Because of sponsorship by Vizio, the first game in the 2013 edition of the Bowl Championship Series was officially titled the Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio. The contest was televised on ESPN with a radio broadcast on ESPN Radio and XM Satellite Radio, which began at 1:30 p.m. (PST) with kickoff at 2:10 p.m. (PST).
The Rose Bowl Game, themed "Oh, the Places You'll Go!", was a contractual sell-out, with 64,500 tickets allocated to the participating teams and conferences. The remaining tickets went to the Tournament of Roses members, sponsors, City of Pasadena residents, and the general public.
Pre-game activities
The game was presided over by the 2013 Rose Queen Vanessa Manjarrez, the Royal Court (Madison Teodo, Sonia Shenoi, Kathryne Benuska, Nicole Nelam, Tracy Cresta, and Victoria McGregor), Tournament of Roses President Sally Bixby, and Grand MarshalJane Goodall.
After the teams' arrival in Southern California, the teams participated in the traditional Lawry's Beef Bowl in Beverly Hills and the Disney Media Day at Disneyland in nearby Anaheim. The Rose Bowl Hall of Fame ceremony luncheon was held prior to the game at the Pasadena Convention Center.
A USAFB-2 of the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base performed a fly-over at the end of the National Anthem before the game.
Teams
Teams playing in the Rose Bowl game are typically the winners of the Pac-12 and Big Ten conferences (each of which currently determines this by means of a conference championship game), unless one team (or both teams) plays in the BCS National Championship game. The teams were officially selected by the football committee of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association on Selection Sunday on December 2, 2012. Also former ABC college football announcer Keith Jackson announced the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame Class of 2012 inductees John Cooper, Brian Griese and Ron Yary. Both teams held their pre-game practices at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Prior to the game, the two teams had met five times with the Badgers leading the series 4–0–1.
Stanford, representing the North Division in the Pac-12 Football Championship Game, defeated UCLA, the South Division Champions 27–24 to earn a trip to Pasadena.
The Cardinal last played in the 2000 Rose Bowl, also against the Wisconsin Badgers, losing 17–9.
The Cardinal led the Pac-12 Conference in scoring defense (17.5 per game), rushing defense (87.7 yards per game), sacks (56), and kickoff coverage. Running back Stepfan Taylor rushed 302 times for 1442 yards with 12 touchdowns, averaging 110.9 yards per game.
Running backMontee Ball rushed for 1,730 yards and 21 touchdowns on the season. He had nine 100-yard rushing games including two 200-yard rushing performances this season. His career 76 rushing touchdowns and 82 total touchdowns are both NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision records, and his 25 career games with multiple touchdowns equals the previous FBS record of Travis Prentice (who was also the prior holder of the two records broken by Ball). Ball is the 2012 Doak Walker Award winner.
Game summary
Scoring
Stanford 20 Wisconsin 14
First quarter
Stanford – Kelsey Young 16-yard run (Jordan Williamson kick), 11:24
Stanford – Stepfan Taylor 3-yard run (Williamson kick), 6:35
Second quarter
Wisconsin – Montee Ball 11-yard run (Jack Russell kick), 9:05
Stanford – Williamson 47-yard field goal, 6:19
Wisconsin – Jordan Fredrick 4-yard pass from Curt Phillips (Russell kick), :19
Third quarter
None.
Fourth quarter
Stanford – Williamson 22-yard field goal, 4:23
Statistics
Statistics
WIS
STAN
First Downs
17
17
Total offense, plays – yards
69–301
55–344
Rushes-yards (net)
45–218
35–187
Passing yards (net)
83
157
Passes, Comp-Att-Int
10–17–1
13–20–0
Time of Possession
29:52
30:08
Game notes
Phase two of the Rose Bowl renovation was completed in 2012 with one half of the press box and premium suites available for the game.
Wisconsin running back Montee Ball became the first player in Rose Bowl Game history to score a touchdown in three straight years.
No touchdown scored in the second half for the first time since 1958, when Ohio State defeated Oregon, 10–7. (The last first half without a TD was in 2007, when USC and Michigan were tied, 3–3.)
Players of the game: Offense - RB (#33), Stepfan Taylor Sr., Stanford, 20-89, 1 TD rushing (10 long), 3-17 receiving (12 long); Defense - DB (#15), Usua Amanam Jr., Stanford, 3 TT/2 UT; 1 interception (on UW's final position at Stan 42)
Stanford head coach David Shaw became the first African-American head coach to win a Rose Bowl, as well as a BCS game.
