A 23-yard touchdown pass from Andy Dalton down the middle of the field to Bart Johnson with 6:55 remaining in the first quarter gave the TCU Horned Frogs a 7-3 lead over the Wisconsin Badgers in the 2011 Rose Bowl. Both teams, which each average 43.3 points per game this season, scored on their opening drives. Dalton completed four of six passes for 58 yards on the drive, and ran four more times for 18 yards.
The Horned Frogs won the coin flip, during which Tournament of Roses Parade Grand Marshal Paul Deen told the players, "I'm not used to flippin' without my skillet." TCU elected to defer, and kicked off to the Badgers to start the game. Montee Ball got Wisconsin off to a wonderful start with a 40-yard run on the first play from scrimmage, which gave them a first down at the TCU 28-yard line. The Badgers continued to drive, but a dropped pass on 3rd-and-8 that would have produced a 1st-and-goal inside the five-yard line stalled the drive. Wisconsin settled for a 30-yard field goal by Philip Welch.
TCU is a three-point favorite in today's contest.