Rose Bowl: Oregon 45, Wisconsin 38 (final)

After a record number of points and more than 1,100 yards in offense, the 98th Rose Bowl ended at a standstill Monday evening in Pasadena.

With Wisconsin 25 yards away from potentially tying the score, an officials' review determined that Badgers quarterback Russell Wilson was a tick slow in spiking the football to stop the clock, and just like that the game was over.

Wisconsin, trailing by seven points, took over in its last possession at its own 13-yard line with 16 seconds left in regulation.

PHOTOS: Oregon vs. Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl

But two Wilson passes -- a 29-yard gain to Jared Abbrederis and a 33-yard pass to Nick Toon -- had Wisconsin perhaps one pass away from forcing overtime.

Wilson took the snap on the second play with nine seconds left, and the game clock stopped at two seconds as the officials marked the ball after Toon's reception.

But the officials ruled that those seconds expired before Wisconsin could set the Badgers, take the snap and spike the ball to kill the clock and set up one more play.

The 83 points scored was a Rose Bowl record, surpassing the 80 points scored in 1991 when Washington defeated Iowa, 44-36.

Oregon (12-2) gained 621 yards -- 345 passing and 276 rushing.

Wisconsin (11-3) gained 508 yards -- 296 passing and 212 rushing.

Oregon 45, Wisconsin 38 (late in fourth quarter)

So much for overtime. The Oregon defense just came up with a huge turnover.

Nine Oregon players were trapped in an elevator

Oregon's trip to Los Angeles has been quite a comedy of errors.

There was Wednesday evening at Lawry's, when offensive lineman Mark Asper performed the Heimlich maneuver on a man who was choking on prime rib.

Then there was Tuesday at Disneyland, when photos revealed that while LaMichael James is utterly fearless when it comes to 300-pound tackles, a 32-mph ride at Disneyland sends him into a state of sheer terror.

But before these adventures, nine large players reportedly were stuck in an elevator for two hours at their hotel, the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Century City.

The players alternated between standing and sitting to save space; when a player became fatigued with his position, he'd tap another for a switch. (If only game-time substitutions were that easy.)

"We had music playing," defensive end Dion Jordan told reporters. "We tried to make the most of it. It was kind of nerve-wracking to be stuck in the elevator for that long."

Their frayed nerves could perhaps be used to justify their poor showing at the Lawry's "Beef Bowl," where they were outeaten by Wisconsin by more than 100 pounds of prime rib.

MORE:

Oregon's Mark Asper saves choking man at Lawry's [Video]

Wisconsin should beat Oregon, according to 'Beef Bowl' results [Video]

-- Melissa Rohlin

Photo: Members of Oregon's football team descend an escalator on Rose Bowl media day. Credit: Jae C. Hong / Associated Press

Wisconsin should beat Oregon, according to 'Beef Bowl' results [Video]

Playing on a football field? Easy. Try nearly eating the weight of a baby in meat.

That's what many football players from Wisconsin and Oregon did Wednesday and Thursday at the "Beef Bowl," an annual event thrown by Lawry's in which the teams headed to the Rose Bowl try to outdo each other over prime rib.

The team that eats the most meat goes on to win the Rose Bowl 71% of the time, according to Gina Doyle, the general manager at the restaurant's Beverly Hills location.

If that stat proves true, Wisconsin should win by a landslide.

The Badgers ate 723 pounds of prime rib while the Ducks managed 612 pounds.

The MVP? Wisconsin's Travis Frederick. The offensive lineman supposedly ate eight pieces of prime rib at about 13-ounces apiece. That's more than 5 1/2 pounds of meat.

In a video interview with The Times featured above, the players discuss the event in between mouthfuls of mashed potatoes and creamed corn.

MORE:

Oregon's Mark Asper saves choking man at Lawry's [Video] 

In the interim, UCLA and Illinois will try to prevail in bowl game

--Melissa Rohlin

Oregon's Mark Asper saves choking man at Lawry's 'Beef Bowl' [Video]

Oregon tackle Mark Asper performed the Heimlich maneuver on a man who was choking on a piece of meat Wednesday evening at Lawry's during the Beef Bowl.

Asper was eating dinner with his teammates during the annual event preceding the Rose Bowl game when, he said, "the table in front of us started stirring in commotion, and they stood up and the gentleman, I didn't catch his name, was giving the universal 'Help me, I'm choking' signal."

In an interview Wednesday with the Los Angeles Times and other media outlets, Asper said that one of the restaurant's chefs initially attempted to do the Heimlich on the victim, who was later identified as Paul Diamond, a father of an Oregon student. The chef, however, was not successful.

"He looked like he was struggling with it," Asper said, "so I stood up and patted him on the back and said, 'If you don't know what you're doing, I do, because I'm an Eagle Scout.

"So I ripped in there and the first heave was a test heave because the guy seemed a little old, I didn't want to break his ribs or anything. Test heave, then he seemed like he could handle a full force heave so I popped it out.

Asper said "a big piece of Lawry's beef" came out of Diamond's mouth.  Asper added Diamond was fine -- he just took "smaller bites" after the incident and even went on to make a joke.

"He came up to me afterward and said, 'Hey man, thanks a lot, but you broke my sunglasses,' " Asper said. "I said, 'I'm sorry, I'll see if I can get you a new pair.' "

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In the interim, UCLA and Illinois will try to prevail in bowl game

-- Melissa Rohlin

Pac-12 football: Oregon defeats UCLA, 49-31, in championship game

As parting gifts go, perhaps the only thing UCLA players could have done better was pull off one of the biggest upsets in college football history.

Or make it close at the end.

That did not happen Friday night at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore., but the Bruins sent fired Coach Rick Neuheisel off with an effort worth remembering in the inaugural Pac-12 Conference championship football game.

The Bruins, a 31-point underdog, hung with No. 9-ranked Oregon through part of the third quarter before losing, 49-31.

PHOTOS: UCLA vs. Oregon in Pac-12 title game

That was more than the 59,376 in attendance or most anyone expected from a team coming off a 50-0 loss to USC and the announcement two days later that Neuheisel’s four-year tenure was over, effective Friday night when time expired on the game clock.

Oregon improved to 11-2 overall and earned its second trip the Rose Bowl in three years.

The Bruins fell to 6-7 and now await a bowl invitation for a game that will be coached by Bruins assistant Mike Johnson.

Neuheisel finished his UCLA tenure with a 21-29 record.

Oregon quarterback Darron Thomas passed for three touchdowns and ran for another as the Ducks rolled up 573 yards and won their third consecutive conference title.

Running back LaMichael James rushed for 219 yards and three touchdowns, becoming the first player in conference history to eclipse 1,500 yards in a season three times.

UCLA fumbled three times in the first half, but made the Ducks sweat a bit on a chilly evening.

The Bruins finished the first half with a field goal to make the score, 35-17, and then forced Oregon to go three and out to start the second half. Derrick Coleman’s 41-yard run set up a short touchdown run by quarterback Kevin Prince and the Bruins were within 11 points.