Oregon Powers Past Wisconsin In Rose Bowl
Oregon’s incredible offense busted up Wisconsin and the record books on the way to the Ducks’ first Rose Bowl victory in 95 years.
Darron Thomas passed for 268 yards and three touchdowns, freshman De’Anthony Thomas scored on runs of 91 and 64 yards, and the No. 6 Ducks earned their first bowl victory under coach Chip Kelly, holding off Wisconsin 45-38 Monday night in the highest-scoring Rose Bowl ever played.
And it wasn’t over until the Badgers (11-3) ran out of time at the Oregon 25, out of timeouts and unable to spike the ball in time to stop the clock for a last-gasp fling.
Lavasier Tuinei caught eight passes for 158 yards and two TDs for the Ducks (12-2), who had no postseason success to show for Kelly’s otherwise wildly successful three-year tenure until this landmark offensive performance in the 98th Rose Bowl.
The Granddaddy of Them All had never seen this many points, beating the record 80 scored by Washington and Iowa in 1991.
Some Badgers fans who attended the game questioned the officiating while others simply said the better team won. But many agreed that the Badgers had a pretty good season nevertheless.
“The (Badgers) played great. They played great all season, and they were fun to watch. It was probably the most fun I’ve had watching a team. It was a tough ending, but it was a great season, and they’ll be back next year,” said Matt Lee, a Badgers fan from Hudson, Wis.
Many Badger fans who couldn’t make the trip to Pasadena watched the Rose Bowl game on TV at Union South on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
Fans who gathered to watch the game at Union South were saddened to see the Badgers lose another Rose Bowl, but they said they’re still proud of the team.
“I almost thought we might have a chance, and then that last two seconds just killed me,” said Megan Nolan, a UW-Madison junior.
Some fans said they saw it coming. At halftime, Wesley Brooks, a UW-Madison grad student, said he was far from confident in a Badgers win.
“I’m still nervous. I was nervous (at the) start,” Brooks said. “(Oregon) seemed to score pretty easily against us.”
It was a busy day for Riley Garcia, who works at Union South.
“It’s been an interesting day,” Garcia said. “From about 45 to 30 minutes before the game, we started to get a slow trickle, and the next thing we knew we got a stampede.”
Staff at Union South prepared for a few hundred people, but they had their hands full trying to keep up with all the fans ordering food and beer.
“The Sett itself holds 650 people. It’s at capacity, and we had to open up Varsity Hall, and that holds 1,000 and it’s pretty full,” Garcia said.
“It is a game, but, you know, we’re disappointed,” said Bob Bell, a Badgers fan.
