CHICAGO — The moods are polar opposite for the two programs heading into the Battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe in Minnesota next weekend.
In Madison, Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell told reporters they “can smile” after the Badgers’ 27-10 win over No. 21 Illinois at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday night.
At Wrigley Field, Gophers coach P.J. Fleck was just trying to grin and bear it after a 38-35 loss to Northwestern on Saturday afternoon. Before and after he spoke to media members, U players wore straight faces as most walked, some limped and others wore ice packs out of the visitors’ clubhouse.
These vibes have flipped. In October, the Gophers were winning — albeit ugly — while it was just ugly for the Badgers. After a 37-0 loss to Iowa in mid-October, Fickell said “that’s as low as it can be. I apologize.”
But the Badgers (4-7, 2-6 Big Ten) have gotten off the mat and have won two of their last three games. They knocked off a ranked Washington two weeks ago and had a competitive first half in a 31-7 loss to No. 2 Indiana last week.
“They have been playing good the last coupe of weeks,” Illini coach Bret Bielema said postgame Saturday.
The Gophers (6-5, 4-4) edged a winless-in-Big Ten Michigan State team in overtime to start November, and after a bye, were blown out at No. 7 Oregon and then couldn’t slow down a previously .500 Northwestern team on Saturday.
With the Gophers’ discrepancy between a strong offensive game and an atrocious defensive performance, Fleck is trying to keep his team together before the regular-season finale at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Huntington Bank Stadium.
“This is the perfect time to keep coming together and even get closer together,” Fleck said from Wrigley Field. “In adversity, you either get way farther apart or way closer together. There is no in between. That is a decision and a choice.”
Quarterback Drake Lindsey, who threw for a career-high four touchdowns against Northwestern, echoed his coach’s message.
“This is a huge week coming up and we got to learn from this one and attack next week,” Lindsey said. “We just got to stay together because this is the biggest team game in the world. Once you divide, the team would go to crap, so you just got to stay together and lead through adversity.”
When things got ugly in Wisconsin earlier this season, Fickell told a reporter Saturday there was no finger pointing, and that was not something he could say last season.
The Gophers controlled last year’s Axe game from start to finish, winning 24-7 in Madison. Minnesota finished 7-5, while the Badgers went 5-7 and missed out on a bowl game for the first time in 22 years.
Bowling where?
The Gophers’ bowl destinations are believed to be down to three candidates. With a win over the Badgers, Minnesota might head to the Rate Bowl in Phoenix on Dec. 26 or the Pinstripe Bowl in New York on Dec. 28.
If the Gophers lose to the Badgers, they will finish 6-6 and 4-5 in Big Ten play. That might mean a fourth trip to Detroit, which is now known as the GameAbove Sports Bowl. It will be played at Ford Field on Dec. 26.
Minnesota has gone to Detroit’s bowl game three times, with wins in 2015, 2018 and 2023.
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