Minnesota - Wisconsin Final Score 34-24: Gophers Fall Short In Quest For Axe and Title

IMPORTANT NOTE: I'm eating a delicious steak dinner after this game win or lose, but that also means I'm starting the Rapid Reactions with Minnesota losing 20-17 and the ball in Wisconsin's hands with a little over 13 minutes left.

Rapid Reactions In Real Time

- That fumble at the end of the first half feels like it's going to loom large. Even if the Gophers don't get a field goal there, the game would be tied 17-17 right now. If they had gotten the field goal it would be 20-17 Minnesota. If they had gotten a TD it would we 24-17. All better than this.

- As of right now, we've seen a lot of Bad Mitch. I don't want to look at the stats. We've seen terrible underthrows, terrible overthrows, the fumbled handoff exchange, lots of ick. I'm really hoping we see Good Mitch appear before the end of this game.

- Maxx Williams has not been brought into the gameplan at all yet. Here's hoping that we're just waiting for a BAH GAWD KING! THAT'S MAXXXXXXX WILLIAMS MUSIC!

- And Corey Clement just busted what was almost a TD and might be a TD on replay. Sigh...

- It was short, didn't matter. Gordon TD. Badgers lead 27-17. Would much prefer 24-17 or better right now.

- Just going to leave this here:

FWIW, here's the playclock at zero before UW's big pass play. pic.twitter.com/gL2YcBBXdP

— Chris H. (@GoAUpher) November 29, 2014

Witvoet's crew is horrible. Obviously the Gophers made the bad call possible with the terrible secondary breakdown, but this stuff matters and they are consistently terrible at the details.

- BAH GAWD KING! THAT'S MAXX WILLIAMS' MUSIC!

- Mitch with the TD! Gophers down only 3. 27-24.

- And by the time I did my Vines and blog stuff, I was just in time for WI to answer with a TD. Sigh.

- I will say this, the Gophers did not fold. They fought. It just seems like it was too late. That plus some critical mistakes was enough to doom Minnesota.

- Gophers didn't get anything going and WE PUNTED DOWN TEN WITH LESS THAN 4 MINUTES TO GO. We went full Ferentz and this is the first thing that Minnesota has done today that I am legitimately PISSED about. It's absurd.

- Clock still running, plays happening, etc.

- I'm pretty calm right now. This sucks, but losing by 10 is where my head said we were. It's just frustrating to know we're probably a Good Mitch game away from a win.

- Also this...sigh.

Pass D, which was a strength all year, failed us on the game we needed it the most.

— Matt Humbert (@MVofDT) November 29, 2014

- Minnesota will get the ball back with about 1:30 left and the Gophers will have a full field to drive. I don't think this is happening.

- Yup, it doesn't. I'm heading for steak. Be good to each other.

GO GOPHERS!