The 55th to 58th Rose Bowl Games

We cover four great Rose Bowl Games spanning from 1969 through 1972 Tournament of Roses gridiron gala. The coaches, teams, players, and epic plays made these memorable games.

Pasadena was all a-buzz in December of 1968 when it was announced that a defacto National Championship game would be played for the 55th edition of the Rose Bowl.  On Wednesday, January 1, 1969, the defending national champions, the USC Trojans, who were number 2 in the polls, would face the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. It was John McKay's coaching style against the Woody Hayes coaching strategy.

This game had high-profile coaches, teams, and top college football players. Heisman winner O J Simpson would play in his second Rose Bowl. Meanwhile, the Buckeyes would let loose the "Super Sophomores" consisting of Leo Hayden, Jim Otis, Jim Stillwagon, Jack Tatum, John Brockington, and Rex Kern. 

Southern Cal started off the game hot as they jumped out to a 10-0 lead after O. J. Simpson scored on an 80-yard run. Ohio State clawed their way back into it, tying to score at 10 by halftime.

The Trojans were their worst enemy when they let Ohio State take over the competition by fumbling the ball away on their own 21-yard line. OSU inched the pigskin inside the five in a few plays and then scored on a Rex Kern pass to Leo Hayden of four yards. A bit later, USC coughed the ball up again, setting up OSU on the 16-yard line this time. Like clockwork, the Buckeyes took advantage as Ray Gillian caught a 16 pass from Kern. O. J. ran for 171 yards and a score; however, five Southern Cal turnovers in all, including two by Simpson, were too much of a hole to climb out of, and Ohio State won the game and the National Title in a 27-16 victory. Buckeye Sophomore quarterback Rex Kern was named the Player of the Game.

The 56th Rose Bowl was played on Thursday, January 1, 1970, featuring the USC Trojans of Coach John McKay, champions of the Pacific-8 Conference, playing Coach Bo Schembechler's Michigan Wolverines. Michigan had dropped two early season games to Missouri and Michigan State but rebounded to record an 8-2 on their slate. USC earned a 9-0-1 ledger by tying Notre Dame and defeating UCLA on a last-second controversial play. In the game, the first half's scoring was limited to a Ron Ayala 25-yard Southern Cal field goal followed by a Wolverine three-pointer kicked by Tim Killian from 20 yards to knot the score at halftime, 3-all. The Trojans broke the tie with the game-winner in the 3rd quarter on a  Bob Chandler 33-yard pass from Jimmy Jones and a subsequent Ayala PAT kick. That was the final score, 10-7. USC is the winner. With the victory, USC ranked third behind undefeated and untied #1 Texas and #2 Penn State. Wide Receiver Bob Chandler was declared as the game's Most Valuable Player.

The 57th Rose Bowl was played on Friday, January 1, 1970. The Stanford Indians of the Pacific-8 Conference faced the second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes of the Big Ten Conference. Woody Hayes led the Buckeyes, while Coach John Ralston guided the Cardinal and their Heisman-winning quarterback Jim Plunkett. OSU was undefeated at 9-0 and was ranked as the top team in the polls, but for some unknown reason, the Buckeyes gave up the number one spot to Texas after defeating Illinois 48-29. All the Longhorns did was knock off unranked Rice 45–21. The following week Ohio State soundly beat #20 Northwestern 24–10 but again dropped a place to third in the rankings as Notre Dame moved up to second after a rout of Navy. Stanford suffered three losses in their 1969 campaign.

The Cardinal came out swinging in the first quarter, taking a 10-0 lead on a Jackie Brown 4-yard run and a Horowitz 37-yard field goal. The Buckeyes responded with two John Brockington 1-yard runs. Stanford stepped it up in the fourth quarter on another Brown 1-yard run and then a  Randy Vataha 10-yard pass from Jim Plunkett to win the game 27-17. Plunkett was the Most Outstanding Player in the game.

The Stanford Cardinal returned to the Rose Bowl again after the 1971 football season. This time, their opponent from the Big Ten Conference was the fourth-ranked Michigan Wolverines. Once again, the Cardinal was the underdog with their three losses entering the game against an undefeated  Big Ten opponent. It was the first Rose Bowl meeting between the two schools since the first Tournament of Ross football contest in 1902. The field surface was soggy and slow after rain dampened the week prior. Stanford’s Ron Garcia missed two long field goals early in the game. On the other side, Dana Coin made a 30-yard field goal for the Wolverines and allowed them to take a 3-0 lead into the locker room at halftime. A pivotal drive occurred just after intermission. Michigan methodically drove most of the length of the field. However, Stanford stopped the Wolverines on 4th and one at Stanford's 4-yard line. The Cardinal then took the ball and marched down to tie the game on Garcia's 42-yard field goal. Michigan's Fritz Seyferth punched in a TD on a one-yard dive to put Michigan up 10–3. When Stanford got the ball again, they faced a fourth and ten situation from their own 33. Coach John Ralston called for a fake punt, with Jim Kehl receiving the snap and handing the ball to back Jackie Brown through his legs. Brown took off running and carried it forward 33 yards for a first down. Moments later, Jackie Brown rushed again with a 24-yard touchdown run to tie the game. Michigan, in the fourth quarter, got something going. They recovered a Stanford fumble near midfield and, after a series of short gains, faced fourth down with time running out. The Wolverines attempted a 46-yard field goal. The kick was short and right, and Stanford safety Jim Ferguson caught the ball and tried to run it out of the end zone. He bobbed and weaved to the seven but cut back to the center, regressed towards the goal line, and was forced back into the end zone by Ed Shuttlesworth for a controversial Michigan safety. It was evident to most watching that his forward progress took him to the three, but the call stood nonetheless. Michigan was up 12-10 with three minutes remaining. Stanford went on a drive that led to a field goal with just 16 seconds on the clock to upset the Wolverines 13-12. Cardinal QB Don Bunce was voted as the Game MVP.

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

Banner photo is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of a Photograph from the 1972 Rose Bowl of Michigan football players Fred Grambau (92) and Greg Ellis (99) rushing Stanford quarterback Don Bunce. Unidentified (Michiganensian is the University of Michigan yearbook published by University of Michigan.