Who Was There?

Pick a Game.  Enjoy the Stories.

click on a game in the boxes below to read the stories

updated 2/16/08

Nebraska 1974 Iowa 1969 Minnesota 1962 Michigan 1993
Purdue 1978 Michigan 1981 Ohio State 2003 Iowa 1999
 

Other Games

  

Remember one of these great games?  Please send me your memories of what you saw, said, heard, smelled, etc. about the game.  I'll post your memory under a section created for one of these games, or any other game that's a favorite for you.  Click on the picture below to submit your comments.

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Nebraska   September 21, 1974

 

I remember there was pretty big hype in town because Keith "Oh Nellie" Jackson was making an appearance in town for this nationally televised game. I believe that is Terry Stieve (#68) in the background.

A beautiful day and a perfectly thrown square-out, fake-pump and go by Greg Bohlig.

Of course, there was a flag thrown on the play and we all held our breath as we were afraid it was 'business as usual' for our usually hard-luck Badgers.

Turned out to be defensive pass interference and the place went nuts.

A truly magnificent day and a great piece of ammunition to irritate Husker fans who mistakenly think they are the real 'Big Red'.

I didn't have season tickets at that time; so I watched it on tv. My new neighbor, an elderly man who had just moved to Beaver Dam from Nebraska, was a huge Husker fan and attended the game with his son.

In celebration of the win, I left a big sign on his garage door which read, " WISCONSIN is Big Red!" He was a good natured sort and took it with a chuckle.

It was my first time at Camp Randall and being 13 I was in awe of the atmosphere and surroundings. Somehow I became separated from my Uncle who had brought me so I left the stadium to find a pay phone to call my parents. I can still remember the roar of the crowd as Mack scored and I was outside the stadium in a phone booth! I still can't believe I missed the play.:( 

I was in section Y that afternoon..still have my ticket stub for that game... 

To be truthful, I don't remember the game. I assume I was there, since I always had season tickets, but perhaps there was some family event that day???? 

I was there with my wife (former, not present one), about the only thing I remember she was 9 months pregnant and struggled to make in and out of the stadium.  

I was a student at Brandeis in '74. I was unhappy there and looking to transfer. The Wisconsin/Nebraska game was shown by the Boston ABC affiliate, and I watched. I remember that the camera had difficulty following Mack down the sideline, as the crowd's excitement was causing the camera to bounce up and down. I added Wisconsin to my list of possible transfer destinations on that day! Thank you, Boston affiliate. What would have become of me if it had shown a Rutgers vs. Temple match-up? I shudder to think. 

It's still my all-time favorite Badger play. I can remember every detail (second down and 17 from the 16, about 1:15 remaining), the NU defensive back going for--and missing--the INT, the clear path to the end zone, the PAT, the interception on NU's first play from scrimmage after the kickoff (an apparent TD called back to around the 15, from which the Badgers simply ran out the clock), the crowd counting down the final seconds...all of it. Oddly, my mother was visiting and was at the game--the only football game she's ever attended in her 86 years.

*** Playing without star quarterback Dave Humm for over half the game, Nebraska's bubble burst earlier than expected as the Huskers fell to the Wisconsin Badgers 21-20. The Huskers battled courageously to a 17-14 fourth quarter lead against the fired-up Badgers. Then with 4:21 left in the game, Mike Coyle successfully kicked a 22 yard Husker field goal giving Nebraska a 6 point lead with little time remaining. But catastrophe was about to strike. Badger quarterback Gregg Bohlig, faced with a second and sixteen from his own 23, rolled right and hit flanker Jeff Mack with a 77 yard TD pass and with the successful kick, Wisconsin led Nebraska 21-20. It was also to be the final score. ***

Several observations:

1) Dave Humm a "star"? Whatever.

2) My memory was that there was much more than 1:15 left. I'm pretty sure that the Mack TD was the 3rd play after the Nebraska FG, which would likely mean about 3:40 to 4:00 left. I believe the Badgers had an interception on Nebraska's next drive and then ran out the clock. I could be wrong about that.

3) The coverage wasn't bad, but the Nebraska CB made a break on the ball with a bad angle, bumped Mack, which drew the flag, and was knocked off balance from where he couldn't recover. This is my memory from 30 years ago. I don't think I've seen the play since.

4) Terrific defensive stand by the Badgers when Nebraska had a 1st and goal with less than 6:00 left up by three.

5) First downs were 19 to 14 Nebraska. Net rushing was 258 Nebraska and 77 for Wisconsin. Total yards were 305 for Nebraska and 319 for Wisconsin. Nebraska was 5 of 13 with 2 picks and Wisconsin was 14 of 21 with 1 pick.

6) It was 17-7 Nebraska entering the 4th quarter. Marek scored on a 1 yard TD to get it to 17-14. A 4th quarter rally for the win against a decent team, with several Badgers actually "making plays" to give us the win. What a concept.

7)The defensive starting line-up for the Badgers on the data sheet lists 5 DL and only 3 DB's. One of the DB's was #12 -- Lewis.

8) Nebraska finished the regular season 8-3 (losses to Missouri and Oklahoma) and beat Florida in the Sugar Bowl.

9) I believe those '74 Badgers kicked the crap out of Missouri at the Camp and then lost a heartbreaker at Colorado. They also gave a VERY good Michigan team everything they could handle -- a 24-20 loss.

10) I may get tired of thinking or talking about this '74 Nebraska game when I'm maybe dead. Certainly not before then.

Next to the Rose Bowl of '94, it was my favorite Badger moment.

I was in the press box. Jim Mott was screaming at the top of his lungs that there was to be no cheering in the press box! Mack hadn't even crossed the 50 yd line and the whole media section was exploding like I had never seen it before. Yeah, what a memory. The next week they were ranked for the first time in my young memory. 

Other than the win, one other thing stuck with me. As we left the stadium, my wife and I were walking along Monroe on the way back to the car.

There was a guy sitting on the curb in a Nebraska t-shirt, about 19 or 20. To this day, he was the drunkest human being I ever saw. Nothing was functioning. Eyes; limbs; head. Nada. If there's such a thing as an alcoholic zombie, him was it. I tried to communicate with him. Hopeless. I figured either his buddies or the MPD would come by sooner or later.

I'll feel terrible if he's still there. 

I'm always there. 

Driving into work from the Northeast side of Madison, I almost had to stop I was yelling so much in the car. Then had the usual horrible thought: "We gotta hold 'em". Nice that we had the clear win before my drive was over.

Wild night that night in Madtown. However, I never had even a sip of alcohol that night. 

The Nebraska win capped a nice week for the Badgers as I remember. The Saturday before (I think) they had hammered Missouri by something like 52-20. 

I was there. What I recall was the bright sunny day, the incredible Bohlig  pass to Mack and the belief that UW had turned the corner. The corner took 20 years, but eventually I was right.

My favorite personally-attended Badger game of all time.

I was 16 and working my first season as an usher at Camp Randall with a couple of friends from high school. I'm not sure but this may have even been the first game we worked. I was stationed up high in the east stands, somewhere around U, V, or W. We were told that we were to report to the field with 5 minutes to go in the game and stop people from running on the field after the game. When I got to the field I was told to go over on the Nebraska sideline. In those days the visitors used the west benches. The game was unexpectedly close and the Badgers had the ball shortly after I reached my assigned area which was back around the 20 or 30-yard line toward the north end. I can't recall the QB for some reason (Bohlig?) but I'll never forget that glimpse of Jeff Mack catching the ball and sprinting down the right side to tie the game at 20. Vince Lamia hit the PAT and seconds later it was all over. A huge upset! The Nebraska players were extremely pissed off and more than one !

The ugly 'N' helmet was smashed onto the carpet while expletives could be heard, even over the near-deafening roar of the happy Badger faithful! As soon as the clock ran out, hundreds of fans vaulted the fence and ran onto the field. It was immediately apparent that we weren't going to stop anyone! Then some clown grabs my usher hat and disappears into the crowd. Being a naive kid, I was freaked that I would be fired for losing the hat and have to replace it out of my pay. As fate would have it, on the way back to our changing area in the Field House, I encountered another usher who had on a hat with the same number as I had been assigned. Somehow I convinced him to give me back the hat so I was able to turn one in. I'm now certain that they never paid any attention to the hat or jacket numbers, they just wanted to make sure you brought some back.

I had so many delightful moments at the Camp during the 70's, but this tops all! Like most high school kids, we sat in the east stands under the shadows of the field house. Come to think of it, the "old" rectangle scoreboards had been installed only a few years earlier - one atop Section M (north end zone), one against the upper field house wall. They seemed cutting-edge technology then. I still recall Bohlig scrambling out to his right - the pump fake; the arching flag pass to Mack. It was beautiful - #37 sprinting right into our south end zone. At game end, I perched onto my buddy's shoulders as he thumped across the field south to north. We arrived in time to root on dozens of zealous fans who first bent and then broke off the north goal post. I’ll never forget that post game field: pandemonium - a post game party I've not witnessed since. I thank God he blessed me with that experience.

I was a sophomore at the time sitting in the student section. I remember that Nebraska brought at least 12,000 fans to Camp Randall. Not many people gave us a chance, but in 1973 we had nearly upset them in Lincoln. My best memory of the game was the euphoria in the student section after the win. We were chanting "Rose Bowl, Rose Bowl" even though at that time, we had virtually no chance of getting to Pasadena in the "big 2 little 8" era when only Ohio State or Michigan went to any bowl game.

I remember when Nebraska kicked the field goal to go ahead 20-14. They had marched deep into Badger territory, only to be stopped. It was the stop that got everyone in the stadium thinking we had a shot. You could feel the electricity begin to build. Then when they hit the bomb to go ahead, it was my first experience as a Badger to chant "Rose Bowl, Rose Bowl!!" It did not happen, but everyone there felt it was possible. On the way out of the stadium, we passed a number of Nebraska fans. They were stunned. They could not believe what just happened. Interestingly, I remember the year before in Nebraska, where we ran a kick-off back late in the game to go ahead. It did not hold up, but I think it was the seed that led the players to realize they could play with the Huskers.

That indeed is Terry Stieve, the pride of Baraboo, the original Merrimac Maniac, in the background of the photo.

I was at a wedding reception among Badger fans who gave the bride and groom grief for getting married on the day of the biggest game of the year. When the Badgers won, the reception picked up.

Was at the game with my father. Became a real college football fan after seeing this game and a few others at Camp Randall. Also remember seeing Colorado, OSU, and UCLA there. They were all great games. Now live in PA and have been to Penn State and West Point several times. They are great venues for a college game and have seen some good ones but UW and Camp Randall is the best. Hope I can make it back again someday.

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Ohio State   October 11, 2003

I'm sure there will be lots of comments for this game, but I couldn't resist adding my own. Being in the marching band, it was kind of nice having a night game for a change. Instead of having morning practice and then only an hour or so to get ready and get down to Union South, I had the whole afternoon to sit around and relax. Anyway, the weather was still nice as we played our little pregame concert at Union South. We then marched over to the stadium as we always do, and started to loosen up for pregame. About five minutes before stepping off, the clouds just broke and the rain started coming down. It went from a slight breeze to a torrential downpour with some strong wind gusts. Almost got blown over on several of our halts. I know a lot of the people in the stands were cold because of the rain (my parents included), but I felt fine thanks to the wool uniform. The game lived up to the hype. The Badgers were playing well, but I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to pull it out. Ohio State had a solid team, and I certainly figured if anyone was going to score to break the tie, it would be them. Everyone seemed pretty enraptured with the game, but if there was anyone who wasn't paying attention, they were after Sorgi got choked. As the game started winding down, I caught myself hoping for something - anything - to shift the momentum in our favor. I hadn't heard much about Schabert, but I figured if he was behind Sorgi on the depth chart, we were in trouble. Next thing I know, Lee Evans is sprinting down the sidelines, ahead of his man by at least 2.5 yards. Schabert hangs a beautiful pass as Evans takes it the rest of the way. Everyone was going wild. The last minutes couldn't run out fast enough. I don't know how many times I looked up at that scoreboard, but it felt like time was never going to run out. Finally, the clock runs down and the stadium erupts in cheers. Earlier in the game, I had noticed that one of my chemistry TAs, an Ohio State undergrad, was sitting in the front row of the student section. I had meant to stop over and say hi, but I had been too busy watching the game. Now, as time ran out, I stood on top of the bleachers cheering and pointing to the band 'W' on my chest. He noticed me after a couple seconds and promptly flipped me off. I asked him about it the next week in class, but he didn't even remember, saying he was really, really drunk. Unfortunately, we were marshaled off the field right away due to the students rushing out of the stands. I wish I could have stayed and watched the commotion for a while, but I was really too excited to complain that much.

Michigan    September 12, 1981

Not at the game. I was playing in the Cherryland Open Golf Tourney in Door County at the time. When I learned of the win, I was having drinks with several golfers including Steve Underwood, a former Badger football captain at the C & C Club in Egg Harbor. They had a piano bar and Steve told the piano player to play "On Wisconsin." The piano player said he didn't know it. I thought Steve was going to throw him out the door.

Remember thinking how unusual it was for the fans to be watching the game in the fourth quarter. I think some of the Michigan receivers' heads are still ringing from the hits by Vanden Boom and the kid from Park Falls (can't remember his name.)

I was at the Michigan game in 81 when they came in ranked number 1 for the opener. Brought along a friend from Connecticut who had never attended a big-time college football game and he was awestruck by the electricity. He's still a Badger fan today. The d-back from Park Falls was David Greenwood.

I was sitting in section R with a bunch of other business, law and medical school graduate students. No one sat down from the beginning of the third quarter on - when it became apparent that the Badgers actually had a chance to win. Tim Krumrie played, in my opinion, the best game of his career and, perhaps, the best game of any interior lineman in UW history. He was such a force that he single-handedly disrupted the functioning of Michigan's offense.

I was a sophomore at UW when I attended this game. I remember several things about it. First, it was an extremely warm and sunny day, temperature in the 80s. So we all got great tans. Second, I remember how the fans were in a state of shock when Wisconsin tied the game 7-7 on a pass from Jess Cole to a WR. Cole wasn't a very good passer, for one. Plus Wisconsin hadn't scored against Michigan for years. That really got everyone's attention. Third, I remember how Wisconsin physically manhandled Michigan, running the ball effectively against them, and our secondary, especially David Greenwood, pounding the snot out of Anthony Carter and the receivers. And finally, I remember the great screen pass to John Williams that resulted in the winning score. For a lifelong fan like me, beating Michigan was nirvana. Then beating Ohio St. a few weeks later was equally fantastic. Though the team only went 7-4, it was a great season nonetheless.

I was in Section O and I remember how the crowd got pretty serious after Wisconsin tied the score at 7. Since most Michigan-Wisconsin games ended up something like 48-0 for about the previous ten years it was exciting to see the tie. I remember the great screen pass that, I think, put the Badgers in the lead. I'll also never forget how coach Bo Schembechler called all of the Michigan players to the sideline during a timeout late in the game when it looked like the number 1 team in the country was going to lose.

Also, State Street that night was a blast.
                                                                                    

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Minnesota     November 24, 1962

Bobby Bell knocks Vandy's front teeth out. He comes back and leads team to winning TD, a Ralph Kurek plunge. Murray Warmath goes ballistic on the sideline and incurs 2 15 yard penalties.

Incredible memory, after the game the streets from the Stadium to Bascom were full of fans going crazy. Horns honking, gals kissing & should I mention .... alcohol was involved.

Purdue     November 11, 1978

I was in the south endzone sitting in the window sill underneath the scoreboard on the field house. We would sit there after sneaking into the game. With no ticket, we had to find somewhere to sit, so we usually went to the windows. Mike Kalasmiki hit Wayne Sousa with a two point conversion with something like 20 seconds left to tie the game, 24-24 on homecoming. The play happened in front of us. I think it was Ray Sydnor who scored the touchdown prior to the conversion. Great atmosphere at the Camp that day. I remember sometime in third or fourth quarter the police chasing down a guy. He ran to one corner of the endzone just beyond the fence where the cheerleaders did their march with the drummers. He then spotted cops coming at him from the other direction and turned back into the direction of where the other police were coming from. He repeated this about 4 times.  It looked like something out of the cartoons. The police finally collapsed on him right around the goalpost area. Funny stuff.

Iowa    October 11, 1969

 

Damn near fell out of the upper deck when Marks scored. Almost everyone had gone home because of the cold and I don't think the upper deck was half full.

 

I was a senior playing in the Band. It was the first time I saw the Badgers win (they had lost 22 and tied one in the previous 23). It was a bright sunny day, there were a lot of Iowa fans and National Guardsmen in the stands. The Badgers scored 23 fourth quarter points to come from behind. Neil Graf threw the winning pass to Randy Marks with a couple minutes left. The crowd went wild and rushed the field with a minute left in the game. The post game celebration included a parade to the Capitol (guaranteed by the city the next time the Badgers won). We serenaded for beers. I didn't have to buy a single drink all night. I still have the special edition of the Cardinal. There have been greater games but, for me, nothing will ever top that game.
I was there with my brother on our 13th birthday. For some reason we were in the student section instead of the $1 seats in Y or Z. I remember the "Rose Bowl, Rose Bowl" chant the most.

There was so much pent-up frustration back then; we always found a way to lose. I was a sophomore and had never seen the Badgers win. I lived in a fraternity house (Beta Theta Pi) that had a lot of players in it. I can still see Randy Marks catching the winning touchdown. After storming the field the next step was to hit State Street. I remember the crowd picking up Elroy Hirsch and hoisting him to the entrance over the bar called 'The Grotto' so the crowd could see him. to this day that's the wildest, absolutely craziest night I've ever spent. Incidentally, they left the scoreboard lit with the final score until Monday afternoon so people could come by and see it. We ended up beating Indiana and Illinois that year.

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Other Games

Michigan vs. Wisconsin - November 15, 1947

As a 7th grader in the Milwaukee area, I went with my dad to see my first Badger game. It was a cold day with snow on the ground. We saw a great Michigan team that ran the old single wing offense like it had never been run before or since, with reverses, laterals, and a couple of hook-n-laterals. I was hooked on Camp Randall and still am.

Indiana vs. Wisconsin - November 3, 1951

This was the homecoming game that was played in a pretty good snow storm. Hutchinson scored the only touchdown on a pass play and Wisconsin went on to win the game 6 to 0. I met my future wife at one of the Homecoming parties that same Saturday Night.

Ohio State - October 10, 1981

This game was another instance of the Badgers knocking off a heavyweight during their first magical season in ages. Like during the Michigan game, the Badgers manhandled the Buckeyes physically -- I lost count after 5 or 6 OSU players had to be helped off the field. The other thing I remember about this game is rather silly, I guess, but funny. During the game, the students started the chant "Ohio State sucks," and it spread to a deafening chant taken up by the entire stadium. That night, when watching the rebroadcast on PBS, we could hear the crowd chanting in the background. Paul Braun (remember him?), I suppose in an effort to not saying anything racy, noted that the crowd was saying "Let's get tough!" My buddies and I had a giant laugh at that whopper.

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