Wisconsin 41, Minnesota 34

MINNEAPOLIS -- Growing up in the Minneapolis suburb of New Hope, David Gilreath always dreamed of playing football in the Metrodome.

His Armstrong High School football team never made it to the state tournament here, so his first chance came Saturday when his Wisconsin Badgers came to play Minnesota.

The wait was worth it for Gilreath, who put on an electrifying show for 22 friends and family in attendance, and tens of thousands of red-clad Badger faithful in the Dome.

Gilreath racked up 226 return yards to help No. 24 Wisconsin to a 41-34 victory over Minnesota.

"I'm real excited," Gilreath said. "I never got to play in the Dome when I was in high school."

Zach Brown rushed for 250 yards and 2 touchdowns in place of the injured P.J. Hill for the Badgers (9-3, 5-3 Big Ten), who overcame injuries all season long to win at least nine games for the fourth year in a row, the first time that's happened in the program's history.

Adam Weber threw for 352 yards and 3 touchdowns for Minnesota (1-11, 0-8), who went winless in the Big Ten for the first time since 1983 and lost Paul Bunyan's Axe to their border rivals for the fourth straight year.

Gilreath initially committed to the Gophers last year but backed out when coach Glen Mason was fired.

New coach Tim Brewster was hired to replace Mason in January, but by then it was too late to convince the speedster to change his mind.

"I didn't think it was a big deal, the de-commitment," Gilreath said. "I think this was the best decision of my life."

It was easy to see why the Gophers wanted him. Gilreath had punt returns of 51 and 56 yards, the latter of which set up 1 of Brown's touchdown runs. He also returned the opening kickoff 36 yards to get Wisconsin off to a fast start.