Five quick takeaways from Wisconsin football's 17-7 loss to Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. – The Wisconsin football team will have to settle for a 2-2 finish in its last four games and wait until next year to try to bring home its most prestigious trophy.

The Badgers lost the battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe following a 17-7 loss to Minnesota on a cold, snowy Saturday afternoon, Nov. 29, at Huntington Bank Stadium.

With the loss Wisconsin finished the 2025 season 4-8 with a 2-7 record in the Big Ten. The Gophers (7-4, 5-4) snapped a two-game losing streak, defeated the Badgers for the second straight season and took the overall lead in the series, 64-63-8.

Freshman quarterback Carter Smith made his third straight start and completed five of eight passes for 20 yards before making way for Hunter Simmons in the second half. The graduate transfer completed 12 of 19 passes for 162 yards and two interceptions.

Sophomore Darrion Dupree, who rushed for 131 yards last week versus Illinois, gained 51 yards in 12 carries, a 4.3-yard average. Senior receiver Vinny Anthony led the UW receivers with four catches for 92 yard, 67 coming on a deep ball from Simmons that set up the Badgers' only touchdown of the day.

Here are five takeaways from the loss.

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Quarterback shuffle fails in the end

The Badgers owned a 268-218 advantage in total yards, but hurt themselves with three turnovers, two in the second half when Simmons took all the offensive snaps instead of Smith.

The turnovers led to seven Gophers points, but both occurred as Wisconsin was moving the ball downfield. That was especially the case for the second possession. Wisconsin faced a third-and-7 at the Minnesota 20 when Simmons was picked off for a second time. The Badgers appeared in line for a field goal attempt, at least, but couldn’t keep the ball.

That turnover led to a 13-yard touchdown pass from Drake Lindsey to Jameson Geers with 5:08 to play in the third quarter. The Badgers were down, 17-7, at that point, a deficit they haven’t shown the ability to recover from this season.

Defense keeps Badgers close, again

Given that Wisconsin lost the turnover battle, 3-0, it was fortunate to be as close as it was through three quarters. Credit the defense for preventing the situation from getting worse.

A first quarter fumble off an ill-timed snap gave the Gophers a first down at the UW 22, but they came up empty thanks to a blocked field goal by Ben Barten.

And after Simmons was picked off on the first possession of the second half, the Badgers defense responded by holding the Gophers to a three-and-out.

The third time, however, safety John Nestor returned a Simmons interception 68 yards to the Badgers 16. It was a turnover UW couldn’t overcome as Minnesota responded with Drake Lindsey’s 13-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Jameson Geers with 5:08 to play in the third quarter.

Gamble late in the first half pays off for Badgers

No play showed Wisconsin’s mindset to go for the jugular than the fourth down play at the Gophers’ 2 late in the first half.

The Badgers, down, 10-0, at the time, could have taken the easier route and attempted a short field goal knowing they would get the ball first in the second half.

Instead UW went for broke and cashed in with a 2-yard touchdown pass from Carter Smith to tight end Jackson Acker that showed Acker’s body control and concentration near the sideline.

The catch was initially ruled incomplete, out of bounds, but after a review it was deemed that Acker didn’t get the necessary one foot in but he made the grab NFL style, with two feet inbounds.

Quarterback rotation works to end half

Some fans would like to see Smith handle those 2-minute drills to end the first half, but the Badgers have had some success with Simmons in those situations the past two weeks.

Saturday marked the second straight week the graduate transfer from Southern Illinois engineered a scoring drive late in the half.

Though he didn’t get the touchdown pass to Acker that cut the Gophers lead to 10-7 at the half it was his 67-yard gain to Vinny Anthony on a deep ball that set up the Badgers for a first and goal at the 5.

Simmons also engineered a five-play, 17-yard drive last week against Illinois that resulted in a 47-yard field goal by Nathanial Vakos with 14 seconds left that gave UW a 10-7 halftime lead.

Give Simmons credit for being able to enter the game the game cold and producing.

Badgers lost field position battle early

While Wisconsin entered the second half on a high thanks to its late touchdown in the first half, it was hard to ignore the early signs of trouble. Redshirt freshman punter Sean West had a rough first half. He averaged 27 yards in three punts but really struggled in the second quarter when he hit punts of 30 and 11 yards.

The 30-yarder gave the Gophers the ball at the UW 35. That led to a 33-yard field goal by Brady Denaburg with 6:32 to play in the first half that gave Minnesota a 3-0 lead.

The 11-yard punt gave Minnesota a first down at its 45 and led to Darius Taylor’s 49-yard touchdown run that pushed the Gophers led to 10-0.

In comparison, the Badgers started two drives inside their 10 and never better than their 25 in the first half. For the game they started just one drive beyond its 40 and that came early in the fourth quarter. That one started at the UW 43.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Five quick takeaways from Wisconsin football's 17-7 loss to Minnesota