Wisconsin Badgers found themselves with a great opportunity on Saturday afternoon. Miami fell to Pittsburgh on Friday afternoon opening the door for Wisconsin to finally have their day in the College Football Playoff. Wisconsin took care of business with a dominating performance of the Minnesota Golden Gophers beating them 31-0. This is the first shutout for the Badgers in this rivalry since 1982 as the Gophers could continue to disappoint in the Paul Bunyan Axe game.

Alex Horinbrook plays his best Big Ten game
Last week against Northwestern, the Golden Gophers showed some cracks in their defense, and this week, Wisconsin took full advantage of them. Alex Horinbrook came through with his best game since September looking like the promising young quarterback we all thought he was before the season began. He threw for 151 yards and three touchdowns completing 15-of-19 and more importantly, no interceptions. We’ll see if he can keep it up next week in Indianapolis. The competition will be tougher, but he hopefully is hitting his stride.

Defense pitches second shutout in as many weeks
Do you know how many points this defense has allowed in the last three weeks? 10. That’s it, 10 points. They did that to Michigan with the Wolverines having one good drive, and other than that, Wisconsin’s defense allowed absolutely nothing. I feel like people aren’t talking enough about them, and if this were an SEC or ACC defense, people would be losing their minds at the talent. Minnesota completed three total passes for the entire game. They rushed the ball 39 times and only got 93 total yards. That’s amazing. What an effort by this defense.

New coach, same story for the Gophers
At some point, Minnesota will beat Wisconsin and end the streak. When that will happen, it’s unknown to me. Minnesota gave P.J. Fleck an extension into 2023 before the game on Saturday but his first taste of the rivalry is a sour one. Gophers were outscored in the last two games of the season, 70-0. That’s not finishing on a high note. My guess is Fleck will continue to build this program, and Minnesota will be more formidable in years to come.

Next up
Woo boy. The big one. Big Ten Championship game against Ohio State. Wisconsin makes their fifth trip to the Big Ten Championship game. Badgers are looking for their third title in this game as they hold a 2-2 record here. Last time they faced Ohio State in this game, the Buckeyes blew them out 59-0. Wisconsin is hoping for much better results this Saturday. If they win, they’re in the College Football Playoff. It should be an exciting Saturday night.

Charlie.