On this podcast episode, we remember the 1964 Rose Bowl game between the Illinois Illini and the Washington Huskies.
The 50th Rose bowl Game
The history and players in the 1964 Rose Bowl game between Illinois and Washington
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1964 Rose Bowl Game History
Any time there is the 50th anniversary of anything, it is a particular time of specialness. The 1964 Rose Bowl was just that, with two very talented teams meeting. The Pete Elliott-coached Illinois Illini team was invited to match talents with the Washington Huskies of head Coach Jim Owens. The Huskies had the talented back Junior Coffey that was a handful for every defense he faced. The Illini had the skilled players to match him in team captains George Donnelly and Dick Butkus, along with star players like Archie Sutton, Lynn Stewart, and Jim Grabowski. The defenses of both teams played in the first quarter. The scoring started in the next period when Washington forced a turnover by Illinois. The Huskies were in business at the Illini 27-yard line as a result. With some razzle-dazzle backup quarterback, Bill Siler pitched the ball to halfback Dave Kopay who rumbled into the end zone behind some superb blocking, especially the one by Ron Medved that sprung him loose. A field goal by Jim Plankenhorn put Illinois on the board and into intermission down by four. George Donnelly made his first two interceptions after the break to set up a Jim Warren rushing touchdown for the Illini from two yards out.
The Huskies went on a long drive in the fourth quarter, with Illinois up by three points. George Donnelly interrupted the comeback thoughts when he picked off another errant pass in the red zone. Illinois then drove 85 yards, capped off with another Jim Grabowski rushing TD to put Illinois ahead 17-7 and make that the final score. For his efforts, the Sophomore Grabowski was named the game's Most Valuable Player after he rushed for those two touchdowns and 125 yards.
Illinois Comeback 02 Jan 1964, Thu Journal and Courier (Lafayette, Indiana) Newspapers.com
Credits
A Very Special thanks to information obtained from the following brilliant internet sites: On This Day Sports, the Sports Reference's family of website databases & Stathead.com.
Banner photo is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
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Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer
We invite you to take a ride through 1920's sports history in the audio drama that takes the listener through the sounds and legendary events of the era through the eyes of a young newspaper journalist. You will feel like you were there!
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