PASADENA, Calif. — The view was still a sight to behold, the same as it has been for 99 years: the sun setting on the San Gabriel Mountains in the distance as the Rose Bowl champion was about to be decided. But this year's meeting devolved into something familiar for Barry Alvarez: brawn, bruises and punts. A lot of punts.
Alvarez's 16 seasons as Wisconsin's coach, a College Football Hall of Fame induction, a previously perfect 3-0 Rose Bowl record, his vintage red sweater vest and timeless sunglasses did not count for much on Tuesday. Not against Stanford, a program that flexed its staying power, slowly wearing out the Badgers, 20-14.
After Stanford's first Rose Bowl win since 1972 and Wisconsin's third Rose Bowl loss in three years, the grass was worn, marked with fresh divots, and the ground was lumpy, somewhat like Play-Doh. For Stanford (12-2), at least, it had been fun.
"We do what we do, man," said Cardinal linebacker Shayne Skov, eye black smeared on his face.
"We play defense, we run the ball, we blitz, we tackle, we play physical, we run the ball," he said, repeating himself. "When we do it the right way, and we communicate and don't make mistakes, it looks great."
Yet Stanford, ranked eighth, jumped to a 14-0 lead by taking chances. Wisconsin (8-6) trailed, 17-14, at halftime. By the second half, fatigue set in, and a tug of war ensued between each team's star running back, Wisconsin's Montee Ball and Stanford's Stepfan Taylor.
At first, though, the game was thrilling. Sensing Wisconsin would be overzealous, Stanford ran what Coach David Shaw considered "razzle-dazzle" plays, a double-reverse wide receiver pass for 34 yards on its first drive, and a 43-yard play-action pass to tight end Zach Ertz on its second drive. Both drives ended in touchdowns. The excitement mostly ended there.
Ball, the N.C.A.A. record-holder for career touchdowns (83), broke free for an 11-yard touchdown, and Wisconsin quarterback Curt Phillips ignited another touchdown drive with a 38-yard scamper, but the Badgers moved the ball slower than the Cardinal, just like Alvarez's teams of old.
Wisconsin seniors had pleaded for Alvarez, the athletic director, to step in for Bret Bielema, who had left for Arkansas, to coach them in the Rose Bowl. Alvarez hired Utah State Coach Gary Andersen but decided to take Bielema's place for the bowl game. Six assistants who will move on to new jobs stayed to assist Alvarez.
Even with Bielema gone, there had been hope.
"Winning this game would've erased everything, all the bad stuff that happened to us this season, but we fell short," Ball said afterward, shaking his head.
Ball did his part, rushing for 100 yards on 24 carries. His counterpart, Taylor, had 88 yards and a touchdown and was named the offensive player of the game.
Back and forth he and Taylor went in the second half, disappearing in a mosh pit of red and white bodies, out of sight to gain their yards. Not many came in the third quarter, when there were three total first downs and seven punts between the two teams.
"I come from a high school where we ran the spread offense and it was just deep ball, deep ball, deep ball — that's boring to me," said Stanford's fifth-year senior center, Sam Schwartzstein. Referring to the Cardinal's former star quarterback, he continued: "You can ask Andrew Luck. He thinks that's boring too. This is real football, grindstone. That's how it's supposed to be played."
Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan had done "just enough," on those first two drives, said Stanford's offensive coordinator, Pep Hamilton. He handed the ball off 27 times — 20 to Taylor — and threw just 19 passes for 123 yards. It was Hogan's 54 rushing yards that were crucial, Shaw said, in a game where yards were scarce.
Finally, in the fourth quarter, Hogan led a grueling 11-play, 51-yard drive that ended in a 22-yard field goal, padding Stanford's lead as darkness fell.
Already, some of the Rose Bowl's shine had faded. Pundits, and surely conventional wisdom, thought Wisconsin somewhat unworthy of a Rose Bowl berth, having lost five games this season. Because Penn State and Ohio State were ineligible, Wisconsin played in the Big Ten championship and whipped Nebraska, 70-31.
So this Rose Bowl was billed as brawn versus brawn. The opponents looked and played the same. Hamilton had remarked that he considered his offensive linemen "playmakers." And Alvarez warned: "Better bring your big-boy pads."
Wisconsin was within a touchdown, driving near midfield, when Phillips's pass was tipped and intercepted by Usua Amanam with 2 minutes 3 seconds left.
The struggle had ended, and the San Gabriel Mountains were no longer visible in the night.
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