Wisconsin Badgers
11-2 , 7-1
TCU
13-0 , 8-0
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin | 10 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 19 |
| TCU | 14 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
Badgers' rally falls short in 21-19 Rose Bowl loss to TCU
January 01, 2011 | Football
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| Game Highlights 
Jan. 1, 2011
• Final Stats | Final Stats 
| Notes
PASADENA, Calif. -- The shootout nearly turned into a shutout.
After their offenses went back and forth in the highest-scoring first quarter in Rose Bowl history, the defenses from Wisconsin and TCU traded blows in a defensive battle that decided the Grandaddy of Them All.
In the end, TCU's No. 1-ranked defense had one more stop left in it.
Linebacker Tank Carder swatted down a 2-point conversion pass attempt with 2 minutes to play, and it helped No. 3 TCU completed a perfect season with its first Rose Bowl victory, 21-19, over fourth-ranked Wisconsin on Saturday.
In doing so, the Horned Frogs snapped UW's streak of three-consecutive Rose Bowl wins.
"Hopefully the scar that we're going to take from this game can get us back here sooner than later," UW head coach Bret Bielema said. "This game wasn't decided on one play or two plays. It was probably an accumulation of about 10 or 12 plays that we failed to execute, and (TCU) did."
The play halted the Badgers' attempt at a fourth-quarter comeback, which nearly came to fruition after Montee Ball ran in for a touchdown from 4 yards out on the end of a 77-yard scoring drive.
It capped a 132-yard day for Ball, who joined with teammates John Clay and James White to bring Wisconsin agonozingly close to becoming the first school in FBS history to have three running backs rush for 1,000 yards in a season.
Clay rushed 11 times for 76 yards to bump his season total to 1,012 while James White carried eight times for 23 yards to finish the year with 1,052 yards. Ball eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the fifth-straight game and ended the year with 996 rushing yards.
Through the air, senior quarterback Scott Tolzien completed 12 of 21 passes for 159 yards to finish the season with a Big Ten-record completion percentage of 72.9 percent.
Ball's score was the only points of the second half for Wisconsin, which also held TCU to a single second-half TD.
That came on the Horned Frogs' first drive of the third quarter - with Luke Shivers scoring on a 1-yard run -- and staked TCU to a 21-13 lead after covering 71 yards in just six plays.
Then the defenses settled in.
The teams traded punts on each of their next three drives until the Badgers go the ball back with 7:32 remaining.
Clay opened the scoring march with back-to-back runs of 14 and 30 yards to drive the Badgers into TCU territory. The Badgers needed a third-down pass from Tolzien to Kendricks to keep the chains moving, before handing the keys back to Clay for four straight runs that had UW inside the Horned Frogs' 5 yard line.
Ball finished the job with the Badgers' 48th rushing score of the season - matching the Big Ten record set by Ohio State in 1974.
As the Badgers lined up for a potential game-tying two-point conversion, Carder made a perfectly timed leap at the line to bat down Tolzien's throw to the end zone. The intended receiver, tight end Jacob Pedersen, was open in the end zone.
"What got us here was clean execution and clean disciplined football, and we didn't do that today all around, myself included," Tolzien said. "That's why it's the greatest game, because you don't execute and you're on edges. The other team's going to find a way to beat you.
"I think you also give credit to TCU for a good game plan and just playing their tails off. It was a four-quarter battle, and it was unfortunate all around for us."
The defensive struggle after halftime was in stark contrast to a frenetic first quarter that saw the teams combine for a Rose Bowl-record 24 points.
The Badgers were forced to settle for a field goal after marching 55 yards on eight plays on their game-opening drive, a 30-yarder from Phillip Welch.
TCU answered with a 23-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Andy Dalton to Bart Johnson on its first possession, jumping out to a 7-3 lead.
Clay countered with a 1-yard touchdown run on UW's next drive to help the Badgers regain the lead, but Dalton quickly put the Frogs back out front on a 4-yard run of his own.
The Badgers blinked first as Welch missed wide left on a 39-yard field goal attempt, but the UW defense stood tall by forcing TCU into a punt on its ensuing possession.
Welch then drew the Badgers within a point, at 14-13, by drilling a 37-yarder as time expired on the first half.
UW's ball-control style allowed the Badgers to hold the ball for all but three plays in the second quarter. In all, the Badgers held the ball for 21 minutes, 28 seconds of the first half, leaving TCU just 8:32 with which to work.
For the game, the Badgers owned a 13-minute advantage in possession time, outgained the Frogs by 84 yards and held TCU to less than half of the 43.3 points per game the Horned Frogs averaged to rank No. 4 nationally coming into the game.
Wisconsin's 226 total rushing yards were almost twice as many as TCU's nation-leading defense had been allowing entering the game (89.2 yards per game).
"Obviously, (that's) a very good football team on the other sideline, but we'll take this and we'll move forward," Bielema said. "I don't think there will be anything that sets us back."
Team Stats
WIS 3, TCU 0
WIS - Welch, Philip 30 yd field goal 8 plays, 55 yards, TOP 4:21
WIS 3, TCU 7
TCU - JOHNSON, Bart 23 yd pass from DALTON, Andy (EVANS, Ross kick) 10 plays, 77 yards, TOP 4:16
WIS 10, TCU 7
WIS - Clay, John 1 yd run (Welch, Philip kick), 6 plays, 67 yards, TOP 2:56
WIS 10, TCU 14
TCU - DALTON, Andy 4 yd run (EVANS, Ross kick), 5 plays, 57 yards, TOP 2:31
WIS 13, TCU 14
WIS - Welch, Philip 37 yd field goal 14 plays, 47 yards, TOP 7:04
WIS 13, TCU 21
TCU - SHIVERS, Luke 1 yd run (EVANS, Ross kick), 6 plays, 71 yards, TOP 3:01
WIS 19, TCU 21
WIS - Ball, Montee 4 yd run (Tolzien, Scott passfailed), 10 plays, 77 yards, TOP 5:32
