Grades from Wisconsin's 23-13 loss to Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS -- No. 14 Wisconsin blew its opportunity to represent the Big Ten West division in Indianapolis, falling to arch rival Minnesota 23-13 on Saturday inside Huntington Bank Stadium.

UW (8-4 overall, 6-3 Big Ten) also allowed Minnesota (8-4, 6-3) to regain Paul Bunyan's Axe for the second time in four seasons under the direction of P.J. Fleck.

BadgerBlitz.com presents its weekly grades, along with a couple of quotes from players, after the loss to the Gophers.

Wisconsin's offense reverted to its inconsistent form on Saturday, gaining only 233 yards on 3.9 yards per play. A rushing attack averaging over 229 yards per contest was held to a mere 62 yards on 2.8 yards per carry.

Most importantly, it did not score a touchdown on Saturday, and both red zone opportunities ended with field goals.

Minnesota snapped Braelon Allen's seven-game streak of 100 or more rushing yards, containing the back to 47 yards on 17 attempts. His longest run went for 14 yards, and the Gophers clogged holes to disrupt any momentum the first-year Badger could create.

Third-year sophomore Graham Mertz completed 21-of-38 passes for 171 yards with zero touchdowns and one interception. His longest completion went for 17 yards, though he attempted to air it out to the deeper levels of the defense. Minnesota was called for three pass interference calls overall on the day.

UW could not move the chains on third down consistently, going 4-of-14 in that category.

It feels weird giving this grade when Wisconsin gave up only 274 yards on the day, but Minnesota averaged over five yards per snap and hit on some key passing plays.

Some positives: UW took advantage of a takeaway into a pick-six with outside linebacker Noah Burks tipping a pass in the second quarter. Safety Scott Nelson reeled in the ball and ran 25 yards for a touchdown and an early Wisconsin lead at 10-3.

UW also held Minnesota -- which came into the game averaging over 200 yards on the ground per outing -- to 75 yards on two yards per attempt. That appeared to be a recipe for success.

Wisconsin registered three sacks on the day -- two from nose tackle Keeanu Benton. However, as we look at the negatives, it did not necessarily register the pressure during key moments, which allowed Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan to cook in particular situations.

Morgan completed 11-of-16 passes for 199 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He averaged over 18 yards per completion, and he hit six different Gophers on the day. Minnesota completed six passes of 15 yards or more on Saturday, according to StatBroadcast. Four went for 26 or more yards.

Those half-dozen completions accounted for 164 of the 199 passing yards.

Tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford led the way with three receptions for 62 yards for the Gophers.

Minnesota, which came in converting on 45.6% of its third downs this season, moved the chains on 5-of-11 opportunities (45.4%) -- far above the average Wisconsin was allowing (25.2%) heading into Minneapoliis.

Fifth-year senior Collin Larsh connected on field goals of 25 and 28 yards, but he barely missed a 48-yarder in the fourth quarter that boinked off the cross bar. None of his kickoffs resulted in touchbacks, but Minnesota's returners gained just 49 yards on three attempts.

Andy Vujnovich averaged 48 yards on his two punts with a long of 55 yards, and Conor Schlichting's 29-yard punt went inside Minnesota's 20-yard-line.

Wide receiver Stephan Bracey Jr. returned three kickoffs for 55 yards.

There were three penalties against Chris Haering's units on Saturday. Two came on its kickoff return units by reserve outside linebacker Kaden Johnson and safety Tyler Mais.

The third came on a false start by fullback John Chenal on that odd 4th-and-1 late in the fourth quarter with Wisconsin down 10 points. Ultimately, UW converted on 4th-and-6, but whatever disconnect on the sideline caused the punt unit to come on in that particular situation seemed extremely puzzling, to put it euphemistically. Head coach Paul Chryst placed the blame on himself after the game.

Quarterback Graham Mertz on the offense not hitting on enough plays:

"It all comes down to finishing drives. You can't win with field goals. Definitely got to put some points up on the board, so we'll take that. We'll learn from it."

Junior inside linebacker Leo Chenal on how disappointing it was to not finish it for the many seniors on the team:

"You can't really say how. It's the worst feeling you can have."

Scott Nelson on what Minnesota did that allowed the Gophers to complete six passes for 15 or more yards:

"Conflicts in run-pass situations I think is tough. You see a fit a lot over and over, whenever you see something move, you're quick to go and they did a great job of playing off of that. Going back to the last year and past games, stuff that's hurt us, they really tried to apply everything that we've struggled with. They did a couple things based on how we were playing, I don't know if they planned it throughout the week or they made some sideline adjustments, but they did a great job of making it difficult for us."

Wide receiver Kendric Pryor on if he said anything else to his teammates in the locker room as a senior:

"Just know, like I said, I was on the team in 2018, kinda when we lost it after the long streak and then kind of getting it back in 2019, and then 2020 keeping it but then coming here and losing it, it hurts. Just knowing you won't be able to get a chance to play them again, get a chance to get it back.

"You just gotta tell the younger guys when y'all get a chance to play them next year, y'all need to handle business and bring the Axe back where it belongs."