I waited the entire beginning and middle of the bowl season to finally take in the New Year's Day spectacle known as the Rose Bowl. This game is known as "the Granddaddy of Them All" and exceeded my expectations in excitement and competitiveness. The Stanford Cardinal were facing off against the Wisconsin Badgers in this year's edition of the game and it was supposed to be a battle of the defenses. That it certainly was.
In the first quarter it looked like the game would end up being an offensive slugfest or at least a complete Stanford massacre. Coach David Shaw drew up a trick play for the opening drive of the game and it resulted in a pass from wide receiver Drew Terrell to fellow wide receiver Jamal-Rashad Patterson for a 34-yard gain. The drive resulted in a 16-yard Kelsey Young scoring run with 11:24 left in the opening quarter. The Stanford offense, led by freshman quarterback Kevin Hogan, knew that if they played well in this game there would be no way they could lose because their defense was just that good. The next time the offense touched the ball, they put it in the end zone again. Star running back Stepfan Taylor culminated the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run. At this point the Badgers decided that they would need to start playing well and now.
With 9:05 remaining in the second quarter, Montee Ball finished off a strong Badger drive with an 11-yard touchdown run. Stanford's next drive resulted in a 47-yard field goal for Jordan Williamson with 6:19 left in the half, but Wisconsin would respond before the halftime whistle. Senior quarterback Curt Phillips hit Jordan Frederick for a 4-yard touchdown and Frederick's first of his career. This came with 0:19 remaining in the first half and was huge for the feeling in the game. It now felt as though the Badgers would have a legitimate chance of playing a good second chance and bringing home the Rose Bowl trophy. Unfortunately for Badger sympathizers this did not occur.
Both defenses really stepped it up in the second half and the only scoring would prove to be a 22-yard field goal by Jordan Williamson with 4:23 left in the game. Led by Chase Thomas and Shayne Skov, the Stanford defense played incredibly in the second half and overall for the entire game. This was a red hot Wisconsin Badger offense they were facing off against. They had to manage the all time touchdowns leader in college football in Montee Ball and watch out for one of the best wide receivers in the Big Ten, Jared Abbrederis. Montee Ball was held to 100 yards on 24 carries and a single touchdown. Abbrederis was held to 44 yards on 3 receptions. On the offensive side for the Cardinal, Stepfan Taylor finished with 88 yards and a touchdown while Kevin Hogan passed for 123 and ran for 54 more. This Hogan kid could be very special some day. Many people around the Stanford program have been comparing him to a less experienced Andrew Luck all season. He sure looked poised in the pocket all game and he knew when to hold the ball and run. There was one pass that he missed which could have put the game away, it went right over the fingertips of Levine Toilolo, a very tall tight end.
A few more observations that I had were that the Stanford defensive line knocked down Phillips' passes time and again. Whether it be Josh Mauro, Henry Anderson, David Parry, or Ben Gardner, the defensive line played very well and Phillips' low release point proved to be problematic. This led me to wonder why interim coach/athletic director/Wisconsin legend Barry Alvarez didn't use Joel Stave more. Stave got in for 1 pass attempt and it was a good one. He threw it right into the hands of Jared Abbrederis in the end zone, but the Badgers most reliable receiver dropped it. Stave should definitely have played more at the very least to give him playing experience going forward into next year. He also is much more of a downfield passing threat than Curt Phillips. This could have stretched the field more for Montee Ball, James White, and Melvin Gordon.
Aside from all this, the Rose Bowl this year was definitely a memorable one and I will be thinking about it for a long time.
No comments:
Post a Comment