Minnesota @ Wisconsin football preview

Golden Gophers travel to Madison to face Badgers

Shocked, stunned, embarrassed and depressed are the best adjectives Minnesota players and coaches could have used without reservation.

In what turned out to be the Gophers most uninspiring performance of the season, Minnesota allowed hapless Michigan to dominate from start to finish and watch the Wolverines walk out of the Metrodome with a 29-6 victory.

Indeed, the Gophers are limping to the finish line. A season that started with so much promise at 7-1 is now 7-3. Before the second half of the Big 10 season started, the Gophers had it sitting in front of them with three of the last four at home. Now, they’ve wasted their opportunity.

The Gophers know they are bowling but would a team staring at a potential four-game losing streak really feel like it would deserve one? Of course, they’ll take it.

Perhaps the Battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe at Wisconsin Saturday will serve as a pick-me-up. College football’s oldest series and rivalry enters another chapter. The teams meet for the 118 th time but the Badgers have owned it lately by winning 11 of the last 13 meetings.

At 5-5, this is definitely not where Wisconsin thought it would be. The Badgers were ranked in the top 10 before a sudden turn for the worse. Now, they have to win their last two just to clinch a bowl bid. One win only makes them bowl eligible.

However, those who watch the Gophers closely probably could sense this fall was coming. The offense has been in a funk ever since the Ohio State game because of a very soft offensive line that has gone through massive position changes and injury.

It hasn’t protected quarterback Adam Weber very well and the running game has been neutralized. Weber has been sacked 24 times and the Gophers are averaging just 116 yards per game.

The Badgers’ biggest problem has been finishing games. They’ve lost games inside the final 1:30 to Michigan, Ohio State and Michigan St. However, they have been playing better lately winning two of their last three games against Indiana and Illinois.

As always, a strong running game leads the way, but it’s been a little different. P.J. Hill leads the way at 845 yards but there have been others. John Clay has rushed for 703. Last week, the Badgers had three different backs go over 100 yards in the 55-20 win at Indiana. The Badger offense also rolled up 601 yards. Since switching quarterbacks, Dustin Sherer has been acceptable. He’s completing only 52 percent of his passes, but the Badgers are winning.

Minnesota looks like a team that’s hit a wall. The Gophers aren’t moving the ball very well – five of their first six possessions against Michigan were three and outs – and their defense now having trouble slowing people down. In short, this appears to be another patented November Gopher collapse.

Wisconsin’s running game should get the space and holes it needs to keep Paul Bunyan’s Axe in Madison for another year.

Prediction: Wisconsin 32, Minnesota 14

Notable for the Gophers:

• Minnesota wide receiver Eric Decker will miss Saturday’s game with a high ankle sprain. Coach Tim Brewster said he hopes Decker will be ready for the Nov. 22 regular season finale against Iowa. Expect Brandon Green and Ralph Spry, back from a two-game suspension, to pick up the load. Decker is a finalist for the Fred Biletnikoff award, which is awarded to the nation’s top wide receiver.

• Want to know if the Gophers will win? Check out the game to see who scores first. When the Gophers do it, they are 6-0. When they don’t, they are 1-3.

> Find more Big Ten football news online at Big Ten Fans!