MINNEAPOLIS _ Everything Minnesota wanted was in its hands.
Nearly 60 years of near-misses and absolute failures, mediocre seasons and abysmal ones. This felt like the best chance to make the Rose Bowl or even more: Beat border rival Wisconsin in the regular-season finale and go to the Big Ten Championship Game for the first time.
But just as the falling snow melted soon after landing on the TCF Bank Stadium's turf, this opportunity swirled away, as the Gophers fell, 38-17, on Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium, in front of a sold-out crowd of 53,756.
The No. 8 Gophers will finish the year at 10-2 with a share of the Big Ten title with the similarly 10-2 Badgers. But winning the head-to-head tiebreaker, the No. 12 Badgers will make their sixth appearance in the conference title match.
For the entire season, the Gophers controlled their destiny. Even the Wisconsin game seemed in their favor, with home-field advantage and the recent memory of taking Paul Bunyan's Axe back for the first time in 14 years at Wisconsin a year ago.
The Gophers started exactly like the odds were in their favor. The defense forced a three-and-out, and the offense scored a 51-yard touchdown pass from Tanner Morgan to Rashod Bateman to take the early lead on the second play.
But that was the last time the Gophers commanded the game. Even when defensive end Winston DeLattiboudere forced a fumble that Carter Coughlin recovered, Morgan turned around to throw an interception into double coverage on the resulting possession. Wisconsin seized that takeback with its first points, a 26-yard field goal.
The Badgers piled on from there. Running back Jonathan Taylor, a Heisman Trophy candidate, made a 28-yard touchdown pass. Badgers quarterback Jack Coan hit receiver Quintez Cephus for a 47-yard score. Gophers kicker Michael Lantz added a 38-yard field goal in the third quarter, but that was just a brief respite.
Wisconsin returned a kickoff to the Gophers' 39-yard line, setting up Kendric Pryor's 26-yard rushing touchdown to put the Badgers up two touchdowns at the end of the third quarter. The Gophers then trekked through a more-than six-minute drive, only to turn the ball over on downs just outside the end zone. Wisconsin converted that into an 11-yard running touchdown for Taylor.
Morgan took his fourth sack right after the right after the kickoff, coughing up the ball at the 18-yard line to gift Taylor another 1-yard score. The Gophers put together a consolation drive late in the fourth quarter, a 12-yard catch for receiver Tyler Johnson. On senior day, that tied Johnson with the Gophers' career receiving touchdown record of 31.
Morgan finished 20 of 37 for 296 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Bateman ended with one of those touchdowns and 147 yards, which brought him to 1,170 on the season to break Johnson's record set last season. Coan, meanwhile, went 15 of 22 for 280 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensively, the Gophers accomplished their goal of limiting Taylor to just 76 yards and the Badgers to just 173 rushing yards total. But struggling to finish tackles again plagued the defense on punishing big plays.
While the Gophers hurried off the field, seniors Coughlin and linebacker Kamal Martin leading the way, the Badgers took the Axe on a tour of TCF Bank Stadium. The Badgers didn't keep it a secret that how the Gophers toted the trophy around the state of Minnesota in the offseason and often referred to last year's win as a program turning point irked them.
Players made snow angels on the light accumulation on the field before chopping down the goal post in one end zone, chopping the M logo at center field, chopping the opposite goal post and then showing the Axe to a spattering of fans in the stands.
