Bucky unsuccessful in Rose Bowl

The Wisconsin Badgers football team found themselves on the losing end of the Rose Bowl for the second straight year, falling to Oregon 45-38. Despite a productive day for the Badger offense, coaching errors, mental mistakes and poor defense sunk Wisconsin's hopes of its first Rose Bowl win since 2000.

The two teams combined for 83 points, the most in the long and storied history of the Rose Bowl. Wisconsin found success with its ground-and-pound attack, and Oregon, who at one point had more points than the number of plays they had run, was punishing with its explosive spread offense.

Quarterback Russell Wilson, who finished 19-25 for 296 yards, got the scoring started with a 38-yard strike to Jared Abbrederis, his first of two touchdown passes on the day. Just more than two minutes later, Oregon capped off a seven-play drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by running back LaMichael James, tying the game at seven.

Running back Montee Ball had a major impact on the Badgers' ensuing drive, first breaking five tackles on a 42-yard run, and later caught a 30-yard pass. The long pass set up a 4-yard touchdown run by Wilson, giving Wisconsin a 14-7 edge.

Unable to get anything going offensively, the Badgers were forced to punt on their next possession. Punter Brad Nortman sent a perfect punt downfield, which was downed at the 5-yard line.

Poor field position did not phase Oregon, however, as the Ducks responded two plays later with a 91-yard touchdown run by running back De'Anthony Thomas. The freshman carried the ball only twice in the day, but made it count—rushing for 155 yards and scoring on both carries.

With a 3-yard touchdown run on the Badgers' ensuing drive, Ball tied Barry Sanders' record with 39 touchdowns on the year. The moment and the lead were short lived, as Oregon responded just 16 seconds later to tie the game at 21 apiece.

Each team scored again to tie the game at 28-28 at the half, the highest total first-half score in Rose Bowl history. Unfortunately for Wisconsin, things went downhill from there.

Oregon received the ball to start the second half, and took just three plays to score—a 64-yard run by Thomas.

Despite Abbrederis returning the kickoff to the Oregon 36-yard line, Wisconsin was unable to find the endzone, blew a timeout after lining up wrong and settled for a 29-yard field goal.

Head Coach Brett Bielema wasted the second of the Badgers' three timeouts on the ensuing kickoff, hoping to get the officials to take another look at what he thought should have been a safety, not a touchback. Since Bielema walked onto the field and delayed the game, the officials charged Wisconsin with a timeout. The play stood as called, leaving Wisconsin with only one timeout for the rest of the game.

After forcing a punt, Wilson and the offense were able to regain their stride near the end of the third quarter, and took the 38-35 lead on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to Nick Toon. But less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Oregon took the lead away from the Badgers for good with an 11-yard strike to wide receiver Lavasier Tuinei, and later added a field goal to make the lead 45-38.

With 6:50 remaining, the Badgers regained possession and moved the ball effectively, threatening to score. Wilson found Abbrederis for a 29-yard pass near the sideline in Oregon territory, but as he was hit he fumbled, and the Ducks recovered the ball with 4:06 to play.

With Wisconsin unable to stop the Oregon rushing attack, or the clock, the Ducks moved the chains, and kept the clock running. Eventually, Wisconsin took its third and final timeout to stop the clock, and with 23 seconds remaining, forced the Ducks to punt.

With no timeouts remaining, Wilson and company returned to the field in need of a quick score. After hitting Abbrederis for 29 yards and Toon for 33, the ball was spotted on Oregon's 25-yard line with two seconds on the clock. Instead of running a final play, Wilson attempted to spike the ball in hopes of leaving one second on the clock. However, the clock ran out, and upon further review, the call stood—game over.

Wilson had all of his receivers lined up and ready on the play, and down by a touchdown with only a chance for one last play, it was obvious what they had to do. It's unclear if a lack of preparation for that situation resulted in spiking the ball, or if it was simply a mistake.

More importantly, had Bielema not wasted the first two timeouts of the half, Wisconsin could have had the ball with more time left on the clock. This is not the first time this season Bielema's misuse of timeouts has cost the Badgers—all three Wisconsin losses this season could have been prevented had they been able to better manage the clock. Even as a successful coach, Bielema's mistakes and back-to-back Rose Bowl losses have left fans questioning his leadership and judgment.