PASADENA – Stepfan Taylor arrived in the Bay Area from Texas four years ago not knowing what to expect.

He will leave with his name etched in Stanford lore, along with junior defensive back Usua Amanam.

The duo earned offensive and defensive MVP honors after leading the Pac-12 champion Cardinal to their first Rose Bowl victory since 1972, a 20-14 victory over Big Ten champ Wisconsin in front of 93,359 at the Rose Bowl on Tuesday.

Taylor rushed for 88 yards, including a 3-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Amanam sealed the win with a fourth-quarter interception at the Stanford 42 with 2:03 left.

It was the game’s only turnover.

“We knew coming in it was going to be a physical game,” said Taylor, who joins Don Bunce and Jim Plunkett as the last three Stanford players to be named the game’s offensive MVP. “We knew they know how to stop power, how to play against power.

“We thought it was going to be a grind-it-out game and hope for the big (run). Wisconsin did a great job. They have a great defense. We (made) some big plays early on.

“The defense kept us in the game and we made some plays late to get the win.”

Taylor, who finished the season with 1,530 yards, made some big runs in the fourth quarter to keep the Cardinal ahead of Wisconsin, which rallied from an early 14-0 deficit in the first quarter to pull within 17-14 at halftime.

“Everybody was preaching on the sideline about keeping the pedal to the metal (after the quick start),” Taylor said. “Coach (David Shaw) told us it was going to go by quick. The first half did go by quick. It seemed like we didn’t have many possessions.

“But like I said, we knew it was a quick game so we were just trying to capitalize as much as possible.”

The senior had five carries for 25 yards in a fourth-quarter drive that set up Jordan Williamson’s 22-yard field goal for a 20-14 lead with 4:23 left to play.

Taylor, after Amanam’s interception, then sealed it with runs of 7 and 5 yards for a first down at the Wisconsin 44 with 53 seconds left.

“We knew at the end of the game, we needed to get that first down to win the game,” Taylor said. “We got that and won it.”

Amanam, a junior nickel back, said the Cardinal was looking for the pass during Wisconsin’s final drive when he intercepted Curt Phillips with just more than two minutes to play. The Badgers quarterback was trying to hit tight end Jacob Pederson in the middle of the field.

“It was a max drop,” he said. “I was basically playing the quarterback. I happened to see him go to the middle of the field and I just pedaled to the right.

“I think (defensive lineman Josh Mauro) got his hand on the ball. Fortunately, the ball just fell into my hands. I don’t think one play wins any game. I just happened to be at the right place at the right time, and we were able to seal the game.”

The win capped another solid season for Stanford, which continues to roll on despite losing former coach Jim Harbaugh and quarterback Andrew Luck to the NFL the past two seasons.

“All that just served as motivation for us,” Amanam said. “A couple of years ago we lost Toby Gerhart (now in the NFL). Then Jim Harbaugh left and last year it was Andrew Luck.

“I think this win is a testament to our program and how we train and how we prepare each week and every season. I think hats off to the guys upstairs.”

steve.ramirez@sgvn.com twitter.com/SteveRRamirez