Just seconds — about 12, actually — after catching the opening kickoff Saturday night, David Gilreath nearly had to pinch himself.
"At first, it was kind of unreal," the Wisconsin senior receiver said of his opening kickoff return for a touchdown that provided the first-half catalyst for the Badgers' 31-18 upset of top-ranked Ohio State.
Handling the opening kickoff 3 yards in front of his end zone, Gilreath found a seam and dashed up the left hash. Twelve seconds and 97 yards later, he became the first Badger to run back a kickoff since Lee Evans against Indiana on Nov. 11, 2000.
"Once I got through, I was like, ‘Is this really happening?'" Gilreath said. "I looked up at the scoreboard when I was running, and I was just like, ‘Wow.' "
Gilreath took over as the Big Ten's all-time leading kick returner, passing Minnesota junior Troy Stoudermire on the conference yardage list.
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"A lot of things went into that," Gilreath said. "A lot of hard work, preparation ... a lot of years, a lot of returns."
Gilreath has come a long way this season. While fielding a punt against San Jose State on Sept. 11, Gilreath was knocked unconscious and was forced to sit out the next two games because of a concussion.
The injury was serious enough to jeopardize Gilreath's status on kick returns.
"At first, I didn't even know if he was going to return a kick or punt (again) in his career for us," coach Bret Bielema said.
Gilreath returned to the field two weeks ago in a 34-24 loss at Michigan State, but was held out of return duty until last week's 41-23 win over Minnesota.
"He was in my ear right away," Bielema said. "He was excited about this week. That play that we ran, that opening kickoff, he felt good about it all week."
Gilreath chuckled when asked of his memory of the hit against San Jose State.
“What concussion?” he said. “I don’t remember the hit, so it never happened to me.”
Gilreath said he was due to run one back.
"I've been kind of pressing about it for a while," he said. "I'm not putting it on anyone else. I just needed to get one."
As for doing it against No. 1 Ohio State?
"A great time to get it, I guess," Gilreath said. "It felt great."
Victory has ‘surreal feeling'
After the final whistle blew, junior linebacker Kevin Claxton only needed one word to describe the scene as fans stormed the field at Camp Randall — pandemonium.
"It's just a surreal feeling," said Claxton, who took over for an injured Mike Taylor late in the first half. "Everybody came out (and was) slapping (me) on the back. It took about 20 minutes for me to get to the locker room. It was a great feeling."
After posting one of the biggest upsets in school history, some of the Badgers were overcome with emotion.
"I know this isn't a bowl game or the national championship game, but I just started crying," junior defensive back Aaron Henry said. "Nobody really expected us to go out there and win. We were kind of like the little red-headed stepchild. For us to go out there and play the way we did, I just fell to my knees.
"We had the No. 1 team in our house and we went out there and beat them tonight, man. It's an unbelievable feeling. I wish this night could last forever."
Extra points
For the second consecutive week, Nick Toon was the Badgers' leading receiver, making six catches for 72 yards. ... Piling up 104 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries, junior running back John Clay — he showed up having shaved the numbers of his offensive linemen into his haircut in tribute to his teammates — has rushed for at least 100 yards and a touchdown in 12 of his past 13 games. ... Long snapper Kyle Wojta, a former Madison La Follette athlete, tore his ACL on Tuesday but still snapped on PATs and field goals against the Buckeyes.
