University of Minnesota - Minnesota-Wisconsin College Football Rivalry

MINNESOTA-WISCONSIN
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
RIVALRY

Pictured here is the authors ticket to the November 29, 2014, Minnesota-Wisconsin game; the Wisconsin Badgers won 34-24, keeping Paul Bunyans Axe for another year. After this game, Minnesota still led in the rivalry series, dating back to 1890, with 59 wins versus Wisconsins 57 wins. There have been eight ties. (Image courtesy of the UW [University of Wisconsin]Madison Archives.)

FRONT COVER: Pictured is Paul Bunyans Axe, the trophy that goes to the winner of the annual Minnesota-Wisconsin football game. The teams first met in 1890 and have played every season since with the exception of 1906, making this the longest-played rivalry in the history of Division I college football. Paul Bunyans Axe replaced the Slab of Bacon as the rivalry trophy in 1948. In 2003, the original axe was donated to the College Football Hall of Fame and replaced by a sturdier version with room for engraving more Minnesota-Wisconsin rivalry game results on the handle. (Image courtesy of the UWMadison Archives.)

COVER BACKGROUND: Spectators are pictured at the November 20, 1915, Minnesota at Wisconsin football game. Just after the start of the second quarter, temporary bleachers gave way, dropping over 3,000 spectators. Fortunately, only 10 people were injured, none fatally. This incident provided the impetus for the construction of a new Camp Randall Stadium with concrete stands, which opened in 1917. (Image courtesy of the UWMadison Archives.)

BACK COVER: This photograph was taken at the November 19, 1949, Minnesota-Wisconsin football game. The Golden Gophers won 14-6 and ended the season ranked ninth in the country under head coach Bernie Bierman. The next year was Biermans 15th and last season leading Minnesota. During his 15 years as head coach (19321941 and 19451950), the Golden Gophers won 93 games and were national champions an astounding five times. (Image courtesy of the UWMadison Archives.)

MINNESOTA-WISCONSIN
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
RIVALRY

Dave Anderson
Foreword by Joel Maturi

Copyright 2015 by Dave Anderson
ISBN 978-1-4671-1498-1
Ebook ISBN 9781439654477

Published by Arcadia Publishing
Charleston, South Carolina

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015943731

For all general information, please contact Arcadia Publishing:
Telephone 843-853-2070
Fax 843-853-0044
E-mail
For customer service and orders:
Toll-Free 1-888-313-2665

Visit us on the Internet at www.arcadiapublishing.com

Dedicated to the three I am so very proud ofHolly, David, and Bella

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

The University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin are the very definition of rivalry. This rivalry is often measured by the results of the annual football game, which is the longest-played rivalry in all of college football. As I write this foreword, the Gophers lead the series 59-57-8, though the Badgers have won 11 straight and 18 of the last 20. I have lived that rivalry for most of my 70 years. Born and raised a Gopher, my first memories are of those games in the late 1950s and early 1960s, especially the game in 1962, which earned the Badgers the right to go to the Rose Bowl and denied the Gophers a third straight appearance. It was a win for Pat Richter, later my boss and friend, and a loss for Bobby Bell, now a friend.

After earning my undergraduate degree (I attended the University of Notre Dame), I enrolled at the University of Wisconsin to earn a masters and ended up coaching at the high school level for 20 years in Wisconsin and then serving 9 years as an assistant athletics director at the University of Wisconsin. To the dismay of my family, I became a Badger. The rivalry intensified for me not only in football, but also in basketball and hockey, as well as the Olympic sports. Jeff Sauer, Wisconsins hockey coach and also a Minnesotan, became one of my best friends, and the Minnesota-Wisconsin games always had additional meaning.

I concluded my professional career as the director of athletics at the University of Minnesota, and thus, I returned to my roots as a Gopher. We established the Border Battle Trophy, which measures the competition between the Badgers and the Gophers in all sports each year, and with the help of Coach Alvarez (he will always be coach to me, one of the best I have ever known), we maintained the annual football game, which was more at risk when the Big Ten split into divisions with the addition of Nebraska in 2011 than most will ever realize.

Dave Anderson brings back these and many more memories in this outstanding book about the rivalry that will bring out emotions, highs and lows, whether you are a Badger, a Gopher, or just a sports fan. Enjoy!

Joel Maturi

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you to the Board of Regents of both the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin for use of all of the wonderful images displayed in this book.

In my opinion, both the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin are world-class institutions in great part because of the tremendous people who work there. I am very grateful for the wonderful assistance I received to create this book from many amazing individuals.

At the University of Minnesota, Prof. Brian Isetts allowed me to start out each still-dark and cold November research day from his office and introduced me to Joel Maturi, an accommodating and gracious man with an incredible background in both Golden Gophers and Badgers athletics. Maturi kindly provided the heartfelt and insightful foreword for this book. From Professor Isettss office, I would hop on the efficient light rail system to go across campus over the Mississippi River and visit Susan Hoffman at the University of Minnesota Archives in the Elmer L. Andersen Library. Thank you, Susan, for providing so much incredible history for me to research and for so many of the great images in this book. At Minnesota, other people I wish to thank include Dr. James Turman, assistant vice provost for student affairs and director for recreational sports; Dan Allen, senior associate director for the Department of Recreational Sports; and Paul Rovnak, associate athletic communications director for Gopher athletics.

In Madison, Wisconsin, there is no better way to start a day than having breakfast at the Babcock Hall Dairy Bar at 1605 Linden Drive, and then, happily fed and fortified, making the short walk to see David Null and Vicki Tobias at the University of Wisconsin Archives on the fourth floor of Steenbock Library. David and Vicki, thank you ever so much for letting me search through and study decade after decade of Badger football history and for providing many of the magnificent images displayed in this book.

And many thanks also go to Brian Lucas, director of athletic communications, for additional Wisconsin football images.

Joel Maturi knows the Minnesota-Wisconsin rivalry as well as anyone. Maturi held the position of assistant athletics director at the University of Wisconsin and also served as the University of Minnesotas director of athletics. (Both images courtesy of the University of Minnesota Archives, University of MinnesotaTwin Cities.)