Badgers air it out against Gophers as well

Madison, Wis. – A former small-school quarterback turned walk-on wide receiver made the Gophers pay for focusing on Melvin Gordon.

Alex Erickson caught five passes for 160 yards and drew two costly pass interference penalties to help Wisconsin rally to beat the Gophers 34-24 Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium, giving the Badgers the Big Ten West Division title.

"If they don't back up, [Joel] Stave will kill them, Erickson will kill them," said Gordon, who battled for 151 tough yards at 5.2 yards per carry, far below his nation-leading 8.3 average. "We've been playing against fronts like that all year. People stacking the box and we still go out there and somehow we're able to run the ball. That's just Wisconsin. We don't get away from our identity.

"But if they try to stop me and put too much focus on me, we have big days like this with Stave and Erickson."

Gordon entered as the nation's leading rusher at 191.7 yards per game, including a short-lived FBS record 408 yards Nov. 15 in a 59-24 rout of Nebraska. In that game, the Badgers also rallied after trailing 17-3 at home.

Gordon also led the country with nine runs of 50 yards or more and 16 runs of 40 yards or longer, but he managed just a long run of 24 yards against a Gophers defense that brought the safeties up.

"We knew what they were going to do," said Erickson, a dual-threat quarterback at Darlington High School in southwestern Wisconsin. "The safeties were very low, so we had to take the top off and soften them up on the back end, and we were able to do that."

Trailing 17-3, the Badgers took over at their own 20 following a touchback on a punt. After two running plays netted 2 yards, Stave hit Erickson deep up the left side for 70 yards and a first-and-goal at the Gophers 8. Three plays later, Stave connected with Gordon on a 4-yard touchdown pass to make it 17-10.

On their ensuing possession, the Gophers appeared to be driving toward extending their lead before the half, when David Cobb fumbled on third-and-2, giving Wisconsin the ball on its own 31 with 18 seconds left.

Stave hit Erickson on a deep pass over the middle for 35 yards. After a Wisconsin timeout, they connected again with Erickson getting out of bounds after a 14-yard gain, stopping the clock with five seconds left.

Freshman Rafael Gaglianone ended the half with a 38-yard field goal that cut the lead to 17-13.

"Everyone felt like we were in a very good place going into halftime," said Stave, who regained the starting job at quarterback from Tanner McEvoy midway through the season. "Being able to get that big touchdown to be at 17-10 and then 18 seconds on the clock and being able to get the field goal, that was huge for us."

On the next play, No. 2 running back Corey Clement turned his first carry of the day into a 28-yard touchdown and a 20-17 Wisconsin lead.

Clement, who injured his right shoulder on a touchdown run against Nebraska, had just one carry, losing a yard, last weekend in the Badgers' 26-24 victory at Iowa.

It was not known whether Clement would play at all Saturday, but he also added a 31-yard run early in the fourth quarter to the Gophers 1-yard line. Gordon scored on the next play to make it 27-17.

With the 1-2 punch of Gordon and Clement, the Badgers rarely have had to throw the ball to come from behind. But, when they do, Erickson has been the primary target.

His five receptions pushed his team-leading total to 44. No other wide receiver has more than 13.