooks and use them both to run the football. I really thought Brooks competed extremely hard, played very well, the game was very important for him. Anthony's numbers speak for themselves. [And] how can you talk about that team without mentioning Jimmy Leonhard, he broke two school records today in punt returns and [the] interception record. That one in the end zone may have been as good as one I've seen ever. I'm pleased with our team and happy that we're bowl eligible and it appears as though we 'll get a good bowl game. I'm excited for our guys about that. '
What was the atmosphere like in the locker room ' 'The kids are ecstatic. It was an important game for them and they had a little fun with the axe. And we talked about that, that's part of college football, enjoying the celebration of a victory, enjoying the axe with your teammates and coming down and having a little fun in the locker room and then going back out and enjoying the fifth quarter. The guys are really excited.'
Does this ease the bitterness of the second half of the season' 'Right now, I feel good about this win. As a coach, you try to put aside everything'you concentrate so hard on this game and we really put a lot into this game. From last Saturday, immediately after that Michigan game, [I] try to get our guys' attention on this game. I've learned in this business to 'when you have a win you enjoy it and you savor it. [I'm] not satisfied with how the season went, but knowing we'll get to a bowl game, our guys held together and it's a young football team and I think we've got so many young guys that played and are going to be around here for a lot of years, I just think it 's good.'
What are the benefits of having the bowl game and extra practices' 'The bowl game is good for the program. To allow you to develop and get some more time to work on fundamentals with young players. We can scrimmage young guys. We've got some good scout teams, a lot of guys we 've redshirted, some walk-ons that I want to see. It just gives us a chance to work with them now. I just think it's huge for the future when you can do that. '
Minnesota Head Coach Glen Mason
Opening Statement: 'I am going to state the obvious. We got beat. When you give up over 400 yards rushing, you are going to get beat. I thought we had missed opportunities early in the game on offense. We could not get field position. We came away with field goals, rather than touchdowns, a basic inability to stop the run, slow down the run, contain the run, whatever way you would like to describe it, through the course of the game. I think this game, score-wise, is kind of hard to figure. Probably, statistically, it played out the way you would think, 49-31. We had an opportunity, before we had the interception in the end zone, to make it a three point game with enough time on the clock. That probably, by statistics, should not have been that way, but that is the way it was. I was very disappointed in our effort and we need to make improvement in a lot of areas. We obviously need to do something on defense.'
Is there anything in particular that your defense needs to work on' 'That is why we gave up 400 yards. We tried just about everything we had in our bag. We did not play good. They blocked us pretty well. Let us face it. A lot of our guys got out of position.'
On defending Brooks Bollinger: 'Early they went to him a lot. I was concerned about that going in to the game. Bollinger had the ability to hurt a lot of people over the years running the football. He is a gutsy player. Again, it is a run. We did not stop many runs today, not consistently.'
On the danger of Anthony Davis and Brooks Bollinger in the shotgun formation: 'It is a combination of either him keeping it or handing it off to the inside zone. I wish I could say that was the only play we had trouble defending today. That was not the case.'
On Minnesota's big pass plays today: 'The way we played offensively. It is all a team game. I think it is wrong. I never try to do that segment thing. After we kind of sputtered some opportunities, we moved the ball and countered, especially in the beginning of the second half quite nicely offensively."
Wisconsin Running Back Anthony Davis
On Today's Victory: 'It was a very emotional game for us. It was the last home game for our seniors and I wanted to give as much effort as I possibly could. Our offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage and that let us keep the running game going all game.'
On His Record Performance: 'I definitely wanted to try and play my best game today. Things went well for me. Going into this game I felt I needed to have a big game and be as much of a contributor as I could.'
On UW Being Bowl Eligible: 'It is a beautiful feeling knowing we're going to a bowl game. With all of the distractions the last couple of weeks involving our team, it's a great feeling to play well and win with everything on the line. It showed that our team has a lot of character. '
