The 1982 Independence Bowl was a post-season American college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 bowl game

Bowl game

In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...

 between the Wisconsin Badgers

Wisconsin Badgers football

The Wisconsin Badgers are a college football program that represents the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. They play their home games at Camp Randall Stadium, the fourth-oldest stadium in college football...

 and the Kansas State Wildcats

Kansas State Wildcats football

The Kansas State Wildcats football program is the intercollegiate football program of the Kansas State University Wildcats. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I Bowl Subdivision, and the team competes in the Big 12 Conference...

 at Independence Stadium in Shreveport

Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

, Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

 on December 11, 1982. The game was the final contest of the 1982 NCAA Division I-A football season

1982 NCAA Division I-A football season

The 1982 NCAA Division I-A football season saw Paul "Bear" Bryant retire as head coach at Alabama with 323 career victories in 38 seasons.The Penn State Nittany Lions won their first consensus national championship, closing out an 11-1 season by defeating Georgia and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel...

 for both teams, and ended in a 14-3 victory for the Badgers.

The contest was the first live college football game televised by ESPN

ESPN

Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

.

Game summary

Wisconsin quarterback Randy Wright tossed two touchdown passes as the Badgers overcame an early Kansas State lead for a hard-earned 14-3 victory over the Wildcats in the seventh annual Independence Bowl.

The game, played in cold and wet conditions before an announced crowd of 49,523, marked the first-ever Bowl appearance by Kansas State . A 23 mile-per-hour wind dropped temperatures to 10 below zero and kept many fans away.

After a scoreless first quarter, K-State took the game's first lead with 7:10 left in the second period when Steve Willis booted a 29-yard field goal after defensive end Bob Daniels recovered a fumble at the Badger 18-yard line.

The Wildcats' lead was short-lived, however. On Wisconsin 's ensuing drive following the field goal, the Badgers marched 79 yards in eight plays, scoring a touchdown on a 16-yard pass from Wright to Michael Jones to give UW a 7-3 halftime lead.

Wisconsin struck again midway through the third quarter, when game offensive MVP Wright connected with Tim Stracka

Tim Stracka

Timothy Terrill Stracka is a former American football tight end in the National Football League. He played for the Cleveland Browns . He played at the collegiate level at the University of Wisconsin–Madison; before that, Stracka was the star of Madison West High School's 1977 Division 1 Wisconsin...

 on an 87-yard touchdown pass for a 14-3 Badger advantage.

K-State drove deep into Wisconsin territory on its next two possessions, but was unable to score.

One opportunity ended when a Wildcat pass was intercepted in the Badger end zone, while a second was stymied at the Wisconsin 26-yard line, when K-State could not convert on fourth down.

Darrell Ray Dickey completed 13 of 35 passes for 127 yards and one interception on the game for 1982 Big Eight Coach of the Year Jim Dickey's Wildcat squad.

The 35 pass attempts stood as a Kansas State bowl record until 2004, when Ell Roberson

Ell Roberson

Ell Roberson III is a former quarterback for the Kansas State Wildcats from 1999-2003. During his senior year, he was 6'1" tall and weighed 209 pounds...

's 51 attempts in the 2004 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl vs. Ohio State.