The 93rd through 102nd Rose Bowl Games

We chat about nine of the Rose Bowl games played in the 21st century, including the great players and coaches that participated in making Rose Bowl memories. It is the Rose Bowls of 2007 through 2016 and the memories they made.

The 93rd Rose Bowl was played on January 1, 2007, had featured the 10-2 USC Trojans of Pete Carroll against the Michigan Wolverines of Lloyd Carr, who sat at 10-1. The game was tied at halftime, but after the break, the Trojans built an insurmountable lead and coasted to a 32-18 win. Dwayne Garrett caught two John David Booty throws for touchdowns in the contest. For the Game’s most Outstanding players, it was the Offensive award going to Southern Cal wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett. At the same time, the Defensive nod was to his teammate, outside linebacker Brian Cushing.

Dwayne'sWorld 02 Jan 2007, Tue The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, California) Newspapers.com

The 2008 Rose Bowl, the 94th annual game, featured the 7th-ranked USC Trojans hosting the 13th-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini. The Trojans dominated the Illini from the onset of the game building a 21-3 lead by half. The second half went about the same, and the Trojans prevailed 49-17. Quarterback John David Booty was the offensive MVP, and Rey Maualuga, a Trojan linebacker, was selected as the defensive standout.

Mauligas Dominant 02 Jan 2008, Wed The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, California) Newspapers.com

The 95th edition of the Rose Bowl game was a battle between USC Trojans and the Penn State Nittany Lions. Penn State, coached by Joe Paterno sported a 10-1 record, and was ranked 8th in the BCS poll. Pete Carroll’s Trojans were also 10-1, but ranked a tad higher at number 5 in the Bowl Championship Series Poll. This game got out of hand early when Southern Cal rattled off 24 unanswered points in the second quarter. USC Quarterback Mark Sanchez threw for two of these Q2 TDs and ran in another one to help him have a banner day. All in, the Trojan signal-caller scored five touchdowns, one rushing and four passing. Sanchez became just the third Rose Bowl quarterback to pass for more than 400 yards in a game, with 413 yards. The final tally on the scoreboard read USC 38, PSU 24. With the victory USC had won 24 Rose Bowl contests, much more than any other school. In fact, this was thie third straight Rose Bowl win.

The ball game played Friday, January 1, 2010 at the Rose Bowl Stadium was the 96th rendition of the annual gridiron classic. The card featured the 10-2 Ohio State Buckeyes of Head Coach Jim Tressel matched against the mastermind of Coach Chip Kelly and his 10-2 Oregon Ducks. In the BCS the Ducks were ranked number 7 and the Buckeyes were ranked 8th in the nation. This January 1 game was a separate BCS game from the National Championship Game. The Pasadena Tournament of Roses also hosted the 2010 Citi BCS National Championship Game that was held on January 7, more about that one in a moment. Ohio State jumped out to an early 10-0 lead as Oregon had issues with stopping the talent of OSU QB Terrelle Pryor, who later was selected as the game's offensive Most Valuable Player. The Ducks hung in there when their big back, LeGarrette Blount found the end zone from 3-yards out, but they were still down by 6-points at the half. Oregon fought its way back to take a one-point lead in the third quarter on Jeremiah Masoli’s 1-yard TD run. Devin Barclay 38-yard field goal, and later in the fourth quarter, put the Ducks away when DeVier Posey brought in a17-yard scoring pass from Terrelle Pryor and Aaron Pettrey nailed the extra point kick. The final score was 26-17 Ohio State. Pryor as we stated earlier was the MVP on offense after posting a season-high 266 yards and rushing for an additional 72 yards. Oregon defensive end Kenny Rowe was selected as the game's defensive Most Valuable Player after he recorded 3 sacks,tying a Rose Bowl Record.

Dareus Does it 08 Jan 2010, Fri The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) Newspapers.comThe 2010 Citi BCS National Championship Game that was held on January 7, 2010 was also held in the Rose Bowl Stadium. The 13-0 Texas Longhorns of Mack Brown measured themselves against the 13-0 Nick Saban coached Alabama Crimson Tide. The Tide scored 24 unanswered points after falling behind the Longhorns 6-0 early. First the banged up Texas starting signal caller Colt McCoy and then pounded the ‘Horn defense with the talentd running back duo of freshman Trent Richardson and Heisman Trophy winner, Mark Ingram II. Alabama QB Greg McElroy also played a very solid game for Saban. 
Halftime adjustments saw Texas crawl back into the contest as they had closed the Alabama lead to 24–21 on the momentum of two touchdown passes caught by senior wide receiver Jordan Shipley from back-up QB Garrett Gilbert, and a No. 2 ranked defense that had held Alabama scoreless in the third quarter. The Tide turned to their own stingy defense and the power running game as Richardson and Ingram eached punched in ‘Bama TDs int he fourth to provide a final score of 37-21.

The 97th edition of the "Granddaddy of them All," was played on January 1, 2011, between the BCS 3rd, ranked TCU Horned Frogs and the number 5 Wisconsin Badgers. TCU led Head Coach Gary Patterson to an impressive 12-0 record on the season, while the Badgers under Coach Bret Bielema showed an 11-1 mark. This game was close and exciting from start to finish. The scoring was started by Wisconsin in the first quarter when Philip Welch nailed a 30-yard field goal. TCU got on the board when their receiver Bart Johnson corralled a 23-yard pass from Andy Dalton, and Ross Evans added the PAT kick to put the Frogs up by four. Running back John Clay returned the favor with a 1-yard TD run and Welch's extra-point kick. That was responded by the final tally of the 1st quarter as TCU QB Andy Dalton dashed for a 4-yard run to set the scoreboard at TCU 14, Wisconsin 10. In the second quarter, Philip Welch knotted a 37-yard field goal as the first half expired to make it a one-point game at the intermission. The Frogs came out hopping in the 3rd quarter when Luke Shivers took the ball over the goal line on a 1-yard run. Wisconsin responded in the fourth quarter with a Montee Ball 4-yard TD run, but their 2-point conversion attempt fell short of tying the game. TCU held on and won in a thriller 21-19. The offensive MVP named was TCU senior QB, Andy Dalton. The defensive MVP named was TCU junior LB Tank Carder. 

The 98th edition of the Rose Bowl was played on Monday, January 2, 2012. The game featured invitations to the BCS 5th-ranked Oregon Ducks of Head Coach Chip Kelly and the 10th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers of Coach Bret Bielema.
The scoring was frantic in the first half. Wisconsin started the deluge of points on a Jared Abbrederis 38 yd pass from Russell Wilson. Oregon replied when LaMichael James toted the ball into the end zone from 1 yd out. The ever-mobile Badger signal caller Russell Wilson then kept the ball on a 4-yard touchdown jaunt. De'Anthony Thomas tied the game again when he escaped on a 91-yard footrace to pay dirt. Montee Ball put the Badgers up again by 7 with his 3-yard scoring dive. Oregon again responded to tie the game with a Kenjon Barner 54 yd pass from Darron Thomas. Oregon's defense finally stopped the Badgers; however, on their offensive series Wisconsin's Louis Nzegwu scooped and scored on a 33-yard fumble return. The Ducks knotted the score before intermission at 28 when Thomas found Lavasier Tuinei 3 yard TD pass. Oregon took their first lead of the day in the third quarter on a De'Anthony Thomas 64-yard run. The Badgers cut into the lead with the first 3-pointer of the game, a Philip Welch 29 chip shot through the posts. The Badger D stopped the Ducks on the next series and gave the ball back to their offense. They did not disappoint as Nick Toon hauled in an 18-yard pass from Russell Wilson to put the Badgers up by three going into the fourth quarter. The final segment was all Oregon, though as they scored on Lavasier Tuinei 11 yard catch from Darron Thomas and later on Alejandro Maldonado 30 yard field goal, to provide a 45-38 final score and Duck victory. The Offensive MVP selected was Lavasier Tuinei, the WR, Oregon, while his teammate, middle linebacker Kiko Alonso took home the Defensive honors.
This game was record-setting in the lens of Rose Bowl games:

• The 56 combined first-half points were the Most points scored in 1st half of the Rose Bowl
• The 91-yard run by De'Anthony Thomas was the Longest rushing TD in the Rose Bowl's history
• The 83 combined points were the most scored in regulation in the Rose Bowl 
• Most rushing TDs over 60 yards in the Rose Bowl: 2 by De'Anthony Thomas (Oregon)
• Most first downs in the Rose Bowl (both teams): 45

The 99th Rose Bowl, played on January 1, 2013, provided another excellent ball game to viewers. The 8-5 Wisconsin Badgers fought it out with the 11-2 Stanford Cardinal. The Badgers were coached on an interim basis by former Head Coach Barry Alvarez. The Cardinal in turn, had David Shaw in control of their sideline. Stanford jumped out early in this one. Kelsey Young put the Cardinal on the board with his 16-yard TD run, followed up a bit later with Stepfan Taylor's 3-yard scoring rush. Down by two scores entering the second quarter, Badger running back Montee Ball escaped defenders for an 11-yard TD run and Jack Russell PAT kick. That TD by Ball set a Rose Bowl record for him, becoming the first player in Rose Bowl Game history to score a touchdown in three straight years. Stanford's Jordan Williamson banged through a 47-yard field to pad the lead. Wisconsin gained a bit more ground just before the half scoring on a Jordan Fredrick 4-yard pass reception from Curt Phillips to trail by three at intermission. No scoring would occur until a final tally was added in the fourth quarter on Williamson's Stanford 22-yard field goal. That was your final 20-14, as Stanford played well to win it. The Rose Bowl Players of the game were Cardinal running back Stepfan Taylor with 89 rushing yards, 1 TD rushing, and three receptions for 17 yards. On Defense, Stanford DB Usua Amanam Jr.'s stellar play all day, including a pivotal pick on Wisconsin's final possession, sealed the victory.

The Stanford Cardinal football team of Coach David Shaw, with an 11-2 record and ranked fifth, returned to the Rose Bowl the following year to face Coach Mark Dantonio and the 12-1 fourth-ranked Michigan State Spartans in the 100th Rose Bowl New Years’ contest.

This contest came down to the final moments. MSU was leading 24-17 late after Tony Lippett's 25-yard touchdown reception from Connor Cook, and subsequently Michael Geiger's kick was good. The Cardinal cut the Spartan lead when kicker Jordan Williamson split the uprights from 39 yards out. The Staford defense stopped Michigan State’s next drive and got the ball back for their team. Stanford was down and facing a 4th and 1, at the Cardinal 34-yard line. It might have been the game's play when Cardinal QB Kevin Hogan took the snap and handed it to the up-back Ryan Hewitt, who was stuffed for no gain by Spartan linebackers Kyler Elsworth and Darien Harris.   Stanford got another late chance but again turned over the ball on downs for the second time, and Michigan State ran out the clock. Elsworth was named Defensive Player of the Game, and Connor Cook was named Offensive Player of the Game. The final score was Michigan State 24, Stanford 20.