OREGON 7/7/7/7 - 28
WISCONSIN 10/7/7/3 - 27
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - History repeated itself on January 1st, 2020 when the Oregon Duck football team survived a thrilling Rose Bowl against the Wisconsin Badgers. The MVPs of the game were both Oregon natives; on offense, Justin Herbert ran for three touchdowns; on defense, Brady Breeze returned a botched punt attempt for a touchdown then forced a turnover in the fourth quarter. Even the sky above Pasadena seemed to favor the Ducks, as they brightened Oregon’s reflective helmets during their Rose Bowl victory, 28 to 27.
Oregon started strong by marching down the field 75 yards to score the first touchdown of the 2020 Rose Bowl. Runs from CJ Verdell, Travis Dye and Justin Herbert helped set up successful passes to Juwan Johnson, Mycah Pittman (in his first game back from an injury suffered against Arizona) and tight end Hunter Kampmoyer to reach the Wisconsin four-yard line. From there Justin Herbert kept the read-option and pushed his way into the end zone.
However, the Badgers countered the early score with a 95-yard touchdown kick return. Then, on Oregon’s first play of their second possession, things went from bad to worse when Justin Herbert was picked off by linebacker Jack Sanborn. But the Duck defense did not disappoint when they made their debut, holding the Badgers to a field goal despite being backed up to the Oregon 27.
After racking up 17 points in the first seven minutes, the game began to slow down as both defenses found their footing. It appeared the Badgers would score again early in the second quarter when they reached the Duck 29-yard line, but Collin Larsh’ 47-yard field goal attempt missed. Oregon’s next possession resulted in their second three-and-out of the match, but two plays later the Duck offense reclaimed the ball when Troy Dye ripped the rock from star running back Jonathan Taylor’s hands and cornerback Deommodore Lenoir snatched the fumble and returned it seven yards.
Unfortunately, the Ducks were unable to turn the fumble into points, as the Badger defense flexed their muscles by stopping an attempt to convert on fourth-and-one. But the Duck D came up big once more by using their oppressive pass rush to force an interception on third-and-six. Thomas Graham Jr. returned the pick 24 yards to the Wisconsin 33, three plays later Justin Herbert scored his second rushing touchdown by stiff-arming past cornerback Rachad Wildgoose from five yards out.
Down by four with 3:16 left before the half, the Badgers put together an eight-play, 53-yard touchdown drive to go up 17 to 14 with 11 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Standout receiver Quintez Cephus brought in the 11-yard touchdown and Oregon elected to bleed out the clock.
The Badgers received the ball to start the second half, and after picking up a first down with a Cephus reception for nine yards the drive stalled out at the Wisconsin 41 due to three consecutive incomplete passes from Jack Coan. Then, the Ducks reclaimed the lead when punter Anthony Lotti fumbled the ball in front of Haki Woods Jr. and Brady Breeze, the latter of which scooped up the ball and returned it 31 yards to go up 21-17.
But Wisconsin proved its toughness by answering Oregon’s score with an 11-play, 65-yard drive in which Jack Coan was a perfect 3-of-3 and Mason Stokke scored a two-yard touchdown on his third consecutive carry. The Badger defense then forced the Ducks to punt after limiting them to just eight yards, and eleven plays later Larsh hit a 27-yard field goal to take a 27-21 lead with 12:09 left in the game.
Things looked dire when Herbert was sacked on 3rd-and-two by Noah Burks, resulting in Oregon’s second straight punt, but Breeze came up with a huge play by stripping the ball from Danny Davis III at the Wisconsin 26-yard line. Bryson Young recovered the ball, then on the very next play, Herbert scored his third rushing touchdown of the evening by juking a Badger defender and utilizing blocks from Johnny Johnson III and Mycah Pittman to move the ball 30 yards for the game-winning score.
Wisconsin’s next drive stalled out at their own 39-yard line, then a bad snap on second-and-three led to another Oregon three-and-out. Down by one point with less than four minutes remaining, Coan and the offense hoped to gather themselves for one final push, but an offensive pass interference from Davis III doomed the drive and gave the Ducks back the ball with 2:30 left in the game. A 12-yard pass to Pittman forced the Badgers to use their final two timeouts, and on third-and-short Juwan Johnson snatched a quick pass and took it 28 yards for the first down and the win.
Oregon celebrated its first Rose Bowl win since the 2014 season in which Marcus Mariota took the Ducks to their second national championship game by dismantling the Florida State Seminoles, 59 to 20.
“Every ounce of sweat, blood, tears; all the stadium workouts — every piece of it was worth it, we're Pac-12 champs, Rose Bowl champs. I'm just proud of the boys.”
- Troy Dye
“We were motivated, ready to get things going, we never took a mental step backwards. We were always thinking about the next play. We persevered through the ups and downs, and we came out on top”
- Johnny Johnson III
Oregon Offense (total: 204 - pass: 138 - rush: 66)
Wisconsin Offense (total: 322 - pass: 186 - rush: 136)
Oregon Defense (forced turnovers: 3 - INT: 1 - FUM: 2)
Wisconsin Defense (forced turnovers: 1 - INT: 1)
UO (12-2) UW (10-4)