Category: Big Ten

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Game 38: UNLV @ #14 Wisconsin

Call it a come from behind victory without the dramatics of the 1997 season. UNLV came in to Camp Randall Stadium wearing a Boise State outfit, but you can’t copy an original. Everyone (except the newly hazed freshmen) thought of last year’s dreadful game with Boise State when on Wisconsin’s opening drive, QB Mike Samuel had his pass intercepted at the line of scrimmage and returned half of the field for a touchdown. Against Boise State, the opening play was a fumble return TD for the Broncos and it took three quarters for the Badgers to recover.

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Game 34: Wisconsin @ Minnesota

The Badgers had popped into the top 25 with their six game win streak. But, a stumble at Purdue last week dropped them from the elite. I chose to drive up to Minneapolis with my parents on their annual road trip to a Wisconsin game. The Metrodome holds dark memories for me. 1993 was my last visit and we witnessed a Badger loss – their only one of that season. I was hoping to take something positive away from the Twin Cities this year.

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Game 33: Illinois @ Wisconsin

With the past two games being heart-halting victories for Wisconsin, Camp Randall Stadium was packed and ready early anxious to see what the next installment of Badger drama would arise. With the winless Illini coming to Madison, most hoped that it wouldn’t take another last second prayer to succeed. Luckily, the red-clad faithful got just what they expected. And by the looks of Illinois, so did they.

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Game 32: Wisconsin @ Northwestern

If only everything we learned in college would come in this handy. The lessons learned from the Boise State game four weeks ago about finishing games strongly would be put into action again in Evanston. The game was part of ESPN’s night lineup. At the time, Big Ten games at night were somewhat of a rarity. Therefore, the energy in the stadium was naturally overflowing. Half of the stadium was purple and the other half was red, which is the typical way Ryan Field reaches a sellout. Both bands were there and it offered a bowl game-like atmosphere.

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Game 31: Indiana @ Wisconsin

That near miss against Boise State three weeks earlier and the lessons it taught the Badgers about how to finish games would pay off in their Big Ten opener against the Hoosiers. Indiana was coming in with a new coach and a new attitude (and new helmets that I hated). In fact, they were one of four Big Ten teams sporting a new leader (Illinois, Purdue, and Minnesota were the others). Cam Cameron was about to coach his first Big Ten match up and he had a challenge coming into a crazy Camp Randall Stadium.

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Game 29: Boise State @ Wisconsin

Boise State and I had one big thing in common when entering this game. We both were experiencing our first game at a higher level. For me, this was my first game as a student at UW-Madison. For Boise State, this was their first game playing a Division I-A team as a member of the same division. I suppose you could say that we were both freshmen. My brother, who got all of us tickets in the senior section, made that fact abundantly clear by chanting, “FRESHMAN!”, while pointing at me. My face turned a Badger red.

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