Badgers Lose to the Ducks in Pasadena

By Jackson | Posted Thursday, January 5

For Badgers football fans, it was déjà vu at the Rose Bowl this year as Wisconsin once again suffered a heart wrenching loss. It was Oregon this year rather than TCU, but the change in opponent doesn't make the defeat any easier to take. With Russell Wilson on his way to greener pastures, will the Badgers get a chance to right these past two wrongs in Pasadena next year?

In the highest scoring Rose Bowl game ever, the Badgers led the Oregon Ducks on five separate occasions. What’s plagued the Badgers this entire season is that when the offense is playing well, the defense lags behind. Wisconsin's defense, which had allowed an average of just seventeen points per game, gave up three touchdowns in the first twenty minus of play. That lack of pressure on the quick Oregon offense allowed the Ducks to go toe to toe with Wisconsin.

Ducks and Badgers Evenly Matched During Most of the Rose Bowl

The game was deadlocked late in the third quarter, until an eighteen yard touchdown pass to receiver Nick Toon gave Wisconsin the lead. It would be their last lead of the game as the Ducks roared ahead on ten unanswered points. A fan influenced time out call by Bielema, and a rare fumble by wide receiver Jared Abbrederis will be mentioned for years to come. Thanks to the arm of Russell Wilson, as he was given the Badgers just one more chance to tie with sixteen seconds left on the clock. Wilson, finding himself deep in his own territory, threw two passes for a total of sixty-two yards on the final drive. With two seconds left and the ball on the Oregon twenty-five, Wilson opted to spike, hoping to stop the clock in-time for one more play. In what had to be the most anti-climatic finishes to a Rose Bowl, the clock ran out before Wilson could get the ball off. A short official review confirmed the call, and the game was over. Amid a storm of confetti and celebrating Ducks fans, Bielema and his Badgers could be seen walking, heads down, into the locker room.

Wisconsin will now attempt to put the loss behind them. What will haunt the fans and players is how the team found themselves in the Rose Bowl once again. After a 6-0 start, it seemed that the team had national title hopes. They lost a pair of games in the final seconds, picked themselves up and ran the table all the way to the Rose Bowl. We all remember the wins in 1993, and 1999. Fans will soon forget the team that should have gone all the way