ESPN.com - NCF/BOWLS99 - Up-and-down year leads to Rose Bowl

Monday, December 20
Stanford, Wisconsin overcame struggles to reach promised land of Pasadena

Associated Press

PASADENA, Calif. -- Early in the season, Rose Bowl berths for Stanford and Wisconsin seemed pipe dreams for both teams.

Ron Dayne
A series of defenses stacked against Wisconsin's run attack hasn't stopped Ron Dayne this year.

After each had a roller-coaster season, however, the Cardinal, with its high-powered passing game, and the Badgers, featuring NCAA career rushing leader Ron Dayne, meet in Pasadena on New Year's Day.

Stanford's campaign began with a 69-17 humbling by Texas, and the Cardinal later was beaten by San Jose State and Washington. But Stanford won when it counted most, going 7-1 in the Pacific-10.

Wisconsin stumbled early, being shocked 17-12 by Cincinnati and losing to Michigan the next game to fall to 2-2. The Badgers then reeled off seven straight victories.

"Stanford reminds me a lot of our football team," Badgers coach Barry Alvarez said Sunday during a conference call.

"They struggled early like we did, but were able to fight through adversity and got stronger. They won a good league and are very good representatives in the Rose Bowl."

Said his Stanford counterpart, Tyrone Willingham: "It has been a very exciting season, with a difficult start but a very exciting finish."

The fourth-ranked Badgers (9-2,7-1 Big Ten) are making their third holiday trip to Pasadena in six years after going 30 years without a Rose Bowl appearance. They beat UCLA in 1994, then repeated with a 38-32 victory over the Bruins last New Year's Day.

No. 22 Stanford (8-3, 7-1 Pac-10) ended a similar drought -- the Rose Bowl is the school's first in 28 years.

"There is a tremendous amount of excitement from everybody at Stanford," Willingham said. "I think it's well-documented that we have one of the finest overall sports programs in the country, and everyone feels excited that football is joining the school's other champions.

"I think that feeling is heightened by the fact that we are fortunate enough to have alumni across the country in every sector."

Alvarez said that, while Wisconsin going to the Rose Bowl hasn't exactly become old hat with the fans, "There is probably not as much as excitement as there was after 1994, when everybody was surprised, after we had gone 30 years without going to the game; I think everybody was shocked.

"But last year people were excited, and they're excited this year. The atmosphere we had when we played Iowa, when Ron Dayne broke the NCAA rushing record and we clinched the Rose Bowl, I've never been in an atmosphere that was more electric and exciting. A lot of that had to do with our clinching it."

Stanford will have to try to figure out a way to contain Dayne, whose total of 6,397 rushing yards topped Ricky Williams former record by 118 yards. The 253-pound Dayne ran for 246 yards and four touchdowns against UCLA in the 1999 Rose Bowl.

"He's just one of the best backs to play in a long time," Willingham said. "He has the size, speed and ability to anticipate running lanes. That's what really separated him from the rest of the backs in the country.

"I think his teammates rally around him, give him all their physical and moral support."

Wisconsin, meanwhile, must concern itself with containing Stanford's air attack, directed by quarterback Todd Husak.

"It reminds of last year in the Rose Bowl. UCLA runs more bootlegs and rollouts, but both the offenses are home run hitters in the passing game," Alvarez said, adding that Stanford's Troy Walters is an outstanding wide receiver.

"Troy Walters is, if not the best, one of the best in the country, a home run threat at all times. Everybody knows he has the potential to hit home runs, but he still does it," the Wisconsin coach said.

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	A series of defenses stacked against Wisconsin's run attack hasn't stopped Ron Dayne this year.