Rose Bowl
2000
Wisconsin 17
Stanford 9
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- Another 200 yards for Ron Dayne, and another
Rose Bowl victory for Wisconsin. Dayne had a touchdown and 154 yards in
the second half as the No. 4 Wisconsin became the first Big Ten team to
win consecutive Rose Bowls, defeating Stanford 17-9 Saturday in the
lowest-scoring Rose Bowl since 1977.
Dayne, the Heisman Trophy winner, was held to 46 yards in the first
half by a Stanford defense that ranked fifth worst in the nation. But he
broke loose for a 64-yard gain on the second play after halftime and
scored on a 4-yard run two plays later.
"We had a nice talk, a nice little calm talk at halftime, and
everybody got more motivated," Dayne deadpanned (audio).
"I think that really gave us momentum and we just carried on. It would
have been nice if we could have scored some more, so we wouldn't have
had to bite our nails at the end."
Wisconsin (10-2) held Stanford (No. 21 ESPN/USA Today, No. 22 AP) to
minus-5 yards on 27 rushes, a Rose Bowl record. The Cardinal (8-4),
playing in their first Rose Bowl in 28 years, were held to 259 yards of
total offense after averaging 467 per game this season. It was the
lowest-scoring Rose Bowl since 1977, when Southern California defeated
Michigan 14-6.
"I don't think anyone thought it would be a defensive struggle, but
it was," said Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez, who hobbled up and down the
sideline with a cane in his first game on the field since knee surgery.
Dayne, who passed 7,000 career rushing yards in the game, joined
Washington quarterback Bob Schloredt and USC tailback Charles White as
winner of consecutive Rose Bowl MVP awards. Schloredt won in 1960-61 and
White in 1979-80. Dayne, who had 34 carries Saturday, reached 200 yards
in three of the four bowls game in which he played. He finished his
college career with 200 yards or more in four of his final five games.
Brooks Bollinger had a 1-yard TD on a quarterback sneak for Wisconsin
and Vitaly Pisetsky added a 31-yard field goal. Kerry Carter had a
1-yard scoring run for Stanford, and Mike Biselli had a 28-yard field
goal.
Though the game was listed as a sellout, the attendance of 93,731 was
the smallest Rose Bowl crowd since 1955, perhaps adding fuel to
complaints the Bowl Championship Series has diluted interest in other
bowls. The BCS showdown for No. 1 is in the Sugar Bowl this year.
Troy Walters, expected to miss the game after dislocating his right
wrist in practice Tuesday, caught three passes for 52 yards for
Stanford. Walters, winner of the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top
receiver this season, played with a wrap on the wrist.
"I went from a low to a high. Tuesday and Wednesday were the low
points in my life," Walter said. "The doctors told me I couldn't injure
it any further. I felt like I could do enough to help the team. But I
couldn't carry the ball in my right arm."
Defensive tackle Willie Howard, who was expected to miss the game
with a torn knee ligament, also played for the Cardinal. But Stanford
long snapper Jon Sande missed part of the game with an ankle injury, and
it was costly. Backup Anthony Gabriel had two bad snaps, leading to a
missed extra point and a blocked field goal.
Alvarez, who spent most of the season in the press box while recovering
from knee surgery, said the Badgers were rusty after not playing since
Nov. 13.
"We had a long layoff after that last game, and it took us a little
while to get in a rhythm," he said. "Big 33 (Dayne) got lathered up a
little bit and that seemed to help a little."
Each team punted three times in the first quarter. But while
Wisconsin failed to pick up a first down in the period, Stanford ended
the quarter with four straight completions to set up Biselli's field
goal early in the second period. Wisconsin finally got its offense going
with a 71-yard drive that led to Pisetsky's field goal with 9:19 left
before halftime.
After an exchange of punts, Walters' 19-yard reception and a couple
Wisconsin penalties helped the Cardinal march 45 yards on a drive capped
by Carter's scoring run. Gabriel's high snap foiled the extra point,
though, leaving the score at 9-3.
On the second play after halftime, Dayne broke two tackles on his
64-yard run up the middle to the Stanford 11 (video).
Two plays later, he bounced outside to become the career Rose Bowl
scoring leader with his fifth touchdown. Dayne, who scored four times in
Wisconsin's 38-31 Rose Bowl victory over UCLA last year, also surpassed
7,000 career yards rushing on the play. He had an NCAA-record 6,397
yards in the regular season, and finished his career with 728 yards in
bowl games.
Bollinger, who has not lost since becoming Wisconsin's starting
quarterback eight games ago, struggled most of the afternoon -- going
7-for-14 for 105 yards. But he completed two key passes to backup tight
end John Sigmund on a fourth-quarter touchdown drive.
Sigmund made a juggling 7-yard catch on fourth-and-2 at the Stanford
32 with 8:48 left, then caught a 22-yarder to get to the Cardinal 3.
Dayne was stopped on two runs, but Bollinger scored on a sneak to make
it 17-9.
The Badgers had a chance to widen the lead when Dayne ran for 33 yards on a 46-yard drive to the Stanford 17, but Pisetsky missed a 33-yard field goal to give Stanford one more chance. Todd Husak, who was 17-of-34 for 258 yards, completed four straight passes as the Cardinal reached the Wisconsin 41, but was sacked on fourth-and-12 to end the comeback attempt.
Attendance- 93,731
Scoring Summary
Second Quarter
Stan- FG Biselli 28
UW- FG Pisetsky 31
Stan- K Carter 1 run (two-point conversion failed)
Third Quarter
UW- Dayne 4 run (Pisetsky kick)
Fourth Quarter
UW- Bollinger 1 run (Pisetsky kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing
UW- Dayne 34-200, Kuhns 2-10, Bollinger 12-9
Stan- Wire 5-6
Passing
Wisc- Bollinger 7-14-105
Stan- Husak 17-34-258
Receiving
UW-
Chambers 5-76, Sigmund 2-29
Stan- Pitts 6-81, Usa 3-60, Walters 3-52, Davis 3-44
