Current Badgers Know Tradition, Lore of Rose Bowl

MADISON -- Jake Ferguson has heard a thing or two, or honestly much more, about the experiences of the Rose Bowl.

Of course, the tight end and second-leading receiver for Wisconsin is the grandson of former head coach and current athletic director Barry Alvarez, who guided the program to three victories in “The Granddaddy of Them All” in 1994, 1999 and 2000.

“It’s not really just been the whole week. It’s been my whole life,” Ferguson said on Dec. 19.

With a smile across his face, Ferguson quickly transitioned to imitate his grandfather.

‘“Got to get to the Rose Bowl. Rose Bowl’s the greatest thing ever. Gonna love Pasadena,’ and that was when I was like 10 [years old],” Ferguson said.

“Just knowing that and just kind of growing up with him talking about it all the time, it’s kind of special for us to be able to get this opportunity to play.”

Ferguson has seen the first hand experience of the Rose Bowl as part of Alvarez’s family before he even stepped foot inside Camp Randall Stadium as a player. When asked if there his favorite story he heard growing up about the game that Alvarez likes to tell, he pointed to one that he believes came at the 2013 Rose Bowl, a loss to Stanford. In that game, Alvarez came back to coach the team after Bret Bielema bolted for Arkansas.

“I mean he tells them all the time, every single one of them, but I’ve heard them all about 100 times," Ferguson said. "I think my favorite one is the one where I cried. Obviously not in the moment, but I think looking back on it and just never seeing my grandpa yell or raise his voice. That definitely was one of the memories that I’m going to remember."

Ferguson's family legacy appears intertwined with the Rose Bowl, but for other Badgers on this team, they know the importance of what this particular game means to the program and how it could write the final chapter of this 2019 season.

“We have reunions here for the Rose Bowl champions. It’ll solidify your legacy as a class, as a team. That’s exactly what you want,” inside linebacker Chris Orr said last week. “Everybody here holds the Rose Bowl to a higher accord than any other bowl game unless you’re in the playoffs -- well like now, but before it wasn’t that way. Anyway, it would definitely solidify a legacy.”

Even with the College Football Playoff now in place with the top four teams in the nation contending annually for the nation championship, the Rose Bowl still ranks as one of the highly coveted New Year’s Six games when it does not host a national semifinal.

Officially, Wisconsin holds a 3-6 record when playing in Pasadena for this particular bowl game, losing its first three New Year’s Day matchups in 1953, 1960 and 1963. Then under Alvarez, the program won its next three appearances over 30 years later in 1994, 1999 and 2000.

Under Bielema, the Badgers clinched three consecutive Rose Bowl berths. However, they fell to TCU, Oregon and Stanford during the 2011, 2012 and 2013 contests, respectively -- losing these trio of games by a combined 15 points. The current New England Patriots assistant left the program for Fayetteville between the Big Ten Championship game win and bowl game in December 2012, and Alvarez took over head coaching duties for the 20-14 loss to the Cardinal.

“When you come in and when you’re recruited here, they make sure you know the history and understand what the Rose Bowl and Wisconsin is all about,” outside linebacker Zack Baun said on Dec. 19. “Then when you’re here they tell you stories about how it was when they were there, different events, Disneyland and all this and that, then the rivalry, kind of rivalry between the Big Ten and Pac-12 as well.”

For those that have won -- the 1993 squad who tripped up UCLA and the 1998-1999 teams who upended the Bruins (again) and Stanford -- players returned to Madison the past two seasons to celebrate their respective anniversaries. Two hold places on the current staff.

Current offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Joe Rudolph locked down one of the guard spots for the ‘93 Badgers, and head football strength and conditioning coach Ross Kolodziej played for UW from 1997-2000.

“Coach 'K' is on staff here,” Orr said. “Not too long ago, this season actually, it was a reunion for his team that won the Rose Bowl so everybody knows about it. We talk about that, wanting to be able to come back and see each other in 25 years, 10 years, whatever it is, and talk about this special season, that special game.

“It’s a historic game so it would be an honor. It’s a privilege to even just play in it first of all, and it would be truly special to come out on top.”

Though coming to Wisconsin from Sayville, N.Y., junior quarterback Jack Coan admitted he would watch the Rose Bowl. In fact, a former coach -- one not teaching him the ins and outs of football -- foretold of the signal caller playing in Pasadena.

“I told one reporter already, but one of my old lacrosse coaches would always go to the Rose Bowl, and he used to tell me that one day he was going to come watch me play at the Rose Bowl,” Coan said last week. “This was before even when football was going to be a thing, so pretty amazing.”

Like Orr, Coan mentioned the old teams returning to be honored and celebrating their place, something he hopes he and his current teammates will be able to do years from now.

"You see the old Rose Bowl teams coming back and visiting here," Coan said. "It’d be pretty special if we could win the Rose Bowl, and then 20 years from now we come back and revisit this place and all get together and be one of those teams that Wisconsin football looks up to.”

Update, Jan. 8: According to an article by the Wisconsin State Journal's Colten Bartholomew, Alvarez's speech came before the Rose Bowl game. Based on that and audio from player availability on Dec. 19, AllBadgers.com has updated this article to correct it.