PASADENA, Calif. – One team showered in confetti. Members of the other just showered, dressing slowly, stopping occasionally to hug a teammate or clear his locker.
In the 97th Rose Bowl game, it was Wisconsin’s players who fought – off tears, and for words – after Texas Christian won 21-19 to finish a 13-0 season.
Down 13-21 in the fourth quarter, the Badgers drove down the field behind running back John Clay before fellow back Montee Ball ran in for a 4-yard score to put UW within a two-point conversion of tying the game.
But quarterback Scott Tolzien’s pass intended for a wide-open Jacob Pedersen was batted down by TCU’s Tank Carder, who had six tackles – three for a loss.
“Yeah, that two-point play is something that is worked on and repped for TCU for the last three weeks,” UW head coach Bret Bielema said. “Had an opportunity to get it in there, but their defender made a nice read on the quarterback’s eyes, got his hands up blocked it.”
With just two minutes left in the game and one timeout, UW was forced to kick an onside kick attempt, which TCU recovered.
Wisconsin got TCU to third-and-four with about a minute and a half remaining, but Waymon James got five yards to convert and allow the Horned Frogs to kneel the ball and seal the victory.
What was hyped as a David vs. Goliath, No. 1 defense vs. high-flying offense kind of matchup turned out to be just a battle between two very good teams – with TCU making a few more plays than UW. The Horned Frogs finished No. 2 in the post-bowl polls.
“Yeah, they’re definitely pretty good,” tight end Lance Kendricks said. “I think we made our own mistakes; we definitely could have won the game. Hats off to them; they’re a good team.”
The game was a defensive struggle in the second half, as both teams scored just one touchdown apiece. TCU got the winning touchdown in the third quarter, off a Luke Shivers 1-yard run. Wisconsin struggled to put anything together until its last scoring drive.
Field position was a big factor, as UW started three of its second-half drives at its own 3, 5 and 11-yard line.
“It’s hard to capitalize on drives that start on your five,” senior John Moffitt said.
The low-scoring second half was a far cry from the first quarter, where the 24 combined points scored set a Rose Bowl record.
Wisconsin got on the board first, settling for a field goal on its opening drive to take an early lead, 3-0. TCU responded with a 10-play, 77-yard drive that was capped by a touchdown pass by Andy Dalton to Bart Johnson.
Wisconsin responded with a scoring drive that culminated in Clay running the ball in from one yard out.
TCU responded for a 14-10 lead on a Dalton run and UW was able to drive to the TCU 22 on the ensuing possession. But kicker Phillip Welch missed from 39 yards out, a play made even harder to swallow considering the two-point TCU margin of victory. But after forcing a three-and-out, UW drove again to the TCU 21-yard line, behind a fake punt for a first down by Brad Nortman early in the possession. Facing fourth-and-one and with three timeouts and just under a minute to play in the half, it looked like the Badgers – who already converted twice on fourth down – could pick up the first and take a couple of shots at the end zone.
Instead, UW ran the clock down and kicked a field goal to end the half and go into the break down 14-13.
“I honestly didn’t know what the time was… that seems like the safest move to do is to kick it, get some points, get some momentum going into the second half,” senior left tackle Gabe Carimi said. “You don’t want to risk a turnover when you can get three points.”
Dalton was exceptional, throwing for 219 yards on 15-for-23 passing and a touchdown. Receivers Jeremy Kerley and Jimmy Young finished with 58 and 57 yards receiving respectively, most of them coming in big situations and going for first downs.
Wisconsin quarterback Scott Tolzien was less impressive, throwing for just 159 yards and taking two sacks.
And while all season the Badgers thrived on running the ball and not taking penalties, UW committed six penalties for 41 yards, after averaging just over three per game coming into the Rose Bowl.
What all the Badgers could agree on was that Wisconsin had its chances to win – multiple chances – and penalties and dropped passes ended up costing the team a chance to come out as Rose Bowl champions.
“They have a good defense, they really do,” Moffitt said of TCU. “But I feel like this is one of those where we beat ourselves. I guess you could say it’s a little bit of both.”
Many players agreed the team needs to take what it can from this season and get ready for next. However, there will be holes, not only from the graduating seniors, but Clay and defensive end J.J. Watt, who in the days following the game, announced they would be declaring for the NFL draft.
While it wasn’t yet a foregone conclusion, Watt’s tears at the post-game press conference looked to be those of a man who knew he had played his last game as a Badger.
“This program is on the rise,” Watt said later in the locker room. “The young guys in this program got a taste of what a Rose Bowl feels like. They also got a taste of what a defeat in the Rose Bowl feels like. And there’s no worse feeling right now in the world.”
