The 63rd through 69th Rose Bowl Games

We take a look at seven Rose Bowl games taking place from 1977 through 1983. The people, teams and plays that made the highlights along with the winners and Players of the game.

The 63rd Rose Bowl Game, played on January 1, 1977, had invited the USC Trojans, champions of the Pacific-8 Conference, pitted against the Michigan Wolverines of the Big 10 Conference. Under the direction of first-year Head Coach John Robinson, the Trojans entered the game at 10-1, suffering a single setback at the hands of Missouri in the season home-opener. The Wolverines of Bo Schembechler were also 10-1, taking one on the chin against Purdue in a mid-November affair. USC was loaded with talent; Vince Evans at quarterback, Heisman winner Ricky Bell playing tailback, and his little-known backup, Charles White. Michigan struck first on the scoreboard with a one-yard dive by Rob Lytle in the second quarter. Ricky Bell suffered an injury early in the contest, which would not let him return, so the rushing duties settled on the future Heisman winner White. Vince Evans responded well, reaching paydirt later in the second quarter to tie the game. In the second half, the Trojans kept the Wolverines from any further scoring as Charles White ran one in to provide USC with the 14-7 victory. Vince Evans was nominated as the Player of the Game.

Monday, January 2, 1978, marked Pasadena's 64th Rose Bowl Game. Spectators that day spent $17.50 a ticket to enter the stadium to watch the Washington Huskies of Head Coach Don James playing against the Bo Schembechler, Michigan Wolverines. Washington started the season poorly, losing 3 of their first four games but righted the ship to finish with a 7-4 record. The Huskies ended up winning the Pac 8 title when UCLA stumbled in the final seconds to USC and forfeited another game due to ineligible players used in the game. Michigan was a clear favorite in the Rose Bowl matchup, sporting a 10-1 record. Their lone loss was to Minnesota. There is a reason they play the games, though. Surprisingly the Huskies led 17-0 at the half as Quarterback Warren Moon ran one in and threw for another, and the Washington defense stymied the Wolverines early and often. Earlier in the third quarter UDub punched another seven on the board when receiver Spider Gaines hauled in a 28-yard pass from Moon. Michigan finally scored when Curt Stephenson caught and scored on a 76-yard pass from signal caller Rick Leach in the third. The Huskies replied with a Steve Robbins 18-yard field goal. Michigan tried to rally in the final quarter scoring on a Russell Davis 2-yard run and subsequent Willner kick) and later when Stan Edwards took in a 32-yard pass from Leach with the kick failing. UW held on to win 27–20 over Michigan. Warren Moon was selected as the game’s Most Outstanding Player.

The USC Trojans, champions of the Pacific-10 Conference, headed to the 65th Rose Bowl Game to play against the Big 10 Conference co-champs, the Michigan Wolverines. This contest had a phantom score and an earthquake to take the memorable aspect to a new level. Michigan's Bo Schembechler and Southern Cal's John Robinson each made return trips to Pasadena to play in the annual Grandaddy of Bowl games. Each squad suffered only one loss in the regular season; The Wolverines lost to Michigan State, and the Trojans fell to Alabama for their only setbacks. This set up the Number 3 USC team to play the fifth-ranked Wolverines.
USC started the scoring in the first as receiver Hoby Brenner caught a 9-yard TD pass from Paul McDonald and specialist Frank Jordan booted the point after through the uprights. UM cut in the lead in the second quarter when Gregg Willner split the pipes from 36 yards out. USC rattled off ten more points before the intermission. The TD in that mele was a bit questionable, to say the least. USC had taken the ball down to the Michigan three-yard line. Robinson dialed up an ISO dive play for, Charles White. Michigan middle linebacker Ron Simpkins rocked the Trojan runner. The impact created a White to lose possession before he crossed the goal line stripe. It was interesting how the mixed officiating crew reacted. The PAC-8 umpire marked the ball around the one-yard line and signaled that there had been a change of possession. Video evidence shows that this was an accurate assessment by the U. The Big 10 line judge, demonstratively saying that the USC back had scored before the fumble. The line judge’s call was what the crew went with, and the "Phantom Touchdown" counted. Michigan did all they could in the second half, including a Roosevelt Smith 44-yard TD catch from a Rick Leach pass. However, it was not enough as the Trojans hung on and won the game with the help of what appears to be an officiating error. Charles White and Michigan quarterback Rick Leach were named the Players of the Game.

The 66th edition of the Granddaddy of them All was a classic match of Big Ten versus Pac 10 foes. Coach John Robinson’s USC Trojans would play the mighty Ohio State Buckeyes coached by Earle Bruce. OSU entered with a perfect 11-0 slate, while the Trojans suffered a shocking 21-all tie with Stanford after leading by three scores at the half, knocking them from the top place in the polls. Eric Hipp’s 41-yard field goal for USC was the only scoring in the first quarter. In the second, USC went up by ten on the Kevin Williams 53-yard touchdown pass from Paul McDonald. The Buckeyes would knot the score before halftime on a Vlade Janakievski 35-yard field goal and a Gary Williams 67-yard TD catch from Art Schlichter. A couple of mid-range Janakievski field goals put Ohio State up by in the fourth. Southern Cal still had some fight in them, though, as Charles White pushed the ball over the goal on a 1-yard run with a minute remaining, and with the help of the subsequent Hipp kick, the Trojans outs scored the Buckeyes 17-16. USC's Heisman Trophy running back Charles White was named the Player of the Game, rushing for a record 247 yards sand that score. It was the second consecutive Rose Bowl MVP, having for White, having shared the 1979 honor with Leach.

Rose Bowl version number 67 came in the form of the Washington Huskies meeting up with the Michigan Wolverines. The Huskies of Don James were ranked sixteenth in the country after a 9-2 campaign after suffering setbacks against Oregon and the Navy eleven. The pregame hype was focused on Michigan’s Head Coach, Bo Schembechler. The coach had taken Michigan to seven bowl games before this one and had never won any of them.  This included an Orange Bowl Game, A Gator Bowl, and five Rose Bowls. This was a rallying cry from many Wolverine players who wanted to win won for their beloved leader as much as for themselves.

The first signature play in the contest was the Michigan defense stonewalling Husky Toussaint Tyler on fourth down and goal from the 1-yard line. There was a bit of controversy when one official signaled Tyler scored, but after a zebra conference, it was determined that the ball did not cross the line. The next highlight of the contest was a fantastic Rose Bowl record 73-yard punt set by Michigan's Don Bracken. Washington took the lead on a Chuck Nelson 35-yard field goal in the second quarter. Michigan responded and took a 7-6 lead at intermission with a 6-yard touchdown scamper by tailback Butch Woolfolk. The lead was padded when Wolverine kicker  Ali Haji-Sheikh, knocked a 25-yard field goal over the crossbar. The UM defense stepped up again and shut down any further scoring. Their offense kept things moving on the Michigan side of the scoreboard with an Anthony Carter 7-yard touchdown catch on a pass from Wangler and an Haji-Sheikh successful PAT kick. In the fourth quarter, a Stan Edwards 1-yard run for six to make the final score 23-6, giving Coach Schembechler his first Bowl game victory. The Most Valuable Player selection for this game was Butch Woolfolk after a performance of rushing for 182 yards on 26 carries.

The 1982 Rose Bowl was the 68th version of the series in Pasadena and featured a head-to-head match-up of the Washington Huskies of Coach Don James against the Iowa Hawkeyes of head Coach Hayden Fry. Iowa sported an 8-3 mark on the season, while the Huskies finished at 9-2. This game looked good on paper, but the Washington team dominated, registering a 28-0 blowout victory. Freshman phenom running back Jacque Robinson entered the game as a nonstarter in the second quarter and then ran for 142 yards on 20 carries. Robinson was a major factor in most of the Husky scores. He didn't even see a snap in the third quarter! Jacque was the first freshman named the Rose Bowl Player of the Game. Washington quarterback Steve Pelluer was 15 for 29 passing, end Paul Skansi had four big catches, and linebacker Mark Jerue made thirteen tackles to round out the offensive explosion for UW. What can we say about the Husky defense? Iowa could only manage 264 yards of total offense and coughed up two critical turnovers.

The Rose Bowl, played on January 1, 1983, was the 69th annual classic and sported a card of the 9-1-1 UCLA Bruins facing the 8-3 Michigan Wolverines. These two squads knew each other well. It would be the third time they had played in the past 366 days. They met on December 31, 1981, in the first Big Ten/Pac-10 bowl meeting outside the Rose Bowl and thus tabbed as the "mini Rose Bowl" in the Bluebonnet Bowl. Michigan won that game 33–14. They next faced each other in the regular season as the Bruins won 31-27 at Michigan. This was the rubber match of sorts. In the Rose Bowl, UCLA took an early 10–0 lead in the second quarter based on the excellent, well-balanced play of Quarterback Tom Ramsey. Things got worse for the Wolverines when starting QB Steve Smith had to leave the game with a separated shoulder on a jarring hit by Bruin DB Don Rogers. Michigan backup signal caller David Hall produced a second-half TD pass to Eddie Garrett to cut the UCLA lead to 10-7. The Bruin’s defense though finally helped break the game open on an interception of an errant Hall pass, setting the UCLA offense inside the Wolverine 20. UCLA scored on a Danny Andrews nine-yard run and then a Blanchard Montgomery 11-yard interception return with PAT conversions by their kicker Lee.
Michigan went out fighting, though, when Dan Rice took in a four-yard scoring pass from Hall, and placekicker Ali Haji-Sheikh pounded through the upright. The Final score ended up 24 to 14, UCLA. QB Tom Ramsey, and DB Don Rogers, were named the Players Of The Game.

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 of a cropped version of the EXTERIOR GRANDSTAND AND SCOREBOARD DETAIL VIEW, FACING NORTH. - Rose Bowl Stadium, 1001 Rose Bowl Drive, Pasadena, Los Angeles County, CA. Provided by Positive Image Photographic Services with Related names: Wiliam L. Leishman, Myron Hunt, William Taylor, and transmitter David Maul.