The 75th through 78th Rose Bowl Games

We continue our coverage of Rose Bowl History with action from four great games played in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The 75th edition of the Rose Bowl was played in Pasadena on Monday, January 2, 1989. The Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten Conference faced the fifth-ranked USC Trojans of the Pacific-10 Conference. Before the game went underway, fans were treated to the 100th Tournament of Roses Parade. Larry Smith was the head coach of the Trojans, and he guided his team to a stellar 10-1 record. Their only loss was an end-of-season 27-10 drubbing by undefeated Notre Dame. Bo Schembechler once again brought his troops from Ann Arbor to play in Pasadena. This game was a tale of two halves. USC dominated play in the first half, fueled by the passing of Quarterback Rodney Peete as well as the running of Aaron Emmanuel. USC scored two touchdowns in the second quarter and took a 14–3 to intermission. The latter portion of the contest was all Michigan. They used their massive offensive line to pound the USC front into submission as power runner Leroy Hoard rambled through bigger and bigger holes. The Wolverines took a 22–14 lead late in the fourth. Peete tried to rally USC to a touchdown and game-tying two-point conversion. However, Michigan's defense was up to the task and forced an interception to squelch the threat. Hoard was selected as the MVP of the game in the 22-14 Michigan win.

The 76th Rose Bowl was a rematch of the 75th as Michigan, and USC squared off again. The game was played Monday January, 1, 1990. The same coaches returned too with Larry Smith and Bo Schembechler carrying on in their respective roles on the sidelines. However this would be Coach Schembechler’s last game with the Wolverines. UM entered the game with an 10-1 ledger and USC was 8-2-1. The 1990 Rose Bowl was the first broadcast by ABC Network and their duo calling the game of Bob Griese and Keith Jackson.
There relatively little scoring to talk about as the defenses were superb for both sides. Southern Cal got the points rolling in the first, when quarterback Todd Marinovich scored a touchdown with his legs and USC led 10–3 at halftime. Michigan came back to tie the score in the third quarter on an Allen Jefferson, 2-yard run and J D Carlson kick. Well into the fourth quarter, Michigan was faced a 4th-and-2 at its own 46-yard line. Schembechler, normally conservative surprisingly sent out a fake punt call to the huddle. The gadget play worked as punter Chris Stapleton scooted 24 yards for wan apparent first down. However there was some yellow laundry on the field, Michigan was called for holding. On the subsequent series, USC scored the winning touchdown with just over a minute to play on a Ricky Ervins, 14-yard run. The final score was 17-10 Trojans. Schembechler ended his coaching career with just two Bowl game victories. He stayed on a bit as the Athletic Director at the school before retiring completely. 

The 1991 Rose Bowl was the 77th version of the New Years’ Game. The 8-3 Iowa Hawkeyes of Coach Hayden Fry traveled to Pasadena to meet up with the 9-2 Washington Huskies of Head Coach Don James. The game was filled with offense and scoring, contrasting the 1990 Rose Bowl between USC and Michigan. Washington took a commanding lead with 23 points in the second quarter. The Huskies had a sizable 33–7 lead at halftime. The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, making the scoreboard read 39–14. The Hawkeyes took advantage of some early Washington substitutions in the fourth quarter and scored two quick touchdowns. Washington drove for another score themselves to set the score at 46–26. Iowa followed with the game's final score, a touchdown, and a two-point conversion, bringing the final score to 46–34. It was exciting, but too little too late. Mario Bailey caught two scoring passes for the Huskies and DB Charles Mincy provided a pick six. Washington Quarterback Mark Brunell was selected as the game's MVP as the sophomore scored twice on runs and had two passing TDs.

January 1, 1992, game in Pasadena was marked as the 78th Rose Bowl Game. 103,566 spectators witnessed the second-ranked Washington Huskies play the #4 Michigan Wolverines. Gary Moeller was in place as the head coach of Michigan and had his team entering the game with a stellar 10-1 record. Don James had his Huskies undefeated at 11-0. The scoring was sparse in the first half as Washington quarterback Billy Joe Hobert had scored on a two-yard run while Wolverine QB Elvis Grbac found his receiver Smith on a nine-yard passing strike. Two Washington field goals put Don James' team up 13-7 at the half. It was all Huskies in the second half. Mark Bruener caught a 5-yard TD pass from Hobert int he third quarter, followed by a two-point conversion of Aaron Pierce's scoring catch from a Hobert pass to put Washington up 21–7. The TDs continued for Washington as Pierce had a 2-yard scoring reception from Hobert and Mario Bailey, with a 38-yard pass from Mark Brunell later in the quarter. Michigan cut into the lead late on a Tyrone Wheatley 53-yard run, but Washington held on for the 34–14 victory. Two Huskies were celebrated for their fine play: defensive tackle Steve Emtman and quarterback Billy Joe Hobert were named the Players Of The Game. The undefeated Washington Huskies were named the national champions by the coaches poll after being left at #2 in the AP writers poll, behind Miami.

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 an svg football image layed on some photos of Roses by Darin Hayes