MINNEAPOLIS _ No team was going to prevent Wisconsin from keeping its perfect season intact and staying alive in the chase for a spot in the College Football Playoff, particularly not rival Minnesota.
Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck, arguably the best coach/showman in the country, found out Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium his team lacks the personnel on offense and defense to go toe-to-toe with UW.
With Alex Hornibrook hitting several big throws and with UW's defense overwhelming the Gophers for four quarters, the Badgers rolled to a 31-0 victory, their 14th in a row in the series.
UW (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten) completed the best regular season in program history with another victory over its No. 1 rival.
Only one other UW team won 12 games in a season. That came in 2006, when then-rookie coach Bret Bielema guided UW to a 7-1 mark in the Big Ten and a 12-1 mark overall. UW capped that season with a 17-14 victory over Arkansas in the Capital One Bowl.
UW's victory Saturday, coupled with No. 2 Miami's 24-14 loss to Pittsburgh on Friday, should allow the fifth-ranked Badgers to move up into the top four of the College Football Playoff rankings.
Those rankings will be revealed Tuesday on ESPN.
UW likely can secure a berth in the playoff with a victory over No. 9 Ohio State (10-2, 8-1) in the Big Ten title game Saturday in Indianapolis.
The Buckeyes closed the regular season with a 31-20 victory over Michigan, but starting quarterback J.T Barrett (knee) left the game in the second half. Barrett said afterward he expects to be ready to face UW on Saturday.
Barrett rushed for 92 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 226 yards and a touchdown in the Buckeyes' 30-23 overtime victory over UW last season.
Minnesota finished Year 1 under Fleck at 2-7 in the Big Ten and 5-7 overall.
Fleck's boat will remain in dry dock for at least another year and UW will move on to Indianapolis with a shot at a league title and a playoff berth.
Not a bad stage for UW coach Paul Chryst and his players.
UW's defense, among the stingiest in the nation this season, was again impenetrable.
Minnesota went without a first down until 41 seconds left in the first half, when Rodney Smith broke off a 25-yard run.
UW held a 17-0 lead at that point and had limited Minnesota to 13 yards on 15 plays.
Minnesota's lone productive drive of the half ended with Emmit Carpenter missing a 46-yard field goal on the final play of the half. Carpenter missed a 48-yard attempt in the second half.
Hornibrook completed 13 of 17 attempts for 115 yards and two touchdowns in the opening half. He finished 15 of 19 (78.9 percent) 151 yards and three touchdowns.
He was again sharp on third downs by hitting 4 of 7 attempts for 31 yards and four first downs, including two touchdowns.
Freshman tailback Jonathan Taylor entered the game with 1,657 yards, the No. 7 mark all-time for FBS freshmen.
He lost a fumble in the second quarter but after being allowed to watch for a few series came back strong in the second half. Taylor rushed 20 times for 149 yards and a touchdown, a 53-yarder on the first play of the final quarter, to push his season total to 1,806 yards. That is the No. 3 mark for FBS freshmen, behind Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson (1,925 yards) and UW's Ron Dayne (1,863).
Minnesota quarterback Demry Croft, a dangerous runner but pedestrian passer, completed 3 of 9 attempts for 40 yards.
The Gophers finished with 133 yards on 48 plays, an average of 2.8 yards per play, eight first downs.
Led by Hornibrook and Taylor, UW rolled up 287 rushing yards and 456 total yards.
UW punted on its first two series but finally reached the end zone on its third try.
Hornibrook hit 6 of 7 passes for 62 yards and a touchdown, a 1-yard toss to tight end Troy Fumagalli, to help UW take a 7-0 lead with 24 seconds left in the opening quarter.
After UW's defense recorded a three-and-out, UW drove 63 yards but settled for a 32-yard field goal by Rafael Gaglianone for a 10-0 lead with 9 minutes 8 seconds left in the half.
The Gophers briefly had life after recovering a fumble by Taylor at their 49 with 6:03 left in the half.
UW's defense, as it has so many times this season after a turnover, refused to yield
Ryan Connelly's sack on first down put the Gophers in a second-and-22 hole and they eventually punted.
UW's offense didn't waste the opportunity.
Chris James ripped off a 29-yard run and Garrett Groshek added a 27-yarder to help UW move to first-and-goal at the 5.
Hornibrook then hit tight end Kyle Penniston in the back of the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown to help push UW's lead to 17-0 with 50 seconds left in the half.
The Gophers to that point had 13 yards and no first downs on 15 plays.
They picked up two first downs and moved to the UW 28 but their scoring hopes died with Carpenter, who missed a 46-yard attempt to the right on the final play of the half.
The numbers were ugly.
UW held the ball for 20:50 to 9:10 for Minnesota, outgained the Gophers, 262-46; and had 10 more first downs (12-2).
They didn't get much better in the second half for Minnesota.
UW had its 14th consecutive victory over Minnesota, a 9-0 Big Ten mark, a 12-0 overall mark, a berth in the Big Ten title game and a shot at a playoff berth.
As Joe Panos said when he played right tackle for UW in 1993, why not Wisconsin?
