MADISON, Wis. _ Paul Chryst's players were determined to prove they were the best team in the Big Ten West Division, that Paul Bunyan's Axe wouldn't leave the Wisconsin locker room anytime soon and to keep alive their hope of qualifying for the College Football Playoff.
Sixth-ranked Wisconsin achieved all three objectives Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium but needed a tenacious second-half effort after being thoroughly outplayed for the first 30 minutes by rival Minnesota.
Led by a defense that smothered the Gophers over the final two quarters, UW rallied for a 31-17 victory in front of a crowd of 77,216 to give Chryst his second 10-victory season in two tries.
The Badgers (10-2, 7-2 Big Ten) will face Penn State at 7:17 p.m. Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The Nittany Lions beat Michigan State, 45-12, Saturday.
Penn State needed a Michigan loss to Ohio State and a victory over Michigan State to secure the East Division berth. Ohio State helped the Nittany Lions by defeating Michigan, 30-27, in two overtimes.
UW and Penn State last played in the 2013 regular-season finale. The Nittany Lions, under Bill O'Brien, handed UW a 31-24 loss at Camp Randall Stadium.
Led by quarterback Mitch Leidner, Minnesota built a 17-7 halftime lead Saturday. Leidner, who had completed just 38.2 percent of his passes in two losses to UW, completed 7 of 12 for 111 yards and a touchdown and rushed nine times for 60 yards in the opening half as the Gophers rolled up 226 yards on 33 plays.
In the second half Leidner completed 2 of 14 passes for 47 yards and threw four interceptions. The Gophers ran 31 plays in the second half and managed just 60 yards, six first downs and zero points.
With starting quarterback Alex Hornibrook knocked out in the first half with an apparent concussion, Bart Houston ran the offense the entire second half. Hosuton finished 9-of-14 for 123 yards.
Tailback Corey Clement overcame a critical fumble with the game tied, 17-17, to rush 26 times for 100 yards and two touchdowns.
Jazz Peavy rushed three times for 83 yards and caught three passes for 47 for UW.
Peavy's 71-yard run set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Clement to help UW take the lead for good, 24-17, with 6:42 left.
Dare Ogunbowale added an 8-yard touchdown run _ one play after linebacker Leon Jacobs recorded UW's fourth interception of the half _ to help UW push its lead to 31-17.
The Gophers won the toss and chose to receive.
They marched from their 25 to the UW 3 before the drive stalled when Leidner gained 3 yards on third and goal.
Emmit Carpenter, from Ashwaubenon High School, capped the drive with a 21-yard field goal to give the Gophers a 3-0 lead with 10:11 left in the quarter.
Houston came in to open the second quarter and completed 3 of 3 attempts for 48 yards in an 80-yard touchdown drive.
Fullback Alec Ingold capped the drive with a tough 1-yard touchdown run by extending the ball across the goal line while in the middle of a pile of bodies to help UW take a 7-3 lead with 9:19 left in the half.
Minnesota dominated the remainder of the half.
UW's kickoff coverage unit, which had allowed just one long return all season, got burned after Ingold's touchdown.
P.J. Rosowski's kick, into the wind, carried to the Gophers' 18. KiAnte Hardin fielded the ball on the run and gained 69 yards to the UW 13 before Natrell Jamerson brought him down from behind.
That only delayed the damage.
Leidner hit Drew Wolitarsky, who ran a slant in front of safety D'Cota Dixon, for a touchdown with 9:05 left in the half. Carpenter's conversion gave the Gophers a 10-7 lead.
Hornibrook was knocked out of the game with 3:19 left in the half when his head hit the turf after a hard hit along the Minnesota sideline.
Peavy dropped a third-down pass from Houston near midfield one play later and UW was forced to punt. The Gophers then drove 68 yards in just seven plays to pad their lead.
Leidner had completions of 35 yards to Wolitarsky and 10 yards to Rashad Still and capped the drive with a 3-yard run with 53 seconds left in the half to help the Gophers push the lead to 17-7.
UW took the second-half kickoff and drove from its 25 to the 22 but the drive stalled. A first-down incompletion, a 4-yard loss by Ogunbowale and an 11-yard pass to Peavy left UW facing fourth-and-3 at the 15.
Andrew Endicott salvaged the drive with a 33-yard field goal to pull UW within 17-10 with 9:03 left.
Now it was up to UW's defense,
The Gophers drove from their 25 to the UW 14, but safety Leo Musso ended the threat with an end zone interception with 6:16 left. Leidner tried to hit Still, who was covered by Lubern Figaro. But Musso slid over and stepped in front of the pass for his fifth interception of the season and a touchback.
After both teams struggled to move the ball, cornerback Sojourn Shelton made a momentum-turning play for UW early in the fourth quarter.
Minnesota faced third-and-15 from its 48 when Leidner tried to hit wide receiver Eric Carter along the sideline. Carter kept running straight down the field, though, and Shelton made an easy interception. He weaved his way across the field and gained 40 yards to the Gophers' 19 before being driven out of bounds with 13:15 left.
UW needed three plays to score, with Clement powering in from 2 yards with 11:58 left. When Endicott made the extra point, the game was tied and Camp Randall Stadium was finally roaring.
UW's defense kept the din going by recording a three-and-out, with Chikwe Obasih sacking Leidner for a 7-yard loss to the Minnesota 21 on third-and-7.
The Badgers took over at their 45 after a short punt _ with 10:56 remaining.
Two plays later, the Gophers had the ball.
Clement slipped through a hole on the second play of the drive but linebacker Jonathan Celestin popped the ball loose from behind. Hardin recovered at the Minnesota 26 with 10:09 left.
The Gophers picked up one first down _ on a pass interference call against cornerback Derrick Tindal _ before punting.
UW took over at its 13 with 8:01 left.
Just 1:19 later, Clement was celebrating a touchdown and redemption.
After an offside penalty on Minnesota, Peavy ripped off a 71-yard run to the 11. An illegal block (low) on Minnesota on the play put the ball at the 6 and Clement scored two plays later to help UW take a 24-17 lead with 6:42 left.
UW's defense wasn't finished dominating Minnesota and Leidner.
On first-and-10 from his 25, Leidner was pressured by linebacker Garret Dooley and threw high to Wolitarsky over the middle. The ball sailed into the arms of Jacobs, who gained 25 yards to the 8 to set p the offense.
Ogunbowale scored up the middle on the next play to help UW push its lead to 31-17 with 6:15 left.
The Gophers were melting down and the Camp Randall Stadium was feeding off their frustration.
Just two plays after the kickoff, UW's defense capped its turnaround with another interception.
Linebacker T.J. Watt drilled Leidner, who threw deep. Shelton intercepted the pass to give UW the ball at the Badgers' 32 with 6:01 left.
The division title was minutes away.
