Braelon Allen's big day helps Wisconsin take back Paul Bunyan's Axe from Gophers

Braelon Allen ran for 165 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns as the Wisconsin Badgers regained Paul Bunyan's Axe after a 28-14 win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday afternoon.

The Gophers got off to a good start on the opening drive when Jordan Nubin scored on a one-yard touchdown run to put Minnesota on the board with 12:21 in the first quarter but Wisconsin answered early in the second quarter when Allen scored his first touchdown of the game from five yards out to tie the game at 7-7.

Athan Kaliakmanis answered for the Gophers late in the second quarter with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Jackson to give Minnesota a 14-7 lead with 4:30 left in the first half but the Badgers answered with a four-play, 75-yard drive that ended with Tanner Mordecai's 11-yard touchdown pass to Will Pauling to tie the game at 14-14 going into halftime.

The second half was a struggle for the Gophers who couldn't contain Allen. After being held to just 47 rushing yards in his last two meetings with Minnesota, Allen rumbled for a 50-yard run before plowing in from four yards out to give Wisconsin a 21-14 lead with 9:24 in the third quarter.

Minnesota drove into Badgers territory on the following drive but punted from the 42-yard line, which led to a 10-play, 86-yard drive that ended with a five-yard touchdown pass from Mordecai to Riley Nowakowski to put Wisconsin ahead 28-14.

After having the next drive end on downs, Jackson fumbled at the end of a 30-yard pass and Kaliakmanis threw an interception on the final drive to allowthe Badgers to kill the clock and reclaim Paul Bunyan's Axe.

The Gophers finish the regular season at 5-7 and will now wait to see if there are enough bowl-eligible teams with six wins. If there are not, the Gophers will have a chance to be selected for a bowl game which will be decided after next week's conference championship games.