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Football: Leo Musso’s halftime speech, defensive stinginess in second half keep Paul Bunyan’s Axe in Madison for 13th straight year

Leo Musso studied the faces of his teammates on the University of Wisconsin football team and saw expressions of shock.

UW trailed 17-7 at halftime to Minnesota, who the Badgers had beaten 12 years in a row. The Gophers were on the verge of kidnapping Paul Bunyan’s Axe across the border for the first time since Twitter was invented.

Wisconsin had already clinched a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game following Nebraska’s loss to Iowa on Friday. Still, this would be a demoralizing loss, especially for the senior class playing in their final home game.

So Musso, a fifth-year senior safety described as “soft-spoken” by his teammates, felt compelled to say something.