PASADENA, Calif. – There were certainly moments to shout "conspiracy" at the television screen: a bad spot on a third-down run near the goal line and one of the biggest calls coming in the final four minutes on a questionable offensive pass interference penalty on Danny Davis.
Those come on deaf ears to the somber members of the University of Wisconsin football team, especially when they knew that they were in control and let a winnable game slip away because of their own mistakes.
“It came down to turnovers and that sucks, but that’s the truth,” said Davis, whose fourth-quarter fumble led to No. 6 Oregon’s game-winning touchdown in a 28-27 victory over No. 8 Wisconsin in the 106th Rose Bowl. “We’ve got to limit them, carry the ball and hold it high and tight and finish it into the ground. I thought we played good, other than turnovers and unforced errors.”
Cover the score and the final stat sheet would lead the reader to believe that the Badgers won this football game. Wisconsin (10-4) ran 21 more plays than the Ducks (12-2) and out-gained them by 118 yards, including 70 on the ground. The Badgers held the ball for 38 minutes, three seconds, more than 16 minutes more than their opponents.
The difference was – as Davis said - the turnovers, as the Badgers’ three fumbles and an interception led to 21 of the Ducks’ 28 points.
“Possibly slim chance you could win, but definitely put you in a tough position when you have self-inflected penalties, special teams problems, turnovers,” said tailback Jonathan Taylor, who had one of the fumbles. “But when you're playing an elite team like Oregon, a great team like that, they'll capitalize on those mistakes. I think that was the biggest part on us, is understanding we should have had to clean things up. You can't expect a win (over) a burst team like Oregon, with turnovers, penalties, special teams issues. I think that played a factor with everything, not playing clean Wisconsin football.”
The turnovers started to come in bunches in the second quarter. Taylor committed the game’s first fumble when he was hit at the UW 42, but the Badgers survived unscathed when linebackers Noah Burks and Chris Orr stopped Oregon tailback CJ Verdell cold on fourth-and-1 at UW 27.
Wisconsin wasn’t as fortunate the rest of the night. Quarterback Jack Coan threw just his fifth interception of the season when he badly misfired wide of receiver Quintez Cephus, resulting in more prime field position for Oregon at the UW 33. This time, the Ducks scored three plays later.
“I think I moved a little bit and kind of got off balanced as I was throwing,” Coan said. “I got to put that on him.”
The final two fumbles led to the same result. Unable to parlay momentum from a late first-half touchdown to start the second half, Wisconsin compounded the problem when punter Anthony Lotti muffed his drop. He was unable to recover the mistake, and the Ducks were gifted a 31-yard scoop and score. Still, for the third time on the night, the Badgers answered the Ducks touchdown with one of their own. Unfortunately, they needed to do it four times.
Starting to get some momentum with Taylor running, Wisconsin called Davis’ number on an end around. The result was another lost fumble and another touchdown, as quarterback Justin Herbert scrambled for a 30-yard touchdown shortly thereafter that capped the scoring.
“Whenever you're playing a good team, you shoot yourself in the foot too many times, it makes it harder and harder to win,” Orr said. “But at the end of the day, still need to find a way to overcome that.”
It wasn’t just putting the ball on the ground either. Wisconsin twice had to settle for field goals after starting the possession at the Oregon 27 and a fourth-quarter field goal when a drive stalled at the nine. Wisconsin committed nine penalties for 79 yards. One was a holding call that wiped out a first down in the red zone, a drive that ended with a missed 47-yard field goal.
“Those are opportunities, and you just have to kind of keep finding ways, and we didn't,” Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst said “But all those are big. We're driving. We get a penalty. J.T. has a nice run and we get a penalty and didn't overcome that. We didn't overcome ourselves.”
The Badgers were also given a dose of bad luck. Down to what turned out to be their last chance, Coan completed a 9-yard pass to Jake Ferguson on third-and-6, only to see it wiped out by an offensive pass interference call on Davis. Veteran NFL referee Terry McAulay said on social media it was a bad call, while Davis was more diplomatic.
“I was in the boundary, worked closer to the sideline so I didn’t really have much to work with,” Davis said. “I just wanted to work my release and get up the field. He kind of clinched into my shoulder pads, and I just kept running. I am not sure if they thought I was pushing off or setting a pick. I’m kind of confused on what the call was, but refs make calls and you have to live with it. That’s what I have to do.”
That was the realization in the red-eyed locker room, as well, living with a result that has become commonplace for Wisconsin in its last four trips to Southern California.
