Look up the word “appalling” in the dictionary and “Northwestern @ Wisconsin
1996” should be resting next to the word. This game had every bit of drama
followed by the most gut wrenching finish that I have ever witnessed. The
Wildcats looked to be putting together another Big Ten championship run when
they rolled into Madison. The Badgers were coming off two three-point
losses to Penn State and Ohio State. Both needed the victory.
Revenge was
in the air for the Badgers hoping to erase the memory of last year’s 35-0
drubbing suffered against the Wildcats. The crowd was ready, as well -
loud, raucous, and out of control. Chris Farley of Saturday Night Live
fame was in attendance riling up the tailgaters and working his funny magic.
The game started off ominously with the Badgers blocking a punt for a
touchdown. More bad news occurred for Northwestern as their star
running back Darnell Autry hurt himself badly enough to remove him from playing
action.
Nevertheless, the game teetered back and forth creating a
seasickness in the stands. Adrian Autry (no relation) filled in for Darnell
and it was like replacing a battery. The machine still worked.
Northwestern put together some impressive drives with Adrian leading the
charge. However, the Wildcats found themselves down three with 1:37
remaining and setting up for a long field goal. Northwestern missed and
Wisconsin took over needing to simply run out the clock. Badger RB, Ron
Dayne, who had a great game up to this point, was handed the ball to assist
in draining seconds from the scoreboard. But, three plays into the
possession, QB Mike Samuel and Ron Dayne botched the exchange and the ball
was loose on the turf. A swarm of purple surrounded the ball and
Northwestern had life with 49 seconds left.
Two plays later, the Wildcats
scored on a perfect pass to D’Wayne Bates in the corner of the endzone.
Bewilderment soaked the crowd. Stunned silence. Tears and anger. No one
could believe this painful outcome. Barry Alvarez was offered mountains of
criticism after this game – should they have punted? Should they have taken
a knee? No one would have expected the result. However, Northwestern head
coach, Gary Barnett, was quoted as saying that he expected to win even when
Wisconsin was in control and running out the clock. Talk about appalling –
perhaps his photo should be included in the definition.
