Ben Gardner has 7 1/2 sacks for Stanford this season. Credit: MCT

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Los Angeles - In the fall of 2008, the Wisconsin coaching staff viewed Homestead High School senior Ben Gardner as the type of player who could continue UW's tradition of outstanding walk-ons.

Then-UW assistant Bob Bostad extended a preferred walk-on offer to Gardner, meaning he would be invited to preseason camp and would have the opportunity to earn a scholarship down the road.

A die-hard UW fan for as long as he could remember, Gardner had just been named first-team all-state at defensive end. He had helped Homestead to the WIAA Division 1 state title.

One of his teammates, defensive end Shelby Harris, had been offered a full scholarship by UW.

Gardner was peeved.

"I wanted to go to a place where I felt was wanted," he said by phone last week. "I would have rather gone and played at a smaller school that offered me a scholarship."

Gardner's lone scholarship offer at the time was from Northern Iowa, a Football Championship Subdivision program.

Gardner was headed to Cedar Falls until Stanford swooped in with a late offer.

When UW (8-5) faces No. 8 Stanford (11-2) in the Rose Bowl on Tuesday, Gardner will be manning one of the two defensive end spots for the Cardinal.

He will be facing the team he followed as a child.

Gardner can't wait.

"I am very excited to be going to the Rose Bowl," said Gardner, a second-team all-Pacific 12 Conference pick this season. "The whole recruiting process was very frustrating for me.

"Being from Wisconsin and being a Badger fan my whole life I always wanted to play for the Badgers.

"But it has worked out for the best here at Stanford. Now to be able to play in the Rose Bowl, against the team I grew up rooting for, is a tremendous opportunity. . . .

"Now we have a chance to win a Rose Bowl championship."

Gardner, listed at 6 feet 4 inches and 275 pounds, generally lines up at right defensive end in the Cardinal's 3-4 base.

He probably will be going against UW left guard Ryan Groy and perhaps left tackle Rick Wagner.

Gardner and Groy, of Middleton High School, met in the WIAA state semifinals in 2008. Gardner and Homestead won the meeting, 35-21, to advance to the title game.

"I am looking forward to seeing him out there again," Gardner said.

Who won the individual battle in 2008?

"I'm not so sure about the individual battle," Gardner said. "I'd have to turn on the film. That is awhile back and I'm getting old now.

"But we ended up beating them. He was a big boy. I think he outweighed me by about 80 pounds. Now it's probably only 40 or so."

Groy, listed at 6-5 and 318, hasn't forgotten Gardner.

"Oh, I remember him," Groy said. "He was good."

Gardner gradually has improved at Stanford.

He redshirted in 2009; recorded one sack and three tackles in 2010; started 12 games and recorded 4½ sacks and 10 tackles for loss as a redshirt sophomore last season; and in 13 starts this season has recorded 7½ sacks, 14½ tackles for loss and 43 total tackles.

"As coaches you're never supposed to pick favorites," David Shaw, in his second season as Stanford's head coach, said Wednesday. "But I told Ben a year ago he is one of my all-time favorites because everything he does starts here - it is all heart.

"He was too small, too slow, under-recruited. . . and all he has done is outwork people for four years.

"I love the fact he is such an integral part of our defense. There is a lot of film where, if you stop the film as the play begins, he is blocked. But he still makes a play. That is extra effort and the fact that every off-season he tries to get better at something."

So how did Gardner's path take him to Stanford?

Fate, combined with shrewd talent evaluation by the Stanford staff.

Jim Harbaugh was Stanford's coach at the time and his father, Jack, was an associate athletic director at Marquette University in 2007 and '08.

Jack Harbaugh was also friends with Homestead coach Dave Keel and was visiting the school one day when he saw Gardner working out in the weight room.

Jack Harbaugh studied videos of Gardner's work on the field and sent them to his son at Stanford.

A few weeks passed but an offer came and Gardner didn't hesitate to accept.

He felt wanted.

"Typical Jim Harbaugh," said Shaw, who was Stanford's offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach at the time. "He sees a guy that is a tough, hardworking kid and says I love him.

"I went to the rest of the staff and the rest of the staff said: 'This is our kind of guy.' "

UW athletic director Barry Alvarez, who is coaching the Badgers in the Rose Bowl, relied on walk-ons to help build the program in the 1990s.

Current UW players such as defensive tackle Ethan Hemer, wide receiver Jared Abbrederis and Wagner joined the program as walk-ons.

Alvarez said he understood why some state prospects might not accept a walk-on offer.

"If they have one they probably should take it," he said, referring to a scholarship offer, even one from a smaller school. "Unless they are set on playing Big Ten football, being on TV and having a chance to go to bowl games.

"But if it is about your parents can't afford it and somebody has offered you a scholarship, you probably should take it."

UW took Harris over Gardner in February 2009. Harris redshirted as a freshman but was among three players suspended in February 2010 for violating team rules.

Harris eventually transferred to Illinois State, an FCS program. He recorded 85 tackles, including 16 for loss, and seven sacks in 13 games this season.

Meanwhile, Gardner is a starter on one of the better defenses in the nation.

He still has many friends from high school at UW.

"I'm sure they all want to see me do well," he said. "But at the end of the day I know Badger blood runs deep.

"So I don't think they'll be transformed into Cardinal fans."

Garnder's Badger blood once ran quite deep. No more.