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Wisconsin vs. Minnesota Postgame Notes
Camp Randall Stadium – Madison, Wis.
Nov. 29, 2014

TEAM NOTES
•    Wisconsin’s captains today were seniors Rob Havenstein, Derek Landisch, Konrad Zagzebski and junior Michael Caputo. They were joined by honorary captain Brooks Bollinger.
•    The Badgers won the Big Ten West Division, advancing to the 2014 Big Ten Championship Game for the third time in four years. UW will take on Ohio State for a chance to win its fourth Big Ten championship in the last five seasons.
•    UW finished with seven regular-season Big Ten wins, equaling the most in school history. This marks the fifth time in school history the Badgers have won seven conference games, also pulling off the feat in 1998, 1999, 2006 and 2010.
•    Head coach Gary Anderson improved to 13-3 (.813) in Big Ten games, owning the best start by a UW coach through his first 16 Big Ten games in the modern era.
•    The Badgers won the battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe, defeating Minnesota for the 11th-consecutive season. That streak of 11 straight wins over the Gophers is the third-longest active win streak by a Big Ten team against a conference foe.
•    UW trails the all-time series with Minnesota, 57-59-8, and has now won 18 of the last 20 meetings.
•    Wisconsin trailed 17-3 in the second quarter and erased a 14-point deficit, for the second time in three weeks (also trailed 17-3 vs. Nebraska) and the 21st time in the modern era.
•    The Badgers posted 233 yards rushing and 215 passing yards, topping the 200-yard mark in both categories for the third time this season (also did it vs. Maryland and at Purdue).
•    UW limited Minnesota to just 272 total yards of offense. This marks the ninth time the Badgers have held their opponent below 300 yards of total offense this season.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
•    On his first carry of the game, junior RB Melvin Gordon broke the Big Ten and school rushing record of 2,109 yards, set by Ron Dayne in 1996. With 151 yards today, Gordon now has 2,260 this year, good for fourth best in FBS history. Gordon only trails Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders (2,628 in 1988), UCF’s Kevin Smith (2,567 in 2007) and USC’s Marcus Allen (2,342 in 1981).
•    Gordon went over the 100-yard mark for the 11th time this season and the 10th-straight game. It was his 21st career 100-yard game, good for fourth place all-time at Wisconsin.
•    Gordon scored on a four-yard reception in the second quarter, his third receiving TD of the season and fourth of his career. He also had a 1-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. He has scored at least one touchdown in every game this season and at least two in seven straight games. He now has 29 touchdowns on the season.
•    Junior WR Alex Erickson recorded a career-high 160 receiving yards, going over the 100-yard receiving mark in a game for the third time this season. Since hauling in five catches for 121 yards vs. Maryland, Erickson had seven receptions for 51 yards in the last four games.
•    Joel Stave’s 70-yard pass to Alex Erickson in the second quarter was the longest completion of Stave’s career and the Badgers’ longest pass play since Jon Budmayr connected with Jared Abbrederis on a 74-yard TD pass against Indiana on Nov. 13, 2012.
•    Stave finished with 215 yards passing and two touchdowns. This marked the ninth time in his career he has thrown for at least 200 yards and the second time this season. He has now thrown for two or more touchdowns 12 times in his career, including three times this year.
•    Sophomore RB Corey Clement scored his ninth touchdown of the season on his first carry of the game, a 28-yard rush in the third quarter. He finished with 89 yards on seven carries for an average of 12.7 yards per rush.
•    Freshman WR Rob Wheelwright caught his first career touchdown on a 17-yard pass from Stave in the fourth quarter. The grab was also Wheelwright’s first catch of the season.
•    Junior S Michael Caputo finished with 12 tackles on the day, equaling the second-highest mark of his career. He also forced and recovered a fumble with 18 seconds left in the first half, which led to a UW field goal. It was Caputo’s second-career forced fumble and fourth fumble recovery of the season, tying him for second-most in school history, trailing only Ed Bosold who had five in 1972.
•    Senior LB Marcus Trotter recorded a career-high 14 tackles, including one for a loss.
•    Freshman K Rafael Gaglianone made a 24-yard field goal in the first half and a 38-yard just before halftime. He has now made 12 consecutive field goals and is 17 for 20 on the season.
•    Senior S Peniel Jean tallied a career-high eight tackles.
•    Sophomore LB Vince Biegel finished with six tackles, including 1.0 sack and 1.0 tackle for loss. Biegel now leads the Badgers with 7.5 sacks on the season and 15.5 tackles for loss.