The 11th Rose Bowl

The 1924 college season and the 1925 Rose Bowl were extremely important football events. Our guest in this episode is author and historian Matthew DiBiase who has been on the program recently to chat about his Lords of the Gridiron: College Football's Greatest Coaches, that put the spotlight on the top coaches of all time in the college. Matthew brings his wealth of knowledge to the tabe to help us understand the 1925 Rose Bowl game.

The Rose Bowl Committee took the 11th version of their New Years' Day game to a new level of talent and coaching. Invited to the dance was Knute Rockne to bring his undefeated Notre Dame Fighting Irish to Pasadena to play the Stanford eleven of Pop Warner, who sported a 7-0-1 record. The legendary players were Ernie Nevers, Elmer Layden, Harry Stuhldreher, Jim Crowley, and Don Miller. Yes, it was the Four Horsemen of Rockne's Irish against the innovative mind of Warner and his legendary runner Nevers.

Notre Dame scored three touchdowns off of Stanford turnovers. The Warner coached team uncharacteristically had eight of giveaways, which proved to be the difference in the game. Surprisingly Stanford pretty much had their way with the Irish, but when you cough up the ball and toss picks it will eventually hurt the cause. Elmer Layden crossed the Stanford goal line three times on the day, one on a three-yard run in the second quarter to give Notre Dame a 6–3 lead and two more on pick-six returns. Ernie Nevers, an All-American two-way star for Stanford, played all 60 minutes in the game even though he entered the contest hobbled by an injury suffered earlier in the year. Never battled through and rushed for 114 yards, more yardage than all the Four Horsemen combined. The scoreboard was the only stat that mattered though as Notre Dame won 27-10.

Matthew DiBiase is the host of The Packaged Tourist Show podcast and author of some fabulous books on gridiron history including Lords of the Gridiron: College Football's Greatest Coaches, and Lords of the Gridiron II: Pro Football's Greatest Coaches

A Very Special thanks to information obtained from the following brilliant internet sites: Bleacher Report, Newspapers.com, the Sports Reference's family of website databases & Stathead.com.

Banner photo is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of Notre Dame football players 1924 - Don Miller, Harry Stuhldreher, Jim Crowley, and Elmer Layden.