MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- In a season of record-setting performances, 18th-ranked Minnesota tries to reach another milestone Saturday when it hosts Wisconsin in the 113th meeting between the Big Ten Conference rivals.
A victory will give the Golden Gophers (8-2, 4-2) nine wins for the first time in nearly a century. While Minnesota has reached eight wins for the third time under coach Glen Mason, it has not won nine games in a since 1905, when Henry Williams led the Golden Gophers to a 10-1 record.
Minnesota already has set school records for rushing yards and points in a season, and needs just 191 yards to eclipse the mark for total offense (5,149 yards) set in 2000. The Golden Gophers average 495.9 yards per game, the fourth-best mark in Division I-A.
Laurence Maroney and Marion Barber III each rushed for more than 100 yards in last week's 55-7 rout of Indiana. Minnesota rushed for 435 yards en route to its most lopsided Big Ten victory since a 48-point triumph over Iowa on November 11, 1949.
The Golden Gophers registered 527 total yards against the Hoosiers, the sixth time they have gone over 500 yards this season.
Barber leads the nation with a school-record 16 rushing touchdowns, one more than Oklahoma State's Tatum Bell and three more than Michigan's Chris Perry, who is second in the Big Ten.
Wisconsin (6-3, 3-2) has fallen on hard times after ending Ohio State's 19-game winning streak. Since then, the Badgers have suffered back-to-back losses to Purdue and Northwestern to fall out of the rankings.
Wisconsin has had a week off to regroup from its surprising 16-7 loss to Northwestern on October 25 and may have starting quarterback Jim Sorgi back in the lineup.
Sorgi underwent arthroscopic knee surgery following a 26-23 loss to Purdue on October 18 and did not play against Northwestern. Matt Schabert, who threw a game-winning touchdown pass against Ohio State, was ineffective in relief, completed 20-of-36 passes for 193 yards and one interception.
Although coach Barry Alvarez has not named a starter, Sorgi told the Capital Times in Madison that he expects to play.
Running back Anthony Davis has endured an injury-plagued season and leads the Badgers in rushing with just 595 yards after back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns. Dwayne Smith (500 yards) and freshman Booker Stanley (453 yards) also are in the mix.
Minnesota and Wisconsin have battled for Paul Bunyan's Axe every year since 1948.
The Badgers have won seven of the last eight meetings, including a 49-31 win last year, to cut Minnesota's lead to 58-46-8 in a series that dates to 1890.
