Jim Leonhard doesn't like the Gophers but he does respect their program
MADISON – Jim Leonhard remembers his senior day at Wisconsin.
“To me, senior day was an amazing experience,” UW’s interim head coach said this week. “To win the axe, keep it home and finish off the rivalry that way.”
That was 2004.
UW had lost to rival Minnesota the previous season, but the Badgers rolled to a 38-14 victory in 2004 to improve to 6-0 in the Big Ten and 9-0 overall.
That victory kept them in the running for the league title and moved them up to No. 4 in the polls.
The stakes won’t be as high when the Badgers (6-5, 4-4 Big Ten) and Gophers (7-4, 4-4) meet at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium.
Yet just as in 2004, UW is coming off a loss to its No. 1 rival and is determined to reclaim Paul Bunyan’s Axe.
“It’s going to be a fun experience on Saturday,” Leonhard said. “We need to get out of there with a win.”
Jim Leonhard had a 2-2 record, as a player, against the Gophers
Leonhard as a player went 2-2 against the Gophers.
The 42-31 loss in 2001 in the Metrodome prevented UW from becoming bowl-eligible. That is the last UW team that failed to secure a bowl berth.
One year later at Camp Randall Stadium, Anthony Davis rushed 45 times for 301 yards and five touchdowns in a 49-31 victory. Davis scored on runs of 4, 1, 25, 2 and 71 yards. He scored at least one touchdown in every quarter and his 71-yarder with 1 minute 26 seconds left secured the victory.
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Davis, never comfortable talking to reporters about his accomplishments, didn’t attend the postgame interview session because he didn’t think anyone would be interested in talking to him that day. Instead, he went to dinner with his family and UW officials had to reach him by phone for comments on his performance.
Leonhard had two interceptions – on consecutive possessions in the fourth quarter and both in the end zone. He joked this week his performance gets overshadowed by Davis' big day.
“In 2002 Anthony Davis went off and had a huge game,” he said. “I had a couple interceptions and that never gets brought up. I don’t really understand why. He gets all the credit for that one.”
The Gophers took the axe back in 2003 with a 37-34 victory in the Metrodome thanks to Rhys Lloyd’s 35-yard field goal on the final play of the game.
UW’s victory in 2004 came on a picture-perfect fall day. Temperature at kickoff was 62 degrees on Nov. 6.
A crowd of 83,069 watched Minnesota native John Stocco pass for 297 yards and a touchdown and rush for two scores in UW’s easy victory.
Streak of 14 victories by Wisconsin over Minnesota snapped in 2018
That victory started a steak of 14 consecutive victories by UW. The streak ended in 2018 when P.J. Fleck’s Gophers dominated UW, 37-15, in Madison. Fleck got his second victory in the rivalry last season when the Gophers denied UW a berth in the Big Ten title game with a 23-13 victory in Minneapolis.
“I’ve always respected this program,” Leonhard said. “I don’t like ‘em. But I respect them because they have an identity. They know who they are. And they’re going to force you to beat them, very similar to what we are…
“You just know, the records don’t matter. It’s going to be a physical game. You have to earn it. You’ve got to take it away. That’s the fun part about rivalries.”
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Jim Leonhard eager to see Wisconsin reclaim Paul Bunyan's Axe
