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Late touchdown leads Gophers to win over Wisconsin, keeping Paul Bunyan’s Axe

andy greder, pioneer press
·3 min read
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MADISON, Wis. — The Battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe was a nip-and-tuck, field-goal fest with six successful kicks between the Gophers and Wisconsin on Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium.

Then Minnesota struck gold.

Quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis hit Le’Meke Brockington on a slant, and the freshman receiver outraced the Badgers secondary for a 45-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Minnesota’s 23-16 win meant the Gophers have kept hold of Paul Bunyan’s Axe in consecutive years for the first time since 1993-94. The Gophers were able to parade the Axe around their rival’s stadium and mock-chop down goalposts for the second time since 2018. They lost in overtime in 2020.

But that long touchdown pass led to more drama.

After Brockington’s TD, Justin Walley intercepted Badgers quarterback Graham Mertz. That should have contributed to sealing a win, but after Matthew Trickett made three field goals, his 48-yard attempt hit off the upright with less than two minutes left.

Mertz was injured at the start of the next drive, and backup QB Chase Wolf drove Wisconsin to Minnesota’s 5-yard line. The Badgers had four straight penalties to move them back to the 30 and Wolf’s last-second heave to the back of the end zone fell incomplete.

“That was one of the most chaotic drives,” Walley said. “I didn’t even know the quarterback was out; that’s how chaotic it was. But we had to stay poised and it worked out.”

Coming off a gut-punch 13-10 loss to Iowa last week, which cost them a chance at a Big Ten West Division title last week, Minnesota improved to 7-4, 5-4 in the Big Ten, while Wisconsin fell to 6-6, 4-5.

Star running back Mo Ibrahim was held in check after eclipsing 100 yards in every game this season, including more than 260 against Iowa last week. The Badgers sold out to stop Ibrahim, who has been playing hurt, and held him to 70 yards on 27 carries.

Kaliakmanis had his best game yet. The redshirt freshman completed 19 of 29 passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns, one to Daniel Jackson and the ill-advised gamer-winner.

“I probably shouldn’t have done it, but I’m happy I did,” Kaliakmanis said of that throw. After he caught it, Brockington said he saw “nothing but green grass.”

Minnesota averages 56 more rushing yards than passing yards per game, but had 222 more through the air on Saturday.

“We kind of had to do it a little different than we’ve played other games and I thought we were good enough to be able to do that,” head coach P.J. Fleck said.

Wisconsin took a 16-13 lead in the third quarter with a 9-yard touchdown on a reverse to receiver Chimere Dike, but the damage was done earlier on that third-quarter drive. A chop-block penalty on Wisconsin set back their drive back to first-and-25, but Minnesota allowed them to convert. Then linebacker Donald Willis bit on the play fake and allowed a 28-yard completion.

The Gophers didn’t attempt a pass over 20 yards until the final drive against the Hawkeyes, but were much more aggressive Saturday. Minnesota came out throwing and ended a drought of four full games without a passing touchdown when Kaliakmanis connected with Jackson on the first quarter. Minnesota threw for over 300 yards Saturday for the first time since Week 2 win over Western Illinois.

“Nothing is too big for him,” Fleck said of Kaliakmanis. “He handled that. He’s got great poise, great confidence. He said we are going to win the entire time, said, ‘We got this.’

“For a freshman to say that, ‘OK, bud. Sure.’ ”

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