BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — When Wisconsin director of athletics
Barry Alvarez took over as the acting head coach for the 2013 Rose Bowl, he exposed his grandsons, Joe and
Jake Ferguson, to the pageantry of the Pasadena, California, experience and the grandeur of this historic landmark that is framed by the San Gabriel Mountains.
The venue can be breathtaking for people of all ages, let alone impressionable teenagers.
Joe Ferguson was a senior at Madison Memorial High School; Jake was 13 going on 14.
"I wanted them to be on the sideline, I wanted them to go through the pregame, I wanted them in the locker room," said Alvarez, who has his plaque hanging in the Court of Champions at the south end of the stadium in recognition of his induction into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame (Class of 2009).
Alvarez was the first Big Ten coach to win back-to-back Rose Bowls, giving him a 3-0 record in Pasadena at the time. When his successor Bret Bielema accepted the Arkansas job, Alvarez found himself back in the hunt — seven seasons after his retirement — for another Rose Bowl win against Stanford.
"I remember my grandpa wanted me in the locker room when he gave his pregame speech," recalled Jake Ferguson, who had an all-access pass to the '13 game along with his older brother. "And I ended up crying because I had never seen grandpa raise his voice like that."
Grandpa chuckled at the recollection.
"When I had them in the locker room, I wanted them to have a feel for it all," Alvarez explained. "And I do remember Jake telling his mother afterwards, 'I've never heard grandpa yell before, and I heard him screaming before the game and I didn't know what to do.'"
Â
Barry and Cindy Alvarez with their grandchildren at 2013 Rose Bowl
Although the Badgers were unable to overcome Stanford's early lead and lost 20-14 to the Cardinal in a defensive struggle — no touchdowns were scored in the second half for the first time since 1958 — the Rose Bowl has never gotten old for Alvarez, who will turn 73 on Dec. 30 in Pasadena.
"I've been there quite a bit and it's always special — I love playing in that game," said Alvarez, who has nine Rose Bowls to his credit: two as an Iowa assistant, three as the Badgers' head coach and four as the UW AD (including his stint as the interim HC). "I try to tell everyone how really special it is.
"As time goes on, people will come up and tell me which Rose Bowls they've been to."
Paul Chryst was Wisconsin's offensive coordinator in the 2011 and 2012 Rose Bowls. "I've reminded Paul," Alvarez said, "that you've got to get the players out there before hand so they can see the magnitude and the beauty of the stadium because it will overwhelm you the first time.
"I have a chance to speak to the parents at a breakfast out there the day before the game against Oregon and I'm going to tell them, 'Take everything in, and appreciate it.' I'm just really happy that this group of kids and these coaches are going to experience the beauty of it all.
"I know it's very meaningful to me that my grandson gets a chance to play in a Rose Bowl."
Joe Ferguson, a former UW safety who appeared in 58 games, never played in Pasadena.
"I'll hold that against him," Jake Ferguson teased.
Friendly sibling rivalry aside, Wisconsin's second-year starting tight end went on to acknowledge, "Being around my grandpa, he talks about the Rose Bowl all the time and being able to experience that and having an opportunity to win that game is awesome."
• • • •
Down after down, series after series, only one player — first-team All-American center Tyler Biadasz, the Rimington Trophy award winner — has seen more action over 13 games than Ferguson, who has played in 850 snaps; just 14 fewer than Biadasz.
Rounding out the top six in reps are quarterback Jack Coan (849), inside linebacker Jack Sanborn (825), right tackle Logan Bruss (809) and outside linebacker Zack Baun (792).
Even though the 6-foot-5, 247-pound Ferguson tore a ligament in his left thumb during training camp, an injury necessitating surgery and later a splint, he has rarely left the field.
Asked if the increased playing time has made him a better overall player, even with fewer targets, Ferguson said, "Definitely. I think I'm a lot more mature. I respect the game a lot more and I'm just able to change stuff on the fly and switch up on how we run things.
"Last year how I prepped it was how I ran it. This year I'm able to see something mid-game, call up on the phone (to the press box) and make that adjustment in-game. That's been really big for me … I've been staying with my technique the whole game, no matter what, even If I get tired."
While noting Ferguson's challenging workload, and the fact that there's always room for improvement, separating good from great seasons, Wisconsin tight ends coach Mickey Turner added, "For a third-year player, a redshirt sophomore, he played pretty darn well for where he's at.
"Now we ask him to do everything — on the ball, off the ball, split out, routes, pass pro, run blocking — and his knowledge is 10 times different. He can hear a center's call, and he knows what it means, and he can echo that out to the wide receivers. He can get guys lined up."
Turner, a former UW fullback/H-back, has been impressed with his development in this area.
"He's on the other side of the hump in terms of being a leader of the offense. He can help guys when things start to break down. It's easy to say that in the meeting room or practice, but in a game when the fans are going crazy and the shot clock is running down, you have to do that in 1.5 seconds."
In general, Ferguson has not spent much time dwelling on his pass-catching streak: at least one reception in 26 consecutive games (or every college game that he has played in).
"Honestly, it just happens," he said with a shrug. "Someone mentioned it to me at the end of the Ohio State game (before his first catch), but it's not like I went out there and said, 'All right, I've got to get a ball.' I just kind of trusted the play-calling."
Last season, Ferguson had 36 catches for 456 yards (12.7) and four touchdowns. He was the team' second-leading receiver behind Danny Davis (40 for 418 and five TDs).
This season, Ferguson has 29 catches for 363 yards (12.5) and two touchdowns. Once again, he's the second-leading receiver, this time behind Quintez Cephus (52 for 842 and six TDs).
"I'm not really focusing on catches — it's just more on winning games."
Since last spring, the tight end position group has been thinned by season-ending injuries, the most notable to redshirt junior Luke Benzschawel who had teamed up efficiently as an on-line blocker with Ferguson in the Pinstripe Bowl win over Miami last December.
Clouding the picture was a comeback-ending injury to Zander Neuville.
As a result, redshirt freshman Cormac Sampson was forced to step into the void, ready or not. Although he had played tight end at Eau Claire Memorial High School, he was being groomed as an offensive lineman before coming under Turner's wing on a full-time basis.
"Game by game, you saw his production," Turner said. "He was getting a little more plays and he was getting a little more physical. But I really think it was just about his confidence to where he said, 'I can play this game. This isn't just a bunch of grownups and me. I'm one of them.'"
Neither Ferguson nor Sampson will miss lining up opposite Ohio State's grownup Chase Young, a pass rushing demon and disrupter. "It's going to be awesome to see what he does in the future," said Ferguson, meaning Young's NFL future as a high first round draft choice.
As it turns out, the Badgers will have to deal with a less experienced version of Young in Oregon's celebrated freshman defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux, the highest-ranked recruit in Ducks history. Thibodeaux (6-5, 242) had 2.5 sacks and blocked a punt in the Pac-12 championship game.
"He has gotten better every game," Turner said. "That's what you notice."
Thibodeaux has been a big part of the scouting report for Turner, who's looking forward to his first trip to the Rose Bowl. He graduated one year before the Badgers played TCU in the 2011 game. "If I would have redshirted," he reflected, "the 2010 season would have been my fifth year."
Before the McClain Facility renovation, Turner remembered the game-day routine as a player. "Coming up the tunnel (from the locker room)," he said, "there was a sign 'The road to the Rose Bowl starts here' and we'd hit that on the old way that we used to take into the stadium."
Many things have changed since the Badgers went to three straight Rose Bowls. "But," Turner said, "what the kids have to understand now is that when you get to this level of bowl game, you're playing good opponents and they're taking it as a big-time game as well, so let's finish strong."
The College Football Playoff has everybody focused on the final four teams at the expense of the Rose Bowl, when it's not in the semifinal game rotation, a reality of today's landscape.
"The New Year's Six games are still pretty special," Alvarez insisted. "But the Rose Bowl doesn't have the luster that it did when you won the Big Ten and consequently you were going there.
"When you talk to guys like Kirk Herbstreit (ESPN) and Rick Neuhesiel (CBS), they know how meaningful the Rose Bowl still is and why it's such a big deal and they try to emphasize that to others.
"It is special, and our players will realize that when they get there."
Alvarez had a prediction for the game. When No. 84 (Ferguson) runs on to that plush grass prior to the Rose Bowl kickoff against Oregon, Grandpa confided, "I'll feel great and I'll be very proud."
