One of the biggest letdowns of the 2020 season for the Wisconsin Badgers was seeing their game against Minnesota canceled due to COVID-19 within the Gopher football program.
Thanks to it being 2020, though, the Big Ten has an added week in their season and, to the delight of everybody in the midwest, decided to allow the teams to renew their longstanding rivalry.
Related: Team preview: Minnesota Golden Gophers
The Gophers’ season has been a struggle after finishing 2019 with an 11-2 record and a co-Big Ten West crown (which the Badgers obviously won thanks to their win against the Gophers), sitting at 3-3 with losses against Maryland, Michigan and Iowa.
The battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe has a way of changing narratives, however, and I’m sure both teams are seeing Saturday’s contest as the game that will make or break their 2020 campaigns.
Related: Film room: The good, the bad and the questionable from Graham Mertz’s performance against Iowa
Coming off a three-game losing streak, the Wisconsin Badgers will need to improve in several key areas if they want to come away victorious.
Here are five keys to the Badgers doing so, therefore being five keys for the team to keep the Axe in Madison for another year: