Dec. 19, 2011
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| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | #5 Wisconsin
| 10 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 19 | #3 TCU
| 14 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 21 | Scoring Summary
| | First Quarter | | WIS | Welch 30 FG | | TCU | Johnson 23 TD pass from Dalton (Evans kick) | | WIS | Clay 1 TD run (Welch kick) | | TCU | Dalton 4 TD run (Evans kick) | | Second Quarter | | WIS | Welch 37 FG | | Third Quarter | | TCU | Shivers 4 TD run (Evans kick) | | Fourth Quarter | | WIS | Ball 4 TD run (conversion failed) | Team Statistics
| WIS | TCU | | • First Downs | 20 | 18 | | • Rushing Yards | 226 | 82 | | • Passes | 12-21-0 | 15-22-0 | | • Passing Yards | 159 | 219 | | • Total Offense | 385 | 301 | | • Punts-Avg. | 3-42 | 4-37 | | • Fumbles-Lost | 0-0 | 0-0 | | • Penalties-Yards | 6-41 | 4-20 | |
As the Wisconsin football team prepares for the 2012 Rose Bowl Game, UWBadgers.com Insider Mike Lucas looks back on the Badgers' seven previous appearances in The Granddaddy of Them All. Today, we look at the 2011 Rose Bowl.
BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com
MADISON, Wis. -- On the first play of the 2011 Rose Bowl, Montee Ball burst through a big hole on the line of scrimmage and rambled 40 yards to the TCU 28-yard line before being knocked out of bounds by Tejay Johnson.
It was the longest run given up by the Horned Frogs’ defense all season.
Upon further review, though, what are the odds that a slimmer, trimmer and more explosive Ball -- this season’s 205-pound edition -- might have found a way to score on that very same play?
“We left a lot of points on the field,’’ Ball lamented.
That opening series in particular set an ominous tone for the Badgers.
Wisconsin was guilty of a false start on the first play following Ball’s long run; a sign of things to come as one of the least penalized teams in the nation ended up drawing a season- high six flags.
Ball kept the drive alive by gaining five yards on third-and-2 from the TCU 20. But after a negative yardage play -- Ball was tackled for a two-yard loss – the Badgers were behind the chains again.
On third-and-8, Nick Toon couldn’t hold on to a pass from quarterback Scott Tolzien.
“There were a lot of missed opportunities,’’ Tolzien said.
That incompletion forced the UW to “settle’’ for a 30-yard field goal by Philip Welch.
“This game wasn’t decided on one play or two plays,’’ said Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema. “It was probably an accumulation of 10 to 12 plays that we failed to execute, and they did.’’
That was reflected on TCU’s first offensive possession.
Quarterback Andy Dalton, who would go on to become a first-round NFL draft pick and starter for the Cincinnati Bengals, engineered a 10-play, 77-scoring drive capped by a TD pass to Bart Johnson.
Dalton twice converted on third-and-10 with completions to Jimmy Young.
The Badgers were also guilty of a pass interference penalty; a very uncharacteristic mistake.
“We couldn’t get off the field when we needed to,’’ said defensive tackle Patrick Butrym.
Neither could the Horned Frogs on the UW’s second series, which was highlighted by Tolzien’s completions of 14 yards to Lance Kendricks, 16 yards to Jared Abbrederis and 28 yards to Bradie Ewing.
But the 10-7 lead was short-lived after TCU’s Jeremy Kerley’s 35-yard kickoff return and a 44-yard pass from Dalton to Josh Boyce led to another touchdown for the Horned Frogs.
After the highest scoring first quarter in Rose Bowl history -- TCU 14, Wisconsin 10 -- the defenses took over and made it difficult for both offenses to sustain drives.
The Badgers had the ball last in the first half and converted on a fourth-and-9 from their own 33 when Brad Nortman rushed 11 yards on a fake punt.
But the offense stalled and the Badgers had to settle for another field goal, which culminated a 14-play march that came up inches short -- leaving a fourth-and-1 from the TCU 21.
Earlier in the quarter, Welch had missed a 39-yard field goal.
“I don’t think we were us today,’’ said All-American left guard John Moffitt.
TCU regained the momentum and expanded its lead to 21-13 by driving 71 yards for a score on the first possession of the third quarter. Another pass interference call haunted Wisconsin.
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Besides the penalties, the Badgers couldn’t get any pressure on Dalton.
“You’re not going to get many sacks when the guy’s getting the ball out in two seconds,’’ said defensive end J.J. Watt. “We’d beat our man and the ball was gone.’’
The lack of takeaways also conspired against the Badgers.
Nonetheless, they held the Horned Frogs to just seven points in the second half -- none in the fourth quarter -- and put themselves in a position to tie the game at the end of an inspired drive.
On the strength of John Clay’s powerful inside running, the Badgers marched 77 yards on 10 plays and closed within two points of TCU on Ball’s 4-yard touchdown run.
On the two-point conversion attempt, Tolzien’s pass was knocked down by linebacker Tank Carder.
Tolzien was trying to get the ball to tight end Jacob Pedersen, who was open in the end zone.
“It was a good play by their guy (Carder),’’ Tolzien said. “That’s what good football teams do. They find a way to make plays when the game is on the line and they were able to do that.’’
In the end, it was a painful learning experience.
“You always learn things from hard times,’’ said UW center Peter Konz. “Because we’ve had such a devastating loss here, it’s just going to power us forward.
“We’re going to learn from it.
“We’re not a team that sulks.
“We’re a team that learns from our past.’’
Others shared the same sentiments; most notably Aaron Henry.
“Losing the game like we did shows you that every play does count,’’ Henry said. “TCU had some big plays on plays that normally don’t beat us. We have to take it as a learning experience.
“If you don’t learn from something like this it can come back and haunt you. I know the guys who are leaving are upset and mad and frustrated.
“We’ve got guys coming back, like myself, who are just anxious to learn from that loss. I’m definitely looking forward to next season and being the leader they expect me to be.
“Hopefully we can put ourselves in a great position again.
“The key word is ‘finish.’’’
Maybe it’s “unfinished” -- as in the Badgers have some unfinished business in the 2012 Rose Bowl.
