By Mike Pearson
FightingIllini.com

Every individual's life is highlighted by certain dates. For Illini football alum Mike Bass, the date that is branded on his brain is October 23, 1982. That was the day that his University of Illinois football team beat the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison, a game in which he had a special hand … or rather a foot.

For more than a century, UW's Camp Randall Stadium had been regarded as a battleground. Once a Civil War training site where Union troops were enrolled and injured Confederate soldiers were detained, in 1917 it became the site known as the home for Badger football games.

On the day, 37 years ago, the place was literally rocking. Coach Dave McClain's Badgers were on a four-game winning streak and stood 3-1 in the Big Ten standings. Likewise, the 4-1 Illini, also had Rose Bowl aspirations.

The capacity crowd of 78,406 first became raucous at the 10:15 mark of the first quarter when UW took a 7-0 lead.

One individual who wasn't cheering for the hometown team was Bass's father, then San Diego Chargers defensive coordinator Tom Bass. Because of the historic National Football League strike, Bass was able to see his son play in person for the very first time as a collegian.

"It was fantastic that he was able to be there," Bass said. "Almost like a dream come true. My dad (who passed on July 27, 2019) was a hero of mine. He withstood a lot of slings and arrows in his life."

Inspired by his dad's presence, Bass notched field goals of 19 and 21 yards to draw the Illini within one point by halftime.

A third Bass field goal (30 yards) and an eight-yard touchdown pass from Tony Eason to Oliver Williams countered two Wisconsin TDs in the third quarter to pull Illinois within five points, 20-15. That set up a wild and wooly final 15 minutes that fans from both teams wouldn't soon forget.

Illinois struck first with 10:03 remaining in the final stanza on a one-yard touchdown run by Joe Curtis and a two-point PAT pass from Eason to Williams, giving the Illini their first lead of the game, 23-20.  A fourth Bass field goal just six minutes later, this time from 44 yards, extended Illinois's advantage to 26-20.

Following a touchback on the ensuing kickoff, Badger quarterback Randy Wright thrilled Camp Randall's faithful by connecting on a 42-yard bomb to Al Toon. However, three plays later, Illini defensive back Charles Armstead intercepted Wright on the Badgers' next-to-last possession.

On Illinois' offensive drive, three consecutive carries by Richard Ryles only netted eight yards, forcing Chris Sigourney into a punting situation. Instead, Illini head coach Mike White strategically instructed his punter to run precious seconds off the clock and scramble into the end zone for a safety. That narrowed UI's lead to 26-22.

Sigourney's free kick to the Badgers was returned to the UW 46-yard line, but now just more than a minute was left. Wright advanced the Badgers to the Illinois 40. Quietly, McClain apprised game officials of a trick he had up his sleeve, so on second down and 10, Wright skipped a bounce pass to Toon behind the line of scrimmage. Thinking it was an incomplete pass, the Illini defense relaxed, but the play was still very much alive. Toon then connected with Jeff Nault on a 40-yard TD pass and the euphoric Wisconsin crowd caused the ancient stadium to shake.

"We all thought the play was over," confessed Illini safety Craig Swoope after the game.

With Wisconsin now up 28-26, Badger placekicker Wendell Gladem entered for the almost-always automatic PAT. Amazingly, his kick bounced off the upright, yielding just a glint of hope that the Illini could win the game on its final possession.

Eason and his offensive unit took over at its own 20, but they had only 52 seconds with which to work.

Instead of loosening up his leg for a Big Ten record-tying fifth field goal, Bass remembers watching the drama unfold as his QB guided the Orange and Blue down the field.

"Hey, I'm a football brat, right," said Bass, "so I'm screaming on the sideline. I'm not back there worrying about what could happen, though I know there might be that opportunity. Right then, I was as much of a fan of football as anyone else."

Eason's pass completions of 22 yards to Williams and 23 yards to tight end Tim Brewster suddenly had Illinois all the way down to the Badger 29.

Bass hurried onto the field with just three seconds left. However, in an effort to freeze the Illini kicker, Wisconsin called a timeout. That didn't faze Bass one bit.

"Everybody else went to the sideline," he said, " but I stayed out in the middle of the field."

Perfection for the 46-yard game-winning attempt was required from the Illini triumvirate of long snapper Adam Lingner, holder Tim Damron and Bass.

"The unit is what is really important," Bass said. "Adam was a fantastic snapper and did it in the NFL for years. Tim Damron was the holder and he had these huge mitts. I'd already hit four (field goals), so I was confident."

Finally, came the moment of truth. Only one thing kept running through No. 48's mind: "Don't miss it!"

Relying on Linger and Damron to perform as they'd done so many times before, the near-sighted Bass approached the ball and connected solidly with his bare right foot.

"I could see my kicks on the trajectory from about 20 yards out," he said, "but the only time I really got to see it go through was watching it on replay. I knew by the sound that it was a good kick. This one stayed true and went right through the uprights."

Within a couple of seconds, Bass was squashed on the Camp Randall turf by his celebrating teammates.

"It's a fun feeling, but it's scary," Bass said. "I was trying to get out, but everyone was going crazy. You can play football for a long time and never have that kind of experience."

Final score:  Illinois 29, Wisconsin 28.

Mike Bass is now 37 years removed from the football field. Today, he's executive leader of UI's Office of Business and Financial Services, kicking around numbers as the University's Senior Associate Vice President and Deputy Comptroller.

"I've always told people that anything I've been able to accomplish in my life has a great deal to do with the time that I came to Illinois to learn and especially play football," Bass said. "I'm honored to be able to sit in a position where we can make this institution the best that it can be."

He and his wife of nearly 25 years, Mona, reside in Mahomet, and his 19-year-old son, Tucker, attends Parkland College.