Rose Bowl / Wisconsin 21, UCLA 16 -- Wisconsin `Red Sea' -- Badger Fans Turn Rose Bowl Into Home Field

PASADENA, Calif. - UCLA learned yesterday what a lot of Big Ten teams have come to know on New Year's Day - it's tough to play a road game in a hostile environment.

When the Bruins got to Pasadena yesterday, they were directed to the visitors locker room instead of the one they've used at the Rose Bowl since 1982. They were given the white jerseys they usually wear in places such as Pullman, Seattle and Tucson.

Then they walked onto the field and found themselves in the Red Sea.

The Rose Bowl was a huge red quilt with tiny flecks of blue and white. It was West Wisconsin. There were 101,237 in the stands and at least 70,000 of them were Badgers fan. The refrain "Let's go Badgers" will ring in Bruin ears until Valentine's Day.

Their 21-16 loss will go down as a home game in name only.

"I told the players when we walked onto the field, `Isn't Camp Randall (the Badgers home field) painted up beautifully today?' " Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez said.

Terry Donahue was afraid of this. The Bruin coach warned his players they wouldn't enjoy a home field advantage in this game. A 31-year lapse between Rose Bowl visits was all Madison needed to launch a migration.

But he didn't expect it to be a disadvantage. He didn't expect to feel like an American hitchhiking in Iraq. It was the biggest Big Ten crowd since Iowa's visit here in 1982, maybe the largest ever.

"It was so one-sided," Donahue said, the Wisconsin band drowning out his words.

As some UCLA officials said ruefully, there was red in the stands and green in the pocket.

The Big Ten received 21,500 tickets for the game. Wisconsin's share was 18,000. The other 50,000 or so came from UCLA fans or locals. With the resale market at $250-plus, locals decided not to pass up the chance to turn a $46-per-ticket investment into a mortgage payment.

On the first day of 1994, there were 50,007 turnovers - one by the Badgers, six by UCLA and 50,000 tickets.

"There were 70,000 Wisconsin fans there, and they were loud," Wisconsin tackle Joe Panos said. "It was remarkable. We're a stones throw from their campus."

"Our fans, their house," Badger wide receiver Lee DeRamus said. "Sweet."

"This was our home game," Alvarez said. "I made it a point to the kids that this was the home locker room, that we're wearing our red home uniforms. This was our home field."

The Bruins apparently began talking trash before the first tailgate Bratwurst was charred. Wisconsin players said the Bruins started flapping their lips during pregame warmups and never stopped.

In the game, J.J. Stokes raked his hand across the mask of Kenny Gales on the Bruins' first possession. Marvin Goodwin ignited a near-brawl by dropping DeRamus after the Bruin defense stopped a Badgers' fourth-down try at the Bruin 10.

Goodwin and Donovan Gallatin were ejected for their roles in that brawl, as were DeRamus and teammate Mark Montgomery.

"They were calling us all kinds of names," said DeRamus. "Lots of trash. They called us Cheeseheads and worse. Hey, we may play for Wisconsin, but we're not all from Wisconsin.

"There's always a lot of trash talk. But in a game like this, between two champions, there should be a little more respect. Two blue-collar teams should show some respect for each other."

Everyone in Pasadena respects Wisconsin now. If not for their play, then at least for their following.