Senior Year Box Set

It turned out that Dawn was on the Wisconsin women’s basketball team. Her boyfriend was her first love from high school, and they’d been together for three years. She told me the good and the bad of going to school in Madison. When we finally entered Green Bay, I was halfway convinced that Wisconsin might be a good destination for us. My only concern was it didn’t have an architecture program for Tim.

Something else I learned on my trip was that people from Wisconsin could drink beer like it was water. I would never challenge them to a drinking contest. I would be praying to the porcelain god most of the night if I drank that much.

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We got off the bus, and Tim’s new best friend Amy was hanging onto his arm. I quickly snapped a picture and danced out of his reach.

“Dawson!” Tim warned.

Wolf looked over my shoulder.

“That’s a keeper. Send it out on your social media accounts,” he urged.

Amy was half drunk and just gripped Tim’s arm tighter.

“Hey, Sexy, let’s find something to eat. I have the hunger.”

That was the first sensible thing she’d said since I’d met her. I think my stomach was introducing itself to my spine. Coach Bud and Paul got off the bus.

“You guys want to eat?” he asked.

“We have the hunger,” I announced, and Wolf chuckled as Tim glared at me.

He led us to a large tent in the parking lot, and I soon had a plate of brats and potato salad.

Dawn joined us with her boyfriend, Brian. They made a good couple. You could tell he knew he was punching above his weight class, but she only had eyes for him. Wolf’s seatmate abandoned him. Sexy, aka Tim, had his hands full. Amy had decided he was the one for her and wasn’t taking ‘no’ for an answer. It was fun to see him fend her off. I was glad it wasn’t me this time.

“When you come to Wisconsin, I’m going to show you off to all my friends,” she slurred.

“Do I get to meet all your friends?” Wolf teased.

“You’re a fudge packer like that one,” she said, pointing at me.

Our dads found us and joined our table.

“I thought you liked your fudge packed,” Dawn said.

Amy squinted at her and then turned to Tim and smiled.

“I would if you did it, Sexy.”

Tim looked around in horror. Wolf and I had big grins on our faces as I snapped another picture. The dads gave him blank stares.

“Amy, stop! I told you already, I have a girlfriend,” Tim tried.

“She won’t be once I’m done with you,” Amy purred.

“She’s probably right,” I offered.

“You,” he said, looking at me, “shut it.”

“Just saying,” I said.

Wolf nodded in agreement.

“It’s never going to happen,” Tim told Amy.

That was when we learned something about Wisconsin girls: they’re criers. Brian was the only male at the table not affected by her display. Since he was from Wisconsin, I guess he was used to it.

“What was it like making Star Academy?” he asked.

Dawn gave her boyfriend a look.

“What? I’ll never get another chance,” he explained and then pointed at Amy. “Take her somewhere, and don’t let her drink anymore today.”

Dawn took a deep breath and escorted our problem child from the table.

I was more than happy to let Brian play fanboy. What I didn’t appreciate was that once Brian broke the ice, it gave everyone in the tent permission to approach me. Tim, Wolf, Paul, and my dad had seen this before. They went up to get more food. Wolf and Tim’s dads got their first exposure to what came with doing movies.

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Fifth-ranked (AP; 6 in the Coaches Poll) LSU was a 10.5-point favorite to beat unranked Wisconsin. LSU had a 52 nonconference-game win streak—the longest in the history of the FBS. Wisconsin hadn’t beaten a top-five team since 1985 and had lost their last seven against top-ten teams. Additionally, LSU was from the SEC, which had two teams in the top five of the college football standings, with Alabama at number one.

The Big Ten was seen as an inferior league nationally, and Wisconsin would be just another example of the SEC’s superiority. It was thought that the SEC had more team speed and that the Big Ten played a more smashmouth style of football. In many ways, Wisconsin epitomized the three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust associated with the Big Ten. They embraced that philosophy and had a run game that would beat the stuffing out of you if you couldn’t stop it.

For a quarterback, it wasn’t as bad as it sounded. Russell Wilson had played for Wisconsin. A legitimate run threat opened all kinds of passing opportunities. It was also a good fit for Wolf because they employed tight ends, and at times, those tight ends were the top receivers.

If Wisconsin could control the clock and play defense, I felt they could give LSU a game. I thought that LSU would eventually prevail, but it would be closer than the 10.5-point spread. My thinking was based on LSU having 17 starters returning and probably the nation’s best running back, who everyone expected would be playing on Sunday next year. They also had plans for finally surpassing Alabama and being in the National Championship hunt. Wisconsin was the first step in that journey.