1st-and-10: Wisconsin Badgers vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers

Senior writer Jake Kocorowski breaks down 10 things to watch for and know about before No. 13 Wisconsin locks horns with No. 9 Minnesota. Paul Bunyan's Axe and a chance to represent the Big Ten West in the conference championship game all ride on the outcome of this game.

A lot rides on Saturday's game in this historic series, which currently sits at 60-60-8 all-time. Minnesota tied it up last year with that 37-15 drubbing of Wisconsin that left many Camp Randall Stadium faithful stunned, and now the winner will once again lead the series.

Of course, Paul Bunyan's Axe goes to the victor. More on that in the next section, as earlier this week, the players who were on last year's team recalled the emotions after that 2018 loss.

Most importantly, Wisconsin needs to win this game to claim a share of the Big Ten West division regular season championship. If the Badgers do come out victorious, both teams finish with 10-2 overall records and 7-2 marks in conference play. UW would hold the distinction of a tiebreaker with the "W" and go on to face Ohio State in Indianapolis on Dec. 7.

Throughout the week, I have heard a lot of the "F" word -- that being focus.

Monday, defensive end Garrett Rand told BadgerBlitz.com he believed the players are on focusing on doing their respective jobs and not trying to blow it out of portion.

Redshirt senior linebacker Chris Orr admitted earlier this week that he believes this is the biggest Wisconsin-Minnesota game that he has been a part of "because of the weight that the game holds."

His message when talking to his peers: "Focus."

"Definitely lock in," Orr said on Monday. "Everything is that much more important. It's not just the fact that, 'Oh we lost to them last year,' but it's just the fact this it's our next game. This is the most important game of the season. They're a good team, we definitely don't need to take them lightly at all. We see people take them lightly and then they beat them, but we definitely need to be the most physical team on the field. We need to practice the way this week so that was my mindset was just getting everyone focused for the game. All the way locked in so we can go into that stadium with confident in our plan, confident in our ability, make it happen."

Tuesday, sophomore cornerback Rachad Wildgoose told me and the Wisconsin State Journal's Colten Bartholomew that the team "had a lot of energy" during that day's practice.

"It's like the most energy we've had in a long time," Wildgoose said, who said earlier in the interview that he believes the team has a chip on their shoulder.

Asked to expand upon his description and how that manifested itself, the second-year defensive back said the practice was "more competitive, more trash talk, more yelling, more screaming, more hype if you make a play."

Orr was asked on Monday if he remembered what he felt after last year's loss to the Gophers.

"Anger," Orr said, then pausing. "That's it, just anger."

Like Orr, it did not take much for redshirt junior center Tyler Biadasz to describe what he saw on the field last year when Minnesota took possession of the Axe.

Two three word sentences, each being the same.

"It was terrible," Biadasz said. "It was terrible."

According to outside linebacker Zack Baun, there is an image of Minnesota with the Axe in clear view of the team heading into this week.

"I mean, we have a case for the Axe in our locker room, a display case, and obviously we didn't win," Baun said. "You throw that picture up and you're walking past that everyday, kind have that image in your head when you're going to lift or you're going to work out or get extra film study and do what you got to do.

"It's always an image that's in our head when we're going throughout our day. We're always thinking about it, and the week's finally here, and we finally get to prepare."

Redshirt junior safety Eric Burrell felt like he let fellow defensive back D'Cota Dixon, the outgoing senior that he warmly called a big brother, down.

"Things like that, you remember those forever that we broke the streak, and we ended up giving it to them," Burrell said on Monday. "It did hurt, but at the end of the day, obviously, it's going to be still in the back of your mind. But it's a great opportunity to get the Axe back so it'll be a great opportunity for us."

I've brought this up often this week, whether in our weekly "Five Burning Questions" segment or BadgerBlitz.com's podcast, it will be a snowy and potentially rainy weekend up in Minnesota.

According to weather.com's forecast for Saturday -- as of Wednesday evening as I finalize this edition of the "1st-and-10" -- the high is predicted to be 35 degrees with rain and snow, with potentially more of the latter in the afternoon.

Will that slow down Minnesota's vaunted passing attack with two 1,000-yard receivers and one of the nation's most efficient quarterbacks? How will Wisconsin's tackling fare in potential slippery situations with the problems they've had in that category this season? Will the possible one-dimensional conditions allow the Badgers to be able to ground and pound their way to victory?