The Granddaddy of Them All...97th Rose Bowl Game presented by VIZIO

Game: 97th Rose Bowl Game presented by VIZIO

Location: Pasadena, CA

Stadium: Rose Bowl

Date: January 1, 2011

Teams: #3 Texas Christian (12-0) vs. #5 Wisconsin (11-1)

For years I've watched the Rose Bowl Game on television every New Year's Day, one day hoping to be able to watch the game in person from legendary Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California. Being a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and having lived in Wisconsin all my life, I remember the excitement that the Rose Bowl generated when Wisconsin played in 1994, 1999, and 2000 under former head coach, and current AD, Barry Alvarez. This is of course "The Granddaddy of Them All" as former ABC announcer Keith Jackson so vividly would describe each year on the broadcast. However, in this era of the BCS, the 97th edition of the Rose Bowl Game would not have the traditional Big Ten vs. Pac-10 matchup as Pac-10 Champion, Oregon, is playing in Glendale, AZ for the National Championship. As such, and due to a little known addition to the most recent BCS contract with ESPN, the Rose Bowl was obligated to take the top non-AQ (Automatic Qualifying) school if it lost one of its traditional participants to the title game. Therefore, instead of the Rose Bowl taking Stanford to preserve the Big Ten/Pac-10 matchup, the Rose Bowl was forced to take the TCU Horned Frogs. I mean no disrespect to TCU in using the term forced, but I think without this clause, the Rose takes Stanford to preserve tradition and TCU ends up going to the Orange Bowl to play Virginia Tech. Due to this completely non-traditional matchup, and the fact that my alma mater was playing, I dropped the cash to buy a ticket and fly to California to watch the Granddaddy in person.

Without having ever been to Pasadena before, I did not realize how the stadium itself is a few miles outside of city center where the Tournament of Roses Parade is held annually on game day. I arrived at the stadium about 2.5 hours before kickoff and was thoroughly impressed by all the people already on site for the game. The bowl committee does a great job of making game day an experience with a food court set up outside the stadium for patrons to buy some of the local area's best foods. Additionally, the alumni associations for each team hold gigantic parties in parking lots surrounding the stadium providing the perfect lead up to kick off. The aura of tradition and prestige just permeates the entire stadium site.

Upon finally entering the stadium itself, the senses are just completely engulfed with the sweet smells of hot dogs and soft pretzels as well as the sights of 90,000+ seats to be eventually filled with screaming fans supporting their team. Heading to my seat in row 5 of the north endzone, I was thoroughout impressed by the views and the grandure present in the stadium. I had to see what the view was like from the top of the stadium though. Thus, I walked up all 72 remaining rows all the way to the top and wow, was the view impressive. Anticipation built in the stadium as the top 20 all time Rose Bowl Games were counted down from ESPN's top 20 series from a few years back. Of course, the #1 game was the 2005 national championship game held as the Rose Bowl between Vince Young's Texas Longhorns and Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush's USC Trojans.

As the game approached kickoff and all the seats in the stadium were filled, it was a sea of red with the exception of the corner to my right which was the designated TCU section filled with fans covered in purple and white. Before kickoff, I was asking most of my friends whether or not the game was more likely to be a 21-20 game or a 45-42 game as both teams have very potent offenses averaging over 43 ppg, but what Wisconsin didn't have that TCU did is the #1 ranked defense in the country. The question though, was whether TCU's defensive stats were inflated having played in the Mountain West against cupcakes like New Mexico and UNLV, with some solid teams such as Air Force and Utah mixed in. I personally expected a shootout and in the first quarter, it appeared as though that was exactly what the fans and viewers were in for as no punts were required and the Horned Frogs scored 2 touchdowns to the Badgers' touchdown and a field goal.

As the 2nd quarter progressed, Wisconsin kept pounding the ball on the ground and running clock, but again failed to get into the endzone and settled for a missed Philip Welch 39 yd FG and a made Welch FG to end the half and trail 14-13. Wisconsin's ground game was racking up the yards, but TCU's defense, led by LB Tank Carder, was up to the challenge in the key moments of the Badgers' drives. Andy Dalton, TCU's QB, was extremely efficient in the first half methodically driving the Frogs down the field for a TD pass as well as a rushing TD.

In the 2nd half, the scoring subsided significantly, but the action and drama did not. Coming out of halftime, TCU received the kickoff as they deferred the opening kick, and drove right down the field for another touchdown to take a 21-13 lead. As the Badgers looked to answer and hopefully take the lead in the game, Wisconsin's offense sputtered on numerous drives. Wisconsin could get a first down or two behind the legs of Montee Ball or John Clay or the arm of Scott Tolzien, but never enough in a row to drive down the field. Additionally, the lack of big plays by both teams in the 2nd half allowed the defenses to keep both offenses out of the endzone until late in the 4th quarter. Wisconsin forced a TCU punt with about 5 minutes to play and quickly matriculated the ball down the field behind a 40+ yd run by Clay as well as another 20+ yd run by Clay. Eventually, Ball capped the drive with a 4 yd TD run to the right corner of the endzone to cut the Frogs lead to 2 with about 2 minutes to play. Wisconsin called a 2 pt conversion play that resulted in a wide open Jacob Pedersen in the endzone, however, Carder managed to get his hands up just in time and knock the ball down for TCU to preserve the 2 point lead.

Wisconsin poorly executed an onside kick that was recovered by TCU and with only 2 timeouts remaning for the Badgers, TCU only needed 1 first down to seal the game. On 3rd down, Ed Wesley broke through the line for 8 yards and the game-clinching first down for the Frogs. As time ticked away, the Horned Frogs exploded in celebration, which included a Gatorade bath for head coach Gary Patterson. So much for the Frogs and their "Little Sisters of the Poor" schedule according to Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee. If memory serves me, this win by TCU makes non-AQ schools 5-1 in BCS games against AQ schools, as well as Boise State's win last year in the Fiesta Bowl over TCU. If these outcomes don't prove the need for a playoff to let everyone have the opportunity to play for a championship, I don't know what other kind of proof exists. As a University of Wisconsin alumnus, I would have preferred a Badger victory, however, TCU outplayed the Badgers for 55 minutes of this football game and proved they were the better team in the end. Congrats to TCU on its undefeated season and I hope this outcome further supports US Senator Orrin Hatch's case against the BCS to further FBS football via a playoff system.