Jan. 1, 2000
PASADENA, Calif. - Another 200 yards for Ron Dayne, and another RoseBowl victory for Wisconsin.
Dayne had a touchdown and 154 yards in the second half as the No. 4Wisconsin became the first Big Ten team to win consecutive Rose Bowls,defeating Stanford 17-9 Saturday in the lowest-scoring Rose Bowl since 1977.
Dayne, the Heisman Trophy winner, was held to 46 yards in the first half bya Stanford defense that ranked fifth worst in the nation. But he broke loosefor a 64-yard gain on the second play after halftime and scored on a 4-yard runtwo plays later.
"We had a nice talk, a nice little calm talk at halftime, and everybody gotmore motivated," Dayne deadpanned. "I think that really gave us momentum andwe just carried on. It would have been nice if we could have scored some more,so we wouldn't have had to bite our nails at the end."
Wisconsin (10-2) held No. 22 Stanford to minus-5 yards on 27 rushes, a RoseBowl record. The Cardinal (8-4), playing in their first Rose Bowl in 28 years,were held to 259 yards of total offense after averaging 467 per game thisseason.
It was the lowest-scoring Rose Bowl since 1977, when Southern Californiadefeated Michigan 14-6.
"I don't think anyone thought it would be a defensive struggle, but itwas," said Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez, who hobbled up and down the sidelinewith a cane in his first game on the field since knee surgery.
Dayne, who passed 7,000 career rushing yards in the game, joined Washingtonquarterback Bob Schloredt and USC tailback Charles White as winner ofconsecutive Rose Bowl MVP awards. Schloredt won in 1960-61 and White in1979-80.
Dayne, who had 34 carries Saturday, reached 200 yards in three of the fourbowls game in which he played. He finished his college career with 200 yards ormore in four of his final five games.
Brooks Bollinger had a 1-yard TD on a quarterback sneak for Wisconsin andVitaly Pisetsky added a 31-yard field goal. Kerry Carter had a 1-yard scoringrun for Stanford, and Mike Biselli had a 28-yard field goal.
Though the game was listed as a sellout, the attendance of 93,731 was thesmallest Rose Bowl crowd since 1955 - perhaps adding fuel to complaints theBowl Championship Series has diluted interest in other bowls. The BCS showdownfor No. 1 is in the Sugar Bowl this year.
Troy Walters, expected to miss the game after dislocating his right wrist inpractice Tuesday, caught three passes for 52 yards for Stanford. Walters,winner of the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top receiver this season,played with a wrap on the wrist.
"I went from a low to a high. Tuesday and Wednesday were the low points inmy life," Walter said. "The doctors told me I couldn't injure it any further.I felt like I could do enough to help the team. But I couldn't carry the ballin my right arm."
Defensive tackle Willie Howard, who was expected to miss the game with atorn knee ligament, also played for the Cardinal.
But Stanford long snapper Jon Sande missed part of the game with an ankleinjury, and it was costly. Backup Anthony Gabriel had two bad snaps, leading toa missed extra point and a blocked field goal.
Alvarez, on the sideline after spending most of the season in the press boxwhile recovering from knee surgery, said the Badgers were rusty after notplaying since Nov. 13.
"We had a long layoff after that last game, and it took us a little whileto get in a rhythm," he said. "Big 33 (Dayne) got lathered up a little bitand that seemed to help a little."
Each team punted three times in the first quarter. But while Wisconsinfailed to pick up a first down in the period, Stanford ended the quarter withfour straight completions to set up Biselli's field goal early in the secondperiod.
Wisconsin finally got its offense going with a 71-yard drive that led toPisetsky's field goal with 9:19 left before halftime.
After an exchange of punts, Walters' 19-yard reception and a coupleWisconsin penalties helped the Cardinal march 45 yards on a drive capped byCarter's scoring run. Gabriel's high snap foiled the extra point, though,leaving the score at 9-3.
On the second play after halftime, Dayne broke two tackles on his 64-yardrun up the middle to the Stanford 11. Two plays later, he bounced outside tobecome the career Rose Bowl scoring leader with his fifth touchdown.
Dayne, who scored four times in Wisconsin's 38-31 Rose Bowl victory overUCLA last year, also surpassed 7,000 career yards rushing on the play. He hadan NCAA-record 6,397 yards in the regular season, and finished his career with728 yards in bowl games.
Bollinger, who has not lost since becoming Wisconsin's starting quarterbackeight games ago, struggled most of the afternoon - going 7-for-14 for 105yards. But he completed two key passes to backup tight end John Sigmund on afourth-quarter touchdown drive.
Sigmund made a juggling 7-yard catch on fourth-and-2 at the Stanford 32 with8:48 left, then caught a 22-yarder to get to the Cardinal 3. Dayne was stoppedon two runs, but Bollinger scored on a sneak to make it 17-9.
The Badgers had a chance to widen the lead when Dayne ran for 33 yards on a46-yard drive to the Stanford 17, but Pisetsky missed a 33-yard field goal togive Stanford one more chance.
Husak, who was 17-of-34 for 258 yards, completed four straight passes as theCardinal reached the Wisconsin 41, but was sacked on fourth-and-12 to end thecomeback attempt.
By ROB GLOSTER
AP Sports Writer