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MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- The 20th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers won one for ailing coach Barry Alvarez. Vitaly Pisetsky kicked a 31-yard field goal on the first possession of overtime as Wisconsin held off previously unbeaten Minnesota, 20-17, in a Big Ten Conference thriller. With Alvarez in Rochester recovering from knee surgery at the Mayo Clinic, Wisconsin (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) maintained possession of the Paul Bunyon Axe that goes to the winner of the nation's longest-running Division I-A rivalry. The Badgers posted their fifth straight win over the Golden Gophers (4-1, 1-1) and increased their lead to 58-43-8 in a series that dates to 1890. Assistant head coach and defensive line coach John Palermo ran the Badgers on the field. Alvarez assisted the coaching staff via telephone hookup and watched on a big-screen television. "This team has the character of a Barry Alvarez football team," Palermo said. "We followed his plan and it worked for us. He's been there for us all week and it felt like he was here today." The Golden Gophers got the ball first in overtime but two incompletions and a holding penalty forced them out of field goal position. Minnesota, playing its first overcome contest in school history, was denied its first 5-0 start since 1987. "Obviously, we're disappointed we lost the game," Minnesota coach Glen Mason said. "Our locker room is full of a bunch of kids that are really down. This is emotionally and physically tough to swallow. It's almost worse than getting blown out." Minnesota's Billy Cockerham tossed a 24-yard touchdown pass to Arland Bruce and a 49-yard scoring strike to running back Thomas Hamner in the first half. But the Badgers answered on Ron Dayne's three-yard run and redshirt freshman Brooks Bollinger's 81-yard TD toss to Nick Davis to make it 14-14 at the intermission. Cockerham completed 12-of-27 for 197 yards with an interception. "This was a heck of a football game," Mason said. "I never enjoyed three hours more in my life. We gave as much effort as we could. I think everybody got their money's worth." Dayne, who tied a career high with four touchdowns in last week's 42-17 rout of Ohio State, was held to 80 yards on 25 carries. He raised his career total to 5,416 yards and needs 864 yards to break Ricky Williams' all-time NCAA record. Dayne gained 693 yards in four career games against Minnesota, including a career-best 297-yard performance as a freshman in 1996. "Usually we have a good game against Minnesota, so I expected it to be tough to run because of their good defense," Dayne said. "We tried to defend him one play at a time," Mason added. "Not many teams hold him under 100 yards. It's almost as if we won the battle but lost the war." The defenses dominated in the second half as each team was held to a field goal. Minnesota was in position to pull the upset after Dan Nystrom booted a 37-yard field goal to give the Golden Gophers a 17-14 lead with 12:51 remaining. But Bollinger engineered an 11-play, 48-yard drive that led to Pisetsky's 36-yard field goal with 2:59 remaining. Bollinger, who completed 11-of-21 for 212 yards, got the Badgers in field-goal range by completing a 15-yard pass to Ahmad Merritt on 3rd-and-3 from the Minnesota 35. "Brooks showed a lot of poise today," Dayne said. "He did what he had to do for us to win." Wisconsin had a chance to win it late in regulation, taking over at its 26 with one minute remaining. But after picking up one first down, Bollinger was held to a three-yard gain on 3rd-and-4 from the Minnesota 48 and the Badgers let the time expire. Minnesota outgained the Badgers, 385-368, in total yards, including a 188-156 edge on the ground. "Minnesota has an outstanding defense," Palermo said. "We knew it would be hard to run the ball. When they throw nine or 10 guys at you, it's tough to establish a running game."
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