Who would win in a race between the Road Runner and Speedy Gonzalez? Finding out the answer would be similar to watching the Falcons and Badgers clash this past Saturday. Every respiratory machine in Madison wouldn’t have aided the wheezing occurring on the sidelines from this high scoring battle. Wisconsin donned their throwback helmets and jerseys to “celebrate the legacy” of Camp Randall Stadium as the entire renovation project finally reached its completion. They may have been wearing the old school attire, but they didn’t play like their daddy’s Wisconsin. Bowling Green doesn’t normally pose a threat, but this year they promoted their star quarterback, the elusive Omar Jacobs. Badger fans would soon learn that they had offensive weapons, as well.
Wednesday evenings weren’t made for college football. But, somehow television has reordered traditional methods. Saturday is still college’s holy day, but while the NFL has Monday night football, college has captured every other weekday night to accommodate the needs of all conferences’ exposure through television. The Middle American Conference leads the pack in weekday games. Amazingly, the atmosphere doesn’t change.
There are many beautiful bowl destinations to imagine following your team to – Miami, Pasadena, Tampa, Detroit…er, Detroit? Yes, the industrial wonderland of Michigan is home to the Motor City Bowl, a game that has not yet even reached adolescence appeared pitiful compared to most of the historic post-season venues.
Early season stumbles against lesser opposition have been a trademark for Wisconsin football the past few years. Generally, these blunders occur in the non-conference portion of the schedule. Teams like Akron are supposed to be the recipients of brutal domination on the scoreboard. Games like this are supposed to instill confidence in players and fans that their team is headed for mountains of success. However, the Zips didn’t come to Madison to sightsee. Akron had an upset plan brewing in their pockets and they almost pulled it off.
DeKalb, Illinois isn’t exactly a cauldron of college football thrills, but Northern Illinois head coach Joe Novak has been generating a feisty team in his Huskies. Both Wisconsin and Northern Illinois have been rather volatile in their beginnings. The Badgers stumbled, but succeeded against Fresno State and returned with a pounding of West Virginia. The Huskies stunned Wake Forest at home and then got buried by South Florida. Which teams would appear on this overcast day in Madison?
By halftime, it was evident that the Northern Illinois fans making the trip up I-90 to Madison might be going home with a second straight win over a BCS team this season. From the upper deck looking down, it was challenging to imagine a 22-point underdog giving Badger fans such heartache. Wisconsin clung to a tenuous 10-6 advantage going into the second half. They stretched that lead to 17-9 offering some relief to befuddled Badger fans trying to make sense of this team.
The Huskies wanted to be the stars in this thriller and took center stage right from the first play of the fourth quarter scoring a touchdown and slicing Wisconsin’s lead to two with a missed conversion. At 17-15, Wisconsin looked far too charitable against the Huskies. NIU found more holes than a cheese grater in the Badger defensive line. Unfortunately, they were not as small and Wisconsin’s cheese got grated.
Failing to move the ball, Wisconsin continued to return it to Northern Illinois who found the paint again with their backup tailback Michael Turner scoring his second of the day and transforming Camp Randall into a church – both in noise level and amount of prayer.
Nerves shook and hearts dropped when Wisconsin had to give up the ball with just under three minutes remaining. However, an impetuous defense kept the Huskies from progressing and assisted by a few flags, the Wisconsin offense started what would be their final complete drive at the fifty-yard line. Quarterback Brooks Bollinger dashed to a phone booth and changed into his superhero costume before he took the field. Tossing a few key completions and forcing a few more penalties surged the Badgers to the two-yard line where Bollinger snuck it in himself. With that dive, Wisconsin avoided a degrading loss, but still became the most dubious 4-0 team in the country. With Arizona swooping in next week, a multi-point inspection is in order because heroics can only go so far.
The Broncos didn’t stand much of a chance entering the cavernous concrete mountain known as Camp Randall in Madison…or did they? Wisconsin opened this season ranked in the top five and coming off two Big Ten and Rose Bowl titles led by Heisman trophy winner, Ron Dayne. Even with Dayne’s graduation, the Badgers appeared like an impenetrable monster for visiting squads.
After devouring Murray State last week, the Badgers were clearly ready for seconds as Ball State wandered into Madison. With Wisconsin’s flimsy non-conference schedule, many hoped tailback Ron Dayne would continue to accumulate yards toward the nation’s rushing record. However, the Badgers were forced to rely more on special teams and defense in the first half due to an offense that appeared to be in a haze.
Home openers in Madison are a blast…especially when your team is already 1-0 and well oiled. The Badgers had just defeated San Diego State a week earlier out in California. It was a typical 80-degree and humid September day in Wisconsin and the stadium was crammed with many shirtless cheeseheads.
No preseason rank. Expectations running medium to low. Wisconsin football tasted the pavement last year by not returning to a bowl and the bitterness carried over into the 1996 season. Eastern Michigan came in to Madison sporting a new look and a heightened spirit. Something told me that this would not be the same 56-0 shutout that the Badgers dropped on the Eagles two years ago. Yet still, this was Big Ten football against Middle American Conference football. No matter how Wisconsin would bounce back from last year, it certainly couldn’t be with a loss to EMU.
The anticipation for the 1994 season was extremely high after the Rose Bowl Championship season. A top-ten preseason ranking prodded the excitement further. In addition, the game was preceded by a reenactment of quarterback Darrell Bevell’s key touchdown in Wisconsin’s Rose Bowl triumph. A few band members/students/alumni set up the play on the field while the actual radio broadcast of the play was aired over the PA system. The mock Darrell Bevell slashed to the left and ran twenty-one yards into the end zone. The crowd reacted similarly to the actual event in Pasadena nine months earlier. The entire spectacle was to commemorate the 1993 season, and it was well deserved.
The game against Eastern Michigan on this steamy day was hardly a contest. Wisconsin won 56-0, which only fueled the fire of expectation for the rest of the season. Sitting through such a blowout gave Badger fans a new experience. The anxiety packed games of 1993 appeared to be a thing of the past as Wisconsin ventured in the status of national power. The overmatched Eagles didn’t stand a chance against the defending Big Ten champions. The atmosphere in Camp Randall Stadium had reached high levels of intimidation for opponents, and Wisconsin football had its sights set on many more return trips out west.
