Injuries kept Wisconsin running back Braelon Allen out of the lineup for last year’s Paul Bunyan’s Axe game against the Gophers and limited him in the 2021 matchup, both of which Minnesota won.

In the week leading to Saturday’s regular season-ending game at Huntington Bank Stadium, Allen expressed his eagerness to make an impact in the trophy game.

Consider that impact made in spades.

The 6-2, 245-pound junior rushed 26 times for 165 yards and two touchdowns, leading Wisconsin to a 28-14 victory over the Gophers, who lost their fourth consecutive game and fell to 5-7. Allen’s 50-yard run in the third-quarter set up the touchdown that gave the Badgers the lead for good in front of 48,119.

Quarterback Tanner Mordecai, the transfer from SMU, kept Minnesota off-balance by rushing for 69 yards and completing 14 of 22 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns.

With the loss, the Gophers finished 3-6 in Big Ten play and didn’t earn the six wins needed for bowl eligibility. However, there was a slight chance they still could end up in a bowl because of their high Academic Progress Rate score. If there aren’t enough six-win teams to fill the 82 bowl spots, five-win teams with the best APR scores would be used. The number of open spots still was being determined with Saturday night games.

Gophers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis completed 16 of 28 passes for 167 yards and a touchdown. Daniel Jackson caught nine passes for 121 yards and a TD. Jordan Nubin rushed 24 times for 93 yards and a TD.

The Gophers came out passing with Kaliakmanis hitting Nubin on a swing pass for a 19-yard gain to the Minnesota 47 on the first play from scrimmage. On third-and-6 from the Wisconsin 49, Badgers cornerback Nyzier Fourqurean was called for pass interference against Jackson. Kaliakmanis then found Jackson over the middle, and the wideout made a couple of cuts for a 30-yard gain to the Badgers 4. Two plays later, Nubin powered in for a 1-yard TD and a 7-0 lead 2:39 into the game.

Behind the running of Mordecai and Allen, the Badgers drove 86 yards in 11 plays to even the score 7-7 with 13:04 left in the second quarter on Allen’s 5-yard TD run.

The Gophers drove 71 yards in 11 plays and took a 14-7 lead on Kaliakmanis’ 7-yard touchdown pass to Jackson with 4:30 left in the second quarter. Pass interference penalties on Fourqurean and Hunter Wohler moved the ball to the Wisconsin 34 and 9, respectively.

Wisconsin needed only four plays to tie the score 14-14 with 2:38 left in the first half. Mordecai extended a play and found Chimere Dike for a 35-yard gain to the Minnesota 40. He then hit Allen for 24 yards to the Minnesota 16. Two plays later, Mordecai found a wide-open Will Pauling for an 11-yard TD pass.

Gophers safety Tyler Nubin provided an exciting moment on the final play of the first half, intercepting Mordecai’s Hail Mary pass and returning it 52 yards to the Wisconsin 42 before being tackled after time expired. It was Nubin’s 13th career interception, breaking the school record.

The teams traded punts to open the third quarter, and on its second possession, Wisconsin got an explosive play to set up the go-ahead touchdown.

On first down from the Badgers 46, Allen patiently worked his way through the first level of the Gophers defense, found an opening and sprinted 50 yards before being knocked out of bounds at the Minnesota 4. He scored on the next play, and the Badgers led 21-14 with 9:24 left in the third quarter.

Keyed by Nubin’s 17-yard run on fourth-and-inches from the Minnesota 38, the Gophers reached the Wisconsin 42 and faced third-and-7. But Kaliakmanis badly overthrew Elijah Spencer, and the Gophers punted.

The Badgers promptly marched 86 yards in 10 plays, increasing the lead to 28-14 on Mordecai’s 5-yard TD pass to Riley Nowakowski with 10 seconds left in the third quarter.

Minnesota drove to the Wisconsin 27 early in the fourth quarter, but Jackson dropped Kaliakmanis’ tunnel screen pass on third-and-9, and Kaliakmanis threw incomplete to Chris Autman-Bell in the end zone on fourth down.

With 8:02 left in the fourth quarter, Kaliakmanis hit Jackson for a 30-yard gain to the Wisconsin 48, but Jordan Turner forced Jackson to fumble, and the Badgers’ Maema Njongmeta recovered at the 39. The Gophers wouldn’t threaten again.