Tony Cartagena covers the Wisconsin Badgers for ESPN Wisconsin.
MADISON, Wis. – Camp Randall, the stadium itself, is a daunting venue for opponents of the Wisconsin Badgers.
Madison – on a home Saturday – is one of College Football’s holy grails.
Despite whatever time fans went to sleep the night before, alarms on Saturday ring early. Music from the neighbors’ pre-game playlist quickly interrupts usage of the snooze button. Beers are shot-gunned in the shower. Red and White game-day bibs are worn.
Tailgating in Wisconsin isn’t just an event. It’s a spectacle.
Tailgating in Wisconsin hours before the biggest football game of the year – that’s a spectacle that words cannot accurately depict or do justice.
ESPN’s College Gameday has been to the University of Wisconsin’s campus twice in the past six seasons. Most recently in 2011 when the Badgers welcomed Nebraska to the Big Ten Conference with a ceremonial beat down in Madison. The season prior, Lee Corso and the crew made the trip when the No.1 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes came to town.
That weekend, Scott Van Pelt deemed Madison as the best college town in America. That game is forever enshrined in the Badgers’ football yearbooks.
“Friday night before the game (players) took in (the atmosphere) and said, ‘wow, this feels a little bit different than it did in previous games,’” former Badgers kick returner and wide receiver David Gilreath said during an exclusive interview with ESPN Wisconsin. “You looked around and you saw the cameras zipping around, the sky cams, and you see the media setting up and you say ‘wow, this is something else, something is going on here.’
“To me it felt like a movie.”
The credits for this film would point out how J.J Watt chased Buckeyes’ quarterback Terrelle Pryor from State Street back to Columbus, OH. There would be a disclaimer stating that no students were harmed during the storming of the field after Wisconsin’s upset victory.
The beginning, however, the beginning of that fateful night couldn’t have been scripted by Scorsese.
Gilreath fielded the game’s opening kickoff, then 97 yards, 12 seconds later and six points later, Madison was amplified beyond sound barrier comprehension. Bedlam had broken loose on the OSU sidelines; Pryor was rattled before he even took the field, muttering expletives to himself at a rapid pace.
One of the most iconic touchdowns in Wisconsin Football history took place on one of it’s biggest ever stages.
“I feel like (fans) are giving me a lot more credit than I deserve,” Gilreath said while recalling the touchdown. “It’s kind of funny. When Ohio State comes to town, or when we are playing them, or if it’s a big night game, I get people reaching out to me on social media more than anything. I see videos and posts. It’s pretty cool to see.
“I appreciate the love I get from the fans.”
Obviously it’s hard for a sequel to emulate the original. However, this coming Saturday, Gilreath will be back at Camp Randall for the first time since his playing days. Corso and the ESPN Gameday crew are back and broadcasting live from Bascom Hill in the morning. Ohio State’s quarterback, JT Barrett, is a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate, as was Pryor. He’ll be tracked down all night by another Watt brother, this time, T.J.
Van Pelt’s former co-host, who was also in attendance in 2010, Ryen Russillo, is making the trip for the game. As a staunch College Football fan, he also ranks Camp Randall as one of the elite Saturday atmospheres.
Six years later, almost to the day, it’s still Madison. There are still die-hard fans, probably more now than ever. Kegs will always need standing. Cups forever flipped. Beers bonged.
Facing their fourth top-10 opponent of the season, the Badgers are ready for history to repeat itself. In essence, they’ll control their championship destiny if it does. They’ll be ready bright and early Saturday morning. They’ll be blacked out and louder than ever at kickoff.
“The after party, I guess that was the best part,” Gilreath said laughing. “When the fans stormed the field. It was crazy. I actually didn’t get off of the field for another hour-and-a-half. I missed coach (Bret Bielema) bringing the team together in the locker room afterwards and breaking it down and talking.
“I couldn’t get off the field. Security had to (help) me off of the field.”
As for advice for this season’s crop of players, Gilreath said he’d relay the message Super Bowl XXXI MVP Desmond Howard gave him the night before the game.
“Go out there and show your personality,” Gilreath recalled. “This game is nationally televised and there are going to be a lot of people watching. Family, friends and people that don’t know who you are and have never seen you play.
“It’s a great chance to show who you are as a player.”
It’s a great chance for Madison, once again, to show the nation what college football is all about.
End scene.