NCAA Football 2013: The Rose Bowl Game - Stanford vs. Wisconsin

Stanford def. Wisconsin 20-14

Offensively, Stanford owned the first quarter. Offensively, Wisconsin owned the second quarter. The second half, though, was completely dominated by defensive players on both sides. It wasn't pretty if you like high-flying offenses, but it was more of a purists game, with a grand total of three points scored in the second half. Style points? Not here. Hard-nosed defensive football? Yeah, there was plenty of that. And it was good.

For those who thought that the Big Ten defense would be too slow against Stanford's running game...well, the Badgers did a pretty solid job of keeping Stephan Taylor to 88 yards and a TD on 20 attempts.  For those who thought that a 5-loss Big Ten champion would be blown out by a battle-hardened Stanford Cardinal outfit...well, it was a close game. It went right down to the wire. Wisconsin were moving the football pretty well on that last drive, before the game-ending interception. 

Despite Wisconsin's loss, people should take note that they weren't blown out by the Cardinal. They played a good game defensively, but there were a few times I wondered what was going on as far as play calling went. We saw QB Joel Stave just for one play - a throw that was spilled out the back of the endzone - and were informed that the middle of the three quarterbacks to start for Wisconsin this year would be in the game in various situations. Apparently, those situations didn't come to fruition. Some of those missed third down opportunities on QB Curt Phillips' arm might've been converted by way of Stave's stronger throwing ability. 

Yet they were not, and Stanford are the 2013 Rose Bowl Game champions. A well-deserved title that not many people expected this year. It was meant to be a year for rebuilding the program, with all the talent - including QB Andrew Luck, now headed to the NFL playoffs with the resurgent Indianapolis Colts - that was lost on both sides of the football. But David Shaw's squad persevered, and came on late, beating Oregon once, and UCLA twice, the last time in the Pac-12 Championship. And now, on the first day of the new year, they're Rose Bowl Game champions.