BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — There's a long list of incentives for the Wisconsin football team in its latest Big Ten Conference border battle with Minnesota.
The showdown on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis will determine the Big Ten West Division titlist, the curator for Paul Bunyan's Axe for at least the next year and who has the upper hand in a landmark series that began in 1890 and is now deadlocked at 60-60-8.
Also up for grabs is a potential Rose Bowl berth, the eighth 10-win regular season in UW history and bragging rights in the most-played rivalry in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
An item you can add to the list for the No. 13 Badgers (9-2 overall, 6-2 in the Big Ten) in their matchup with No. 9 Minnesota (10-1, 7-1) is equaling the longest road winning streak vs. a current league opponent in school history.
Wisconsin has won seven consecutive outings in Minneapolis (2017, '15, '13, '11, '09, '07, '05). One more would tie the mark initially set vs. Northwestern (1961, '59, '57, '55, '53, '51, '49, '47) and currently equaled vs. Purdue (2018, '16, '14, '12, '10, '06, '04, 1999).
Here are five more things to know:
Receiving Total Consciousness
For the first time in program history, the Badgers have six players with 20 or more pass receptions and they may not be done. The six include three wide receivers (junior Quintez Cephus with 40, junior Danny Davis with 25 and senior A.J. Taylor with 21), two running backs (junior Garrett Groshek with 24 and junior Jonathan Taylor with 20) and one tight end (sophomore Jake Ferguson with 26). Groshek is the only one without at least one touchdown catch. Junior Kendric Pryor (18 receptions) is knocking on the clubhouse door.
The Chase for 6k
Jonathan Taylor needs 144 rushing yards to become the first ball-carrier in FBS history to amass 6,000 in his first three college seasons, adding another bullet point to his Heisman Trophy resume. In 15 true road games in his career, Taylor is averaging 147 rushing yards per outing.
Speaking of JT
Taylor is on pace to have 300-plus touches in each of his first three seasons, something even the great Ron Dayne, the 1999 Heisman winner, was unable to do. Taylor had 307 as a freshman, 315 as a sophomore and has 281 heading into the weekend. Taylor probably won't surpass the 401 touches put up by Brian Calhoun in 2005, but, with 903 for his career, he has a shot at 1,000.
On the Marquee
This is the sixth time in the Axe series where both teams are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. The Badgers have won the previous five, including two on the road (2005, 1999) and two as the lower rated club (2005, 1954). The five meetings as ranked teams represent a fairly small total compared to Wisconsin versus other Big Ten foes. The Badgers have played Ohio State 19 times, Michigan 11, Iowa eight and Northwestern, Penn State and Purdue six apiece when both clubs are ranked.
Home Sweet Home
The Badgers have never lost in five appearances at TCF Bank Stadium, which opened for business in 2009. They've never trailed in the fourth quarter, never failed to produce a 100-yard rusher and never allowed a 100-yard rushing performance.
