Wisconsin’s Montee Ball assesses his Rose Bowl firsts and losses

Wisconsin running back Montee Ball had 100 yards rushing against Stanford on Tuesday, making him the first to gain 100 or more yards in three Rose Bowl games.

His 11-yard second-quarter touchdown run made him the only player to score a touchdown in three Rose Bowls.

But Ball could have done without another first . He became the first to gain 100 or more yards rushing and score a touchdown in three Rose Bowls and lose all three.

“Yeah, this is not the way I want to be remembered,” Ball said. “I felt like I did a great job of leading the team through adversity this season and, in past seasons, a great job of capitalizing on big plays. This is a very unfortunate situation for us.”

Ball did add to his NCAA record with his 83rd touchdown. He finished the season with 1,830 yards rushing.

“This one stings,” Ball said. “It stings because we fell short, extremely short, when we had the opportunity to win.”

MVPs

Stanford’s Stepfan Taylor was named the offensive player of the game. He had 88 yards rushing and scored on a three-yard run in the second quarter.

“Coming in, we knew it was going to be just grinding it out, grinding it out and hoping for the big one,” Taylor said.

The big one never came for Stanford … just a lot of little ones.

The last running back to gain less than 100 yards and be named player of the game was USC’s Sam Cunningham, who had 38 yards rushing against Ohio State in the 1973 game. Cunningham scored four touchdowns against the Buckeyes.

Stanford’s Usua Amanam was named the defensive player of the game. Amanam’s interception with 2:03 left clinched the victory.

“I don’t think one play wins any game,” Amanam said. “I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

Three-peat

Wisconsin becomes the third team to lose three consecutive Rose Bowls, joining California (1949-50-51) and Michigan (1977-78-79).

Luck of the … Cardinal

The Cardinal never got to the Rose Bowl with quarterback Andrew Luck, who was the first overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft. Not many gave Stanford a chance to get there without him.

“It served as motivation for us throughout the year,” Amanam said. “A couple years ago we lost [running back] Toby Gerhart. A couple years ago we lost Coach [Jim] Harbaugh. This year we lost Andrew Luck.

“I think it’s a testament to our program and how we train and how we prepare each week.”

Like father, like son

Former Michigan quarterback Brian Griese has joined his dad, Bob, in the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame. Brian was inducted this year along with Coach John Cooper and USC lineman Ron Yary.

Brian Griese led Michigan to the 1997 Associated Press title with a win over Washington State in the 1998 Rose Bowl.

Bob Griese, the former Purdue and Miami Dolphins quarterback, was a 1992 Hall of Fame Inductee. Griese led Purdue to a win over USC in the 1967 Rose Bowl.

Cooper is the only coach to lead Pac 12 and Big Ten schools to Rose Bowl victories. He led Arizona State to a 1987 win and Ohio State to a win over Arizona State in 1997.

Yary was a standout lineman for USC in the 1960s, playing in the 1967 and ’68 Rose Bowl games. Yary was the first USC player to win the Outland Trophy and was the No.1 pick in the 1968 NFL draft. He played 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and year, 1982, with the Rams.

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