HeldNews.com -PASADENA - You win the Rose Bowl, you go 13-0, you've already been to Disneyland, so all TCU has to do next is talk about winning the national championship, right?
The Horned Frogs knocked down a 2-point conversion pass and knocked mammoth Wisconsin down to size in a momentous 21-19 Rose Bowl victory Saturday.
Whether they knocked down a barrier for all those schools that had never been there before isn't even up for debate in their minds.
"I don't even care about the national championship right now," TCU defensive end Wayne Daniels said. "I'm just living in the moment."
The moment started after linebacker Tank Carder swatted away Wisconsin's last gasp, a pass from quarterback Scott Tolzien on the conversion that could have tied the score with 2 minutes left.
Then came the first down that sealed the victory, and the banners that flew in the north end of the stadium that proclaimed "2010 PERFECT SEASON 13-0."
The Mountain West Conference champions, who spent all season on the brink of bursting the BCS bubble, wanted no more than that.
"We want our chance, but I think the Rose Bowl was our chance," said TCU coach Gary Patterson, who served as defensive coordinator at Cal Lutheran University in 1987.
"This was our bowl game. Until we have a better way of doing it - but you know, it's a lot of fun. You have three teams now that are still undefeated in college football."
And there will stillbe two, including TCU, after Oregon and Auburn go at it in the BCS Championship game next week.
But before TCU's first appearance in the Rose Bowl is overlooked in the history books, the Horned Frogs will apparently to be happy with taking out co-Big Ten Conference champion Wisconsin (11-2) with a gritty effort that would make any Big Ten coach envious.
Never mind Ohio State president E. Gordon Gee said the likes of TCU would never be able to withstand the week-in, week-out
TCU's Tank Carder (43) blocks a two-point conversion pass by Wisconsin's Scott Tolzien (16) with three minutes left that would have tied the score, allowing the Horned Frogs to keep their 21-19 lead. (Keith Birmingham/Staff Photographer)
rigors of the Big Ten, instead enjoying a schedule that included "the Little Sisters of the Poor" among the non-automatic qualifying conferences for BCS bowls. "The Big Brothers of the Rich," the Big Ten, went 0-5 in bowl games Saturday.
TCU took the smack of Wisconsin's brute force right on the kisser on the opening drive but managed to hold the Badgers to a field goal.
Then they traded shots and emerged from the first quarter with a 14-10 lead, still held a 14-13 halftime lead and never wavered until the final minutes, when they ultimately emerged unscathed.
To be sure, the Wisconsin ground game churned out 226 yards and averaged 4.9 yards per rush. The Badgers limited TCU to 301 total yards and held a 12<MD+,%30,%55,%70>1/<MD-,%0,%55,%70>2-minute advantage in time of possession.
But TCU didn't turn the ball over, scored the one touchdown it needed in the second half and made the play it needed on the 2-point conversion.
It came after Wisconsin drove 77 yards, all but 10 on the ground, and scored on a 4-yard run by tailback Montee Ball.
But instead of sending in three or so more tight ends to beef up for one final run at the tie, the Badgers almost had TCU's defenders choking on their barbecue when they elected to go to the shotgun with five receivers.
"We came out ready for the run and they didn't run it," Carder said, "so I guess that's their fault."
As Carder got the call from Patterson to blitz from the strong side, Tolzien took aim at wide open receiver David Gilreath.
"I was definitely on a blitz," Carder said. "We thought they were going to run. Coach Patterson put me on a blitz and I got blocked, so I stepped back and (Tolzien) cocked his arm and I jumped up and swatted it down. It felt good."
Really, a pass from a team that brutalized opponents - including TCU much of the game - with old-fashioned Midwest smashmouth football went to the spread offense used by so many teams? Like, for instance, TCU in practice every day?
Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema defended the play selection that went through offensive coordinator Paul Chryst.
"On the 2-point, that was something we saw
Wisconsin's Montee Ball dives for a fourth-quarter touchdown that cut the Badgers' deficit to two points. (Scott Varley/Staff Photographer)
on film, and obviously the guy was open," Bielema said. "But you've got to get the defender's arms down in that situation. Hindsight is 20/20. I felt confident with the call, Paul felt confident, and we went with it." That decided the game.
What happened at the end of the first series of the game also had a lasting impact.
On the first play, Ball - who rushed for 132 yards on 22 carries - went for 40 yards and the Badgers reached the 15-yard line before bogging down and settling for a 30-yard field goal from Philip Welch.
"I figured that was their best shot," Daniels said. "After that first drive, we settled down real big. We just started playing the game the way we know how to play."
TCU answered with a 77-yard drive and took a 7-3 lead on Andy Dalton's 23-yard pass to Bart Johnson. Wisconsin came right back and John Clay's 1-yard gave the Badgers another lead at 10-7.
But TCU made it the highest-scoring first quarter in Rose Bowl history on Dalton's 4-yard scoring run and it was 14-10.
Welch went 1 for 2 on field goal tries in the second quarter, kicking a 37-yarder as time expired.
But TCU regained control on the opening drive of the second half, thanks to a pass interference penalty, a 33-yard pass from Dalton to running back Ed Wesley and a 12-yard run by Matthew Tucker. Luke Shivers scored on a 1-yard run to give TCU a 21-13 lead.
"We knew we had to take advantage of our opportunities because Wisconsin's got such a great run offense, and they can run the clock," Dalton said. "So that's kind of the attitude we took in the second half.
"We have to take advantage, keep moving the ball, and we were able to get the win off that."
And that's all they wanted.
"Just because we're a non-AQ team, we can play," Daniels said, "just like everyone else can play."