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While the University of Wisconsin football players roared around Camp Randall Stadium waving Paul Bunyan's Axe Saturday, Minnesota coach Tim Brewster wasn't thinking about burying the hatchet.
Angry that UW coach Bret Bielema had called for a two-point conversion after UW took a 25-point lead with less than 7 minutes to play, the embattled Brewster let Bielema have it verbally when the two met on the field following the 20th-ranked Badgers' 41-23 get-well victory over the Golden Gophers in college football's most-played rivalry.
Actually, UW's seventh straight victory over Minnesota might qualify it as the most played-out rivarly, but the Badgers' domination has done nothing to allay the emotions that go with this annual battle for the Axe. The difference Saturday was that more emotion surfaced after the game than during the game.
"I probably shouldn't say (what Brewster said)," Bielema said. "I don't think he was very happy. We weren't talking car dealers, I know that."
Not that these two ever talk car dealers. As Big Ten coaches who compete on the field and often in the same living rooms, their relationship has been edgy at best. But Bielema's decision, which seemed unnecessary given the time remaining, clearly struck a nerve with Brewster.
"I was very upset and I made sure he knew," Brewster said. "I thought it was wrong. There was no excuse for it, period."
That's not entirely true. Bielema did have an excuse for it - that mysterious fourth-quarter conversion card that all coaches carry around in their back pocket like some football Bible. Bielema said he looked at the card and the card told him to go for two, so he went for two.
Brewster called Bielema's slavish devotion to the card "a poor reason" and "a poor excuse."
"I told him I didn't agree with his decision and I thought it was a poor decision for a head football coach," Brewster said. "He'll have to live with it. It was wrong. Everybody in here knows it and everybody in college football knows it. It was wrong."
Whether Bielema was wrong or right, this much we know: After a visit from Minnesota, everything is usually right for UW and this one was no exception.
Once again Minnesota served as an over-the-border pain-reliever for UW, which played poorly the week before in a loss at Michigan State. The Golden Gophers? They're more like the golden goose as far as UW is concerned.
The Badgers have won 14 of the last 16 games in the series, a statistic that makes it patently obvious why UW athletic director Barry Alvarez fought so hard during the recent Big Ten realignment discussions to keep Minnesota on the schedule every year.
It came as no surprise that the offense that sputtered against the Spartans looked much healthier against the Gophers. UW now has scored 31 or more points in 11 straight games in the series, so that's par for the course.
Still, give the Badgers credit. They finally got everyone involved on offense and they dominated the second half after taking a 14-9 lead into the locker room. They did the things they do best - running the ball, play-action passing, stopping the run - and they did them well against an overmatched opponent.
Fortunately, the Bielema-Brewster feud erupted to spice up a rivalry that has gone dead on the field. With a 1-5 record and fans and media calling for his job in his fourth year, Brewster looks like a coach who is on his way out. If that's the case, he will do so without ever laying a hand on the Axe.
As for the Badgers, they owe Brewster and the Gophers a big thank you. With soon-to-be-No. 1 Ohio State coming to Camp Randall Saturday, UW needed a quick fix and, true to form, good old Minnesota came through.
"That's kind of become the mentality here - we expect to hold onto the Axe," defensive end J.J. Watt said. "If we didn't expect to, there would be something wrong. I believe their seniors have never touched it. They'll leave Minnesota without ever touching the Axe, so that's something we take great pride in. Hopefully, we can keep that tradition going for a long, long time."
Hopefully, UW can use the victory to become the team everyone thought it could be. There were still some red flags Saturday - namely the shaky pass coverage - but the Badgers got away with it against Minnesota.
They won't have the same luxury against Ohio State.
Contact Tom Oates at toates@madison.com or 608-252-6172.
