Badger Fans Turn Up Volume; Bruin Offense Turns to Worms

The Rose Bowl game Friday was played in the home of the Wisconsin Badgers, right?

How else do you explain the crowd noise that drowned out UCLA quarterback Cade McNown’s audibles, forced him to burn a couple of timeouts and cost the Bruins a touchdown that, considering they lost by seven, 38-31, could have cost them the game.

There were other factors, of course. Wisconsin tailback Ron Dayne ran for 246 yards and four touchdowns, freshman cornerback Jamar Fletcher returned an intercepted pass 46 yards for a touchdown, freshman defensive tackle Wendell Bryant sacked McNown to end UCLA’s final threat.

But when the Amateur Athletic Foundation passed around ballots for the player of the game, I didn’t think any of them deserved to be better than runner-up. Wisconsin’s fans won this game.

It wasn’t the first time. They are famous for serving as the 12th man at home games, which, make no mistake about it, this was for the Badgers. You might have thought you saw the San Gabriel Mountains in the background, a stadium that looked strikingly similar to the Rose Bowl and the Bruins in their powder blue home jerseys, but this game had to have been at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.

For one thing, there’s no chance Wisconsin fans would be dense enough to show their faces again in Pasadena after what happened to them when the Badgers played UCLA in the 1994 Rose Bowl.

Didn’t they know “The Grifters” was filmed in Pasadena? We took their money, promised them tickets to the game and, when they showed up to collect them, we didn’t deliver so much as an apology. After traveling halfway across the country, many of them had to watch the game on television in their motel rooms.

Then we put them on a bus back home and said, “See ya, rubes.”

We didn’t figure we ever would again.

But the Bruins did, although, mostly, they heard them.

There might not have been a sea of red as there was when the two teams met in 1994. It was a pretty good-sized lake, though. Of the 93,872 fans, easily more than half wore Wisconsin colors.

Each of them cheered loud enough for two. If you had put a noise meter on the field, they would have at least equaled the sound of the Navy F-14 jets that flew over at the end of the national anthem.

At least that’s what it sounded like to McNown and his offensive teammates as they drove toward what appeared would be a touchdown early in the third quarter that would enable them to cut into the Badgers’ 31-21 lead.

But on first and goal at the Wisconsin six, staring into the Badgers’ Big Ten-leading defense and, more troublesome, the Wisconsin fans behind the north end zone, McNown couldn’t be heard as he tried to call an audible.

“I guess I should have called a timeout,” McNown said later, forgetting that he did call a timeout.

Maybe he meant he should have called another timeout. After the Bruins regrouped, several still couldn’t hear as McNown called another audible. One of them was tailback DeShaun Foster, who zigged when McNown zagged and couldn’t recover in time to catch the pitch. The Badgers recovered the fumble at the two.

“It did get loud down at the end zone,” UCLA Coach Bob Toledo said. “I’d say their crowd played a big part in that particular play. That was the nail that got the coffin going.”

It closed a little tighter the next time the Bruins had the ball, when they again drove deep into Wisconsin territory and, on first and 15 from the 18, had to call another timeout because of the crowd noise.

“Cade was getting a little fed up,” Fletcher, the Wisconsin cornerback, observed.

Although the Bruins eventually scored on that drive to cut the lead to three points, they were left with only one timeout for the fourth quarter.

Repeating a cliche that is heard from road teams whose ears are still ringing from the crowd noise, UCLA wide receiver Danny Farmer said the Wisconsin fans inspired the Bruins.

“I thought they really helped us,” he said. “It just added to the challenge. I love to play in front of the opposing fans.”

Finally, he conceded, “All around, it was a plus for Wisconsin.”

No one, with the possible exception of Dayne, had an easier job than Wisconsin’s cheerleaders.

“Our crowd was just into it,” Fletcher said. “You could tell by the look on their [the Bruins’] faces, they were asking, ‘Why is this happening?’ and ‘When is this going to stop?’ ”

It wasn’t going to, at least not for an hour after Bryant sealed the victory with his sack of McNown. The Wisconsin fans remained in the stadium, danced and sang their fight songs, including one to the tune of the Budweiser song (“When you say Wisconsin, you’ve said it all!”).”

Give them the loving cup as the most valuable players and pray it doesn’t tarnish when they fill it with, uh, Wisconsin.

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Randy Harvey can be reached at his e-mail address: randy.harvey@latimes.com