There as a little skirmish after the Badgers defeated the Gophers 20-7 at TCF Bank Stadium last season, took Paul Bunyan's Axe and tried to "chop down" the goalposts.
With so much on the line this Saturday for the rematch in Madison, Wisconsin coach Gary Andersen said the Axe will not be kept on the sideline.
Per Bucky's 5th Quarter, Andersen discussed Monday the new policy of keeping the Axe out of sight, out of mind during the game — though he said he hasn't talked about the plan yet with Gophers coach Jerry Kill.
"Last year was unfortunate," Andersen said. "I don't think [Minnesota head coach Jerry] Kill and myself liked the way it went down and it ended a year ago. I don't think it is good for college football and I don't think it is good for our kids. Our kids handled it far from perfect. There's traditions, there's things that are important and then there's things that are over the top."
Instead, the Axe will be brought to the winning team's locker room after the game. This will probably mean cooler heads prevail … even though it's more fun occasionally when they don't.
