James White, Wisconsin football fans react to Braelon Allen and the Badgers sinking PJ Fleck's 'boat' in 28-14 win over Minnesota

Christopher Kuhagen, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Wisconsin quarterback Tanner Mordecai wields Paul Bunyan's Axe after the Badgers beat Minnesota, 28-14, in a game in which he completed 14 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for 69 yards.

Paul Bunyan's Axe is back with the Wisconsin Badgers, while PJ Fleck's boat is sunk in Minnesota.

Braelon Allen rumbled his way to 165 yards and two touchdowns while the defense delivered a shutout in the second half to propel the Wisconsin Badgers to a 28-14 win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers to recapture the trophy that means so much to the program.

The victory gives Wisconsin a one-game lead in college football's oldest rivalry, 63-62-8. The Badgers also snapped a two-game skid in the series and enter their bowl game on a high note.

While fans have often been left frustrated in Luke Fickell's first season, a win over their biggest rival is removing some of the bad taste people have had about the 2023 campaign.

For many, including for some of the program's alums, it doesn't get any sweeter than defeating Minnesota, something that has been difficult in recent seasons.

In fact, several former Badgers took to social media to really let Minnesota have it. If you wondered if this rivalry still matters with the ever-changing landscape of college football, you just had to look at the emotion on the field and from some of its ex-players to get your answer.

A glorious moment for the Wisconsin football team

Wisconsin wide receivers Will Pauling and Chimere Dike troll Minnesota Golden Gophers, PJ Fleck

Pauling had two catches for 19 yards and a touchdown. His 11-yard TD tied the game at 14 with 2:38 left in the second quarter. Dike had a team-high 46 yards on two receptions.

Wisconsin players savor reclaiming Paul Bunyan's Axe

Wisconsin Badgers all-time great running back James White is pumped to see the Axe return to Madison

Sojourn Shelton delivers an epic troll to Minnesota, which dropped to 5-7 and might not make a bowl game

Melvin Gordon's tweet was short and to the point with Bucky Badger helping him deliver his message

Wisconsin offensive coordinator Phil Longo, defensive line coach Greg Scruggs and outside linebackers, special teams coach Matt Mitchell have reason to celebrate

Twitter had plenty of references to Minnesota coach PJ Fleck's 'row the boat' mantra, how the Badgers kept Gophers from being bowl-eligible

Minnesota ended the season with four straight losses.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers predicted a victory

Wisconsin running back Braelon Allen was on a mission to win Paul Bunyan's Axe

The junior averaged 6.3 yards per carry on his way to a season-high 165 yards in what could be his final game in the rivalry should he declare for the NFL draft.

He scored the Badgers' first touchdown to tie the game at 7 early in the second quarter and then he did it all himself on UW's second drive of the third quarter. Allen started it with a 50-yard run to get to the Minnesota 4-yard line. One play later, he found the end zone to break a 14-all tie. Two plays, 54 yards that spanned 25 seconds for an emphatic touchdown. Just call it the Braelon Allen drive.

Fans were giving Allen all of the flowers he deserved after Saturday's performance just as they did last week when he battled through an injury to power the Badgers to a win over Nebraska.

REPLAY: Highlights from Wisconsin's 28-14 win over Minnesota; how the game unfolded

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin football players, alums troll Minnesota, PJ Fleck after win

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