Kirk Herbstreit recalled how he felt the first time he entered Camp Randall Stadium as the starting quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes. It was something that he felt whenever he put on the helmet. "You think you're prepared and you feel like you're invincible," he said.

Even though the Buckeyes had won four straight games against the Badgers entering their 1992 matchup, there was something about the atmosphere in Madison that was inescapable. "If you gave them (the Badgers) life early," Herbstreit said, "then you had a situation to deal with."

Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez was still cultivating the home-field advantage -- "We need a 12th man," he pleaded -- leading up to the '92 Big Ten opener against 12th-ranked Ohio State, a 10-point favorite. The game was not sold out. But the 72,203 in attendance helped make a difference.

The Badgers got life early from a scoreless first quarter and rallied from a 10-3 halftime deficit to stun the Buckeyes 20-16, giving Alvarez his first win over a ranked opponent. Herbstreit was sacked five times, including the hat trick by Chad Yocum, a DeForest High School product.

Herbstreit, who has gone on to rock star status as an ESPN/ABC college football analyst, was revisiting his first impression of Camp Randall Stadium during the recent Big Ten kickoff meetings in Chicago.

"Now, it doesn't matter if you give them life early because their program has reached a level where they have life from the word go," Herbstreit said. "They're one of the schools whose fans realize you get seven or eight home games a year to have fun and go crazy, and they do."

Reflecting on the Madison mystique, Herbstreit said, "It's kind of the perfect storm -- the noise, the enthusiasm, the alcohol. Along with Ohio Stadium (in Columbus, Ohio) and Penn State (Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa.), it has to be one of the most intimidating atmospheres in the Big Ten."

Herbstreit can offer a unique second-generation view on Camp Randall Stadium because his father, Jimmy Herbstreit, was a 5-foot-8 flanker on an Ohio State team that lost here to the Badgers in 1959. His dad was a co-captain (like Kirk), and played and coached for Woody Hayes.

"I was a blue-collar player and I've been a blue-collar analyst," said Herbstreit, who joined ESPN in 1995. "I was on the GameDay set when I was 25 years old and it was like a dream come true. But I've always felt that I've had to outwork every other analyst in television. I don't think I've changed a lot from that perspective."

Since he carries such a high national profile, how has Herbstreit dealt with his DNA, his ties to Ohio State? "I struggled with that for a long time," he admitted. "I do have Big Ten roots. I'm very proud of my heritage, my university, my conference. But I've still got a job to do."

In attempting to be objective, he said, "I've always tried to say whatever I think, but I try to say it fairly. I'm not one of these guys who is saying things to get people upset. Here's my opinion -- and you might disagree -- but it's what I think."

His Ohio State/Big Ten background has led to predictable consequences. Herbstreit is generally accused of not giving the conference enough love from the fan bases in Columbus, Madison, and Ann Arbor. Meanwhile, "the SEC fans think I'm a Big Ten homer," he said. "You can't win."