The 2012 Rose Bowl, the 98th edition of the annual game, was a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

played on Monday, January 2, 2012 at the same-named stadium in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

. The

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-12 Conferenc ...

of the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

beat the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin). They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisi ...

of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

, 45–38, for their first Rose Bowl win in 95 years. The

Pasadena Tournament of Roses The Rose Parade, also known as the Tournament of Roses Parade (or simply the Tournament of Roses), is an annual parade held mostly along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California, United States, on New Year's Day (or on Monday, January 2 if New ...

Association was the organizer of the game and dedicated the game in honor of all wounded military personnel, who tossed the game coin by their representative Grand Marshal

J.R. Martinez Jose Rene Martinez (born June 14, 1983) is an American actor, motivational speaker, and former U.S. Army soldier. Starting in 2008, he played the role of Brot Monroe on the ABC daytime drama ''All My Children''. He is the winner of Season 13 ...

. Because of sponsorship by

Vizio Vizio Inc. (stylized as VIZIO) is an American publicly traded company that designs and sells televisions, sound bars, viewer data, and advertising. The company was founded in 2002 and is based in Irvine, California.Lawton, Christopher, Iwatani K ...

, the first game in the 2012 edition of the

Bowl Championship Series The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of American college football, including ...

was officially titled the ''Rose Bowl Game presented by VIZIO''. The contest was televised on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

with a radio broadcast on

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...

and

XM Satellite Radio XM Satellite Radio (XM) was one of the three satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable television. Its s ...

, which began at 1:30 PM ( PST) with kickoff at 2:10 PM (PST). The Rose Bowl Game, themed ''Just Imagine ...'', 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. On September 8, 2011, Executive Director P. Scott McKibben resigned for personal reasons. William B. Flinn, the Tournament’s longstanding chief operating officer, assumed the role of interim executive director.

Pre-game activities

The game was presided over by the 2012 Royal Court and the Grand Marshal,

. Members of the Royal Court are Queen Drew Helen Washington,

Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy is a private, all-girls Catholic high school in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles run by the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose. It is located in La Cañada Flintridge, California, on a campus ne ...

; Sarah Nicole Zuno, Benjamin Franklin High School; Cynthia Megan Louie, La Salle High School; Morgan Eliza Devaud,

La Canada High School LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

; Kimberly Victoria Ostiller,

Flintridge Preparatory School Flintridge Preparatory School, familiarly known as Flintridge Prep or simply Prep, is a coeducational day school for grades 7-12. Founded in 1933, it is located in La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Facilities School facilities inc ...

; Hanan Bulto Worku, Pasadena High School, and Stephanie Grace Hynes,

Maranatha High School Maranatha High School is a private, college preparatory Christian school in Pasadena, California. This co-ed high school opened in 1965. The athletic teams are known as the Minutemen. The school colors are Red, White, and Navy Blue. The school ...

. After the teams' arrival in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

, the teams participated in the traditional

Lawry's Lawry's is an upscale gourmet restaurant chain specializing in prime rib and the brand name of a seasoned salt blend spun off by the restaurant founders that evolved into a food products company today owned by McCormick & Company. The original ...

Beef Bowl in

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...

and the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Media Day at

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...

in nearby

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

. The

Rose Bowl Hall of Fame The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 (New Year's Day) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2. The Rose ...

ceremony luncheon was held on December 31, 2011 at the Pasadena Convention Center. The inductees were

Ron Dayne Ronald Dayne (born March 14, 1978) is a former professional American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. Dayne played college football for the Wisconsin Badgers football, University of Wisco ...

, MVP of the

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and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

games from the University of Wisconsin;

Dick Enberg Richard Alan Enberg (January 9, 1935 – December 21, 2017) was an American sportscaster. Over the course of an approximately 60-year career, he provided play-by-play of various sports for several radio and television networks, including N ...

, former

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

broadcaster; and George Fleming, the

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

co-MVP (with

Bob Schloredt Robert Schloredt (October 2, 1939 – May 16, 2019) was an American football quarterback in the NCAA Division I and CFL and coaching in both the NCAA and World Football League. Early years Schloredt was born in Deadwood, South Dakota in 1939 and ...

, who was inducted in 1991) from the University of Washington.Ron Dayne, Dick Enberg and George Fleming to be Inducted into Rose Bowl Hall of Fame
, Tournament of Roses Association, December 4, 2011 The bands and cheerleaders from both schools participated in the early morning

Rose Parade The Rose Parade, also known as the Tournament of Roses Parade (or simply the Tournament of Roses), is an annual parade held mostly along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California, United States, on New Year's Day (or on Monday, January 2 if N ...

Colorado Boulevard Colorado Boulevard (or Colorado Street in Glendale and Arcadia) is a major east–west street in Southern California. It runs from Griffith Park in Los Angeles east through Glendale, the Eagle Rock section of Los Angeles, Pasadena, and Arcadia, ...

along with the floats, featuring stars and giant helmets, from the two conferences.

Teams

Teams playing in the Rose Bowl game were the winners of the

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

and

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

conference championship games, unless one team (or both teams) play in the

BCS National Championship The BCS National Championship Game, or BCS National Championship, was a postseason college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), first played in the 1998 college foot ...

game. The teams were officially selected by the football committee of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association on Selection Sunday on December 4, 2011. The

, winners of the Pac-12 Championship game, represented the Pac-12 Conference, while the

represented the Big Ten after winning the

Big Ten Championship Game The Big Ten Football Championship Game is a college football game held by the Big Ten Conference each year to determine the conference's season champion. The game, held after the regular season has been completed, matches the division champions f ...

. Entering the game, the Badgers led the series 3–1 over the Ducks, winning in 1977, 1978 and 2000. In 2001, Oregon, coached by

Chip Kelly Charles Edward Kelly (born November 25, 1963) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the UCLA Bruins. He came to prominence as the head coach of the Oregon Ducks from 2009 to 2012, whom he led to four consecutive BCS bowl game a ...

defeated Wisconsin 31–28 at

Autzen Stadium Autzen Stadium is an outdoor American football, football stadium in the Pacific Northwest, northwest United States, in Eugene, Oregon. Located north of the University of Oregon campus, it is the home field of the Oregon Ducks football, Oregon Du ...

Eugene Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

. Both teams had their pre-game practices at the

Home Depot Center Dignity Health Sports Park is a multi-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. The complex consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium, the Dignit ...

Carson, California Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International Airport. Incorporated on February 20, 1968, ...

Oregon

The Ducks were led by

LaMichael James LaMichael Keondrae "LaMike" James (born October 22, 1989) is a former American football running back. He played college football for the University of Oregon and was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft. ...

in scoring with 19 touchdowns and 114 points in 11 games. Oregon was ranked 3rd in the nation in points scored (46.2 points per game) and 5th in rushing yards (295.7). Coming into the game, Oregon had held opponents to 23.6 points per game and allowed 243.5 yards in pass defense and 137.5 yards per game in rush defense. Combining the rushing yardage with the passing offense of 219.5 yards per game, the Ducks had a total offense of 515.2 yards per game.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin, winning 11 games and losing 2 during the season, had the best offense in the Big Ten, scoring 80 touchdowns, 7 field goals for a total of 580 points. Wisconsin was ranked 4th in the nation in scoring (44.6 points per game) and 10th in rushing yards (237.4). The Badgers had limited opponents to just 17 points per game, 155 yards in passing and 138 yards in rushing. The team had passed for 229.5 yards per game for a total offense of 466.9 yards in total offense. Russell Wilson broke the FBS record for overall passer rating in a season.

Game notes

* The game was played on Monday due to the association's policy not to play on Sunday. * Game ticket prices had increased to $175 for seats and $150 each for bench seats (end zones). * Phase one of the Rose Bowl renovation was completed in 2011 with the addition of new video scoreboards and widening of south end tunnels. * Oregon's victory was its first win in the Rose Bowl game since its participation in the 1917 Rose Bowl. * The 83 points scored in this game broke the previous Rose Bowl record of 80 points which had stood for over twenty years (set in the 1991 Rose Bowl). Coincidentally, Wisconsin coach

Bret Bielema Bret Arnold Bielema (; born January 13, 1970) is currently the head American football coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Bielema served as the head football coach at of the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 2006 to 2012 ...

participated in both of these record-setting games, having played for

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

in the 1991 game. This record would be broken in the 2017 Rose Bowl where a total of 101 points were scored.

Game Summary

Scoring summary

Statistics

Records

*Most points scored in 1st half of the Rose Bowl (both teams): 56 points *Longest rushing TD in the Rose Bowl: 91 yards by

De'Anthony Thomas De'Anthony Marquies Thomas (born January 5, 1993) is an American football wide receiver and return specialist for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Dr ...

(Oregon) *Most points scored in regulation in the Rose Bowl (Both teams): 83 points *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

References

{{Wisconsin Badgers bowl game navbox Rose Bowl Rose Bowl Game Oregon Ducks football bowl games Wisconsin Badgers football bowl games Rose Bowl January 2012 sports events in the United States 21st century in Pasadena, California