Badgers Recall: LSU vs. Wisconsin, 2016

I have been extremely fortunate to write about and cover a college football program since July 2013. I truly sunk my teeth into the Badgers beat during Paul Chryst's first season in 2015, and then I added the basketball beat to my resume for the 2017-18 season.

With organized team activities on hold for Big Ten Conference programs until May 4 at the very earliest, AllBadgers.com currently cannot write about spring football happenings.

Therefore, the site asks this question to the fans: What is the most memorable Wisconsin game you have been to in-person? In the comments fields below, give me yours.

For now, I will discuss some from the Wisconsin football and basketball games I have covered. Let's start off with arguably the one that pops out the most to me in terms of postgame energy and excitement.

Wisconsin vs. LSU: Sept. 3, 2016, Lambeau Field

There is a lot to remember from this game both before, during and after the 16-14 Badgers upset victory over the No. 5 team in the nation.

I drove up to Green Bay with my photographer that Saturday morning, and after parking in the assigned space for media, I walked around the stadium as ESPN College Gameday was in the vicinity. Both fanbases, though passionate, appeared to me to be cordial and friendly with each other. I heard no yelling, no bickering between diehards donning cardinal and white or gold and purple. Rather, it was a large mass of college football fans enjoying the beginning of the 2016 season -- what it should be.

Once the action started inside "The Frozen Tundra," which was not frozen in September thankfully, an offensive slugfest it was not. LSU lured away Wisconsin defensive coordinator Dave Aranda to the same position in Baton Rouge during the offseason -- so there was a storyline there -- and it was also Justin Wilcox's first game as UW's new coordinator. Flash forward to 2020, and both now lead Power 5 programs as head coaches at Baylor and Cal, respectively. For that matter, it was Jim Leonhard's first game as a college assistant with the defensive backs, and of course, he took over the coordinator role a season later.

Wisconsin contained LSU to 257 total yards on the day, and the Tigers only allowed 339. The programs combined to convert 5-of-25 third-down conversions and 11 punts (LSU seven, UW four for the latter category).

With nearly 10 minutes off the clock into the third quarter, the Badgers held a 13-0 lead before a Tre'Davious White pick-six off of Bart Houston cut the lead to six with 5:28 remaining in that period. Sixty-seven seconds later, a Travin Dural touchdown reception from the arm of Brandon Harris (and subsequent extra point) catapulted LSU to a one-point lead.

The teams exchanged two punts each before Wisconsin took over on its own 23-yard line with 8:14 remaining in the game. The Badgers drove 48 yards in eight plays, eating up nearly four-and-a-half minutes on the clock. A Rafael Gaglianone 47-yard field goal -- his third of the day -- allowed UW to regain the lead late.

LSU would have an opportunity to answer with under four minutes to play, but Wisconsin's defense withstood once again. Harris eluded a Vince Biegel pass rush, but the Tigers quarterback threw an errant pass which wound up in the hands of safety D'Cota Dixon with about 57 seconds left in regulation.

The Wisconsin faithful, which could be heard all day, erupted in deafening cheers. After three kneel downs, UW captured a top-5 victory, and various Badgers went into the stands to perform their own "Lambeau Leaps" with their fans.

It was a day where despite UW losing Chris Orr on its first defensive play for the rest of the season due to a knee injury, Ryan Connelly showed what he could do at the inside linebacker spot -- especially on a third-down play in the fourth quarter where he stopped future NFL running back Leonard Fournette on a key screen pass. Despite that pick-six, Bart Houston threw for over 200 yards. Running back Corey Clement scored the Badgers' only touchdown, and tight end Troy Fumagalli reeled in seven receptions for 100 yards. Jack Cichy, Connelly and T.J. Watt combined for 22 tackles on the afternoon, and the team forced three turnovers on the day.

Perhaps after the game, the energy from the fans is what I remember the most. As the various reporters made their way from the press box to the interview conference room, hoards of Badgers fans exited the stadium jubilantly cheering, yelling, screaming. One could feel the release of raucous joy spilling forth from a fanbase for its favorite program that should have upset Les Miles' team two years prior.

UW finished with an 11-3 record overall on way to capturing the first of two consecutive New Year's Six bowl victories. That win kicked it all off.