Pasadena, Calif.–It wasn’t pretty, but Stanford proved yet again that its “Blue Collar” style of play is as efficient as ever with a grinding 20-14 win over Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl on Tuesday.
It’s been a while since the Cardinal has come out on top in the Granddaddy of Them All—41 years to be exact. Tomorrow on New Year’s Day, No. 6 Stanford (11-2, 8-1 Pac-12) finally has the chance to end that drought as it squares off against Wisconsin (8-5, 4-4 Big Ten) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
Multiplicity was the theme from Wisconsin defensive coordinator Chris Ash when he was asked to describe Stanford’s offense during the Badgers’ defensive press conference on Friday.
Stanford defensive coordinator Derek Mason and five Cardinal defenders held sessions with the media on Thursday before the team began practices for Tuesday’s Rose Bowl against Wisconsin.
Five stats that have defined the Wisconsin football season, and could very well define the upcoming Rose Bowl.
Five stats that have defined the Stanford football season, and could very well define the upcoming Rose Bowl.
Stanford’s Stepfan Taylor and Wisconsin’s Montee Ball have combined for 9,252 career rushing yards, the largest total for two starting running backs the history of the Rose Bowl. The previous record, set by Ball and James last year, was a measly 8,069 yards, and this will be just the fourth Rose Bowl in the last 40 years to feature two tailbacks who have combined for at least 7,000 over their careers.
The myriad memories from my first Rose Bowl trip in 1999 are vivid to this day, fresher in my mind than my Bar Mitzvah, my high school graduation or even the EE problem set I did last week. And now we get to make some new ones.