"I know they were excited, but I can't believe people from the back row would push with such force,'' he said. "I had no idea that many people would shove that hard and hurt so many people.

"Finally, the fence did give way. It was probably a good thing the fence did give way, the way people were getting smooshed.''

Nowhere to go

A Madison police officer working in front of the student section said he and other security officials tried to form a wedge to protect injured students, but had little success.

"They weren't getting any slack from their friends,'' the officer said. "When the railing went down, that caused the most dramatic injuries. People were getting caught in the rails.''

Michael Stefanski, a UW-Madison freshman, said the tragedy never would have happened if security guards had let students onto the field. Stefanski said he and his friends were against the fence at the front of the crowd and were struck by officials.

"There was a line of police and other security guards,'' Stefanski said. "We would get pushed to the front and the security would physically hit us and push us back. They were physically throwing people back.