|
PASADENA, Calif. - Wisconsin felt right at home in the Rose Bowl --
and really made UCLA wish it was somewhere else. Ron Dayne ran for 246
yards and a record-tying four touchdowns Friday in a 38-31 victory over
UCLA, which had to settle for playing in Pasadena after losing its shot
at the national championship. The sixth-ranked Bruins had hoped for a
trip to Tempe, Ariz., for the Fiesta Bowl, but a loss to Miami Dec. 5
gave them a game in their own back yard instead. With Badgers fans
creating a sea of red at the Rose Bowl, however, UCLA must have felt as
if it were on the road.
"We thought we were national champions a month ago," offensive tackle
Kris Farris said. "I blame this on the offense. We gave them a touchdown
and that's what won the game." That touchdown came at the start of the
fourth quarter with No. 9 Wisconsin ahead 31-28. Cade McNown's shotgun
pass intended for DeShaun Foster was intercepted by Jamar Fletcher. He
ran 46 yards down the Badgers' sideline for a touchdown and a 38-28 lead
(video). "Their crowd had a big part in that
particular play," Bruins coach Bob Toledo said. "It did get pretty
loud." Some two-thirds of the crowd of 93,872 was clad in Wisconsin's
colors, and many sported cheese heads. Badgers fans also dominated the
north end zone, making it nearly impossible for Foster to hear McNown's
audible on the play. "Most of the guys got it," McNown said. "When I
went to toss it to the right, DeShaun was coming off a tackle. He ran
the right pattern."
Dayne showed power up the middle and speed in the open field against
UCLA's flimsy defense. He carried 27 times and scored on runs of 54, 7,
10 and 22 yards to lead Wisconsin to its first 11-victory season (video).
"I got so hyped up after our first touchdown that I threw up," said
Dayne, who averaged 9 yards a carry despite a sore shoulder. "Our goal
was to come to the Rose Bowl, and when we win it that's even better."
The 253-pound tailback finished 1 yard short of Charles White's Rose
Bowl rushing record when Badgers quarterback Mike Samuel dropped to one
knee three times to run out the clock at the end. Wisconsin coach Barry
Alvarez said he wasn't aware Dayne needed just 1 yard for the record.
"That’s all right.” Dayne said "That wasn't our goal, to set a record.
Our goal was to win."
UCLA joined Kansas State as a loser in a bowl game after dropping out of
the running for the national title. The Wildcats, beaten by Texas A&M in
the Big 12 championship, were then upset by Purdue in the Alamo Bowl.
Neither Toledo nor his players would admit that the Rose Bowl was a
disappointment for them, although he and McNown have said they would
prefer a playoff system to the Bowl Championship Series.
The Badgers (11-1), who until 1994 hadn't been to the Rose Bowl in 31
years and had never won the game, made it two victories in five years,
both over UCLA.
"It was a great football game; two teams playing very hard and a lot
of guys making plays. We feel very fortunate to walk out of here with a
win," Alvarez said.
In a game that had 1,035 yards of offense, McNown passed for 340
yards and two touchdowns in his final game for the Bruins, but threw
that costly interception to Fletcher.
 The Bruins closed the gap to 38-31 on Chris Sailer's 30-yard field with
6:05 remaining, but Wisconsin's defense shut down UCLA from there. In
the first half, Matt Davenport gave Wisconsin the lead for the third
time when he kicked a 40-yard field goal with 17 seconds left to make it
24-21. Dayne's third touchdown had pulled the Badgers even at 21-21 with
three minutes left in the half. He ran to the right, then slipped to the
outside to go 10 yards and into the end zone.
UCLA fell behind 14-7 when Dayne scored on a 7-yard run around right
end, but the Bruins came back to strike for two touchdowns in five
minutes. They drew even on a pass thrown by flanker Freddie Mitchell off
a reverse. McNown dropped back, seemed to nonchalantly flip the ball to
Mitchell coming around him, and Mitchell found Durrell Price open behind
the Wisconsin defense for a 61-yard scoring play. On UCLA’s next
possession, Danny Farmer leaped high above two defenders in the Badgers'
end zone to pull down a 41-yard throw by McNown to give UCLA a
short-lived 21-14 lead.
In their 21-16 Rose Bowl loss to Wisconsin five years ago, the Bruins
rolled up 500 yards but turned the ball over six times, including a Rose
Bowl record five lost fumbles.
Sam Cunningham of USC and Eric Ball of UCLA also share the Rose Bowl
record of four rushing touchdowns.
|
|
Attendance- 93,872
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
UW- Dayne 54 run (Davenport kick)
UCLA- Lewis 38 pass from McNown (Sailer kicked)
Second Quarter
UW- Dayne 7 run (Davenport kicked)
UCLA- Price 61 pass from Freddie Mitchell (Sailer kick)
UCLA- Farmer 41 pass from McNown (Sailer kick)
UW- Dayne 10 run (Davenport kick)
UW- FG 40 Davenport
Third Quarter
UW- Dayne 22 run (Davenport kick)
UCLA- Lewis 10 run (Sailer kick)
Fourth Quarter
UW- Fletcher 47 intercepted pass (Davenport kick)
UCLA- FG 30 Sailer
Individual Statistics
Rushing
UW- Dayne 27-246, Samuel 13-83, Faulkner 8-33
UCLA- Lewis 10-53, Foster 10-38, McNown 12-37, Farmer- 1-8, Price 2-6,
Brown 3-3
Passing
UW- Samuel 17-9-154
UCLA- McNown 34-19-340, Mitchell 1-1-61
Receiving
WISC- Davis 3-57, Sigmund 2-38
UCLA- Farmer 7-142, Price 3-102, Melsby 3-66
|
