ANDY BAGGOT Insider Related Content • Varsity Magazine

BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider

MINNEAPOLIS – Michael Caputo is rarely at a loss for words, but the senior strong safety and captain of the Wisconsin football team was late Saturday afternoon.

Caputo had just emerged from a scene of great joy. The Badgers had capped their regular season with a 31-21 Big Ten Conference victory over Minnesota and the visitor's locker room at TCF Bank Stadium was all smiles and photo ops.

It was a milestone triumph to be sure.

It meant Wisconsin would maintain possession of Paul Bunyan's Axe – which goes to the winner of this 125-game-old rivalry – for the 12th-consecutive year.

It meant the Badgers (9-3 overall, 6-2 in the Big Ten West Division) took a major step toward securing a berth in the Holiday Bowl.

It meant, for the second time this season, that Wisconsin players and coaches had found a way to get refocused and atone for a dismal loss at home with an inspired win on the road.

But the normally expansive Caputo struggled when asked for some perspective.

"I can't even speak on it," he said. "That's how happy I am."

Caputo heads a senior class that will be remembered for many things. Its adaptability and resolve in the face of three different head coaches. Its cumulative record of 48-19 (.716). Its quiet perseverance in the face of injuries and perceived injustices.

But being dominant in this Border Battle series is somewhere near the top of its competitive resume.

"We've been accustom to having the Axe with us," senior fullback Derek Watt said. "We weren't going to be the senior class to let that out of our hands."

The Axe will be returned to its massive display case inside the Wisconsin locker room at Camp Randall by a senior class that went 8-1 in trophy games during their playing careers.

"To be the class that doesn't lose the Axe is a good thing," senior left tackle Tyler Marz said. "We've been through a lot as a senior class. We've kind of kept grinding, kept fighting. There's been a lot of change and we've kept moving forward."

Marz, who grew up in Springfield, Minnesota, said his well-earned bragging rights will continue to be put to good use.

"The Gopher fans in this state always say there's always next year," he said. "I did my job and hopefully these guys that are behind me can keep doing it and move forward."

The last time the Badgers lost in this matchup – it's the most-played in major college football, going back to 1890 – was in 2003. A couple months later, Facebook was born, putting us on the path toward the postgame selfies that were taken with the Axe this day.

"Every win is fun. Every win is special," senior quarterback Joel Stave said. "But this one – just being at Minnesota, coming off the way we lost last week – I know I wanted it more than I've probably ever wanted to win a game before."

Wisconsin was fresh off a 13-7 Big Ten setback to Northwestern at Camp Randall Stadium, a controversial decision that ruined Senior Day.

Stave spoke for the group when he said the loss – in which the Badgers had five turnovers and had a late touchdown erased by video replay – "bothered me bad."

But the message all week was to live, learn and carry on.

"The biggest thing was don't let Northwestern beat you twice," Stave said.

"Learn from this," senior outside linebacker Joe Schobert said. "Nothing that happened in the Northwestern game can change what's going to happen this week."

The moment of atonement was similar to one Wisconsin players and coaches faced in early October. They lost four turnovers, including a fumble near the goal line, during a 10-6 Big Ten season-opening loss to Iowa at Camp Randall on Oct. 3. 

Their answer was a 23-21 triumph at Nebraska on Oct. 10 in which the Badgers trailed at halftime and in the final minute.

"The way we played versus Iowa and Northwestern, we felt like we didn't play our best game," senior wide receiver Alex Erickson said. "You come back the next week and you can't wait to get back to practice."

The fingerprints of seniors were all over this latest victory.

Stave threw a pick-six on his first snap from scrimmage and was a very pedestrian 9-for-17 for 79 yards, but he completed four key third-down throws that factored into scoring drives and did something historically special.

En route to his 10th-consecutive road win as a starter dating back to 2013 – think about that for a second – Stave tied Brooks Bollinger with his 30th career victory (30-10, .750).

"We didn't talk about it during the season, but we knew what we had to do to get 30 wins for him," Erickson said. "He's a guy that's meant so much to us and me personally. He's so humble. He wouldn't want any recognition for it or anything like that, but it was cool to get that done for him. I'm proud to be part of it."

The job isn't done, though.

"I'm trying to get him that all-time wins record," Marz said. "We have one more to do that.

"I love Joel. The guy's a great competitor and a great person – on the field and off the field. He was pretty excited after this one and that was cool to see."

Stave was unaware of his road winning streak. He's 11-3 (.786) on the road overall going back to 2012. 

"That's cool," he said. "Thanks for sharing that."

Why have the Badgers done so well in hostile environments of late?

"I think we've done a really good job of taking care of business on the road," Stave said. "A lot of tough environments in the Big Ten. There's nothing more fun than going on the road in a tough environment, being with the 70 guys and coaches, and winning a game."

Elsewhere on offense, Erickson caught six passes – five on third down that produced first downs – while Marz led a revamped line that didn't allow a sack, opened holes so that Wisconsin could run a season-high 62 times for 257 yards rushing and pile up 40 minutes, 35 seconds in possession time.

On defense, Schobert had an interception and a forced fumble, senior cornerback Darius Hillary recovered two fumbles, senior free safety Tanner McEvoy had two interceptions and Caputo forced a fumble.

Hillary and Caputo were the first to grab hold of the Axe and orchestrate the tradition postgame rite of pretending to chop down the goal posts.

"Just being able to run and grab the Axe and be able to run around the field after a win and see all the fans celebrating with us, that's something special and something I'll carry the rest of my life," Hillary said.

Do any of the four wins vs. Minnesota stand out?

"This one," Caputo said. "It's my senior year and I'm just so proud of all these guys with all the hard work they put into this season. I'm just so happy to close out the season like we wanted to and the way I felt this team deserved to given all the adversity during the season."

Winning 12 straight in the Border Battle series has created a mindset for the Badgers, young and old.

"It's a special game, a special tradition," Caputo said.

"We take the mentality that it's ours," Erickson said of the Axe. "It's been a pretty cool accomplishment and I know the younger guys really learned how important it was today. I'm pretty confident the tradition will keep carrying on."