The 1975 Rose Bowl

[BOSSHOG]

Over the years I have retained quite a collection of Sports Event Ticket Stubs. They make a nice framed montage. My wife and I were fortunate enough to go to the 75 Rose Bowl and the tickets from that game are in one of our scrap books of that era that I was looking at the other day. My eyes were drawn to the cost information:

Price: $12.50 per person. Free "Auto" Parking. Albeit we were in the corner of the endzone but all the scoring was done right in front of us.

Fans of applicable teams will recall: USC-18, Ohio State-17. USC made a two point conversion late in the game, which made a great picture in the next days L.A. Times.

[LisaM]

1. I've never been to a Rose Bowl

but I've been to Pasadena a few times. The first time I was there, I felt a real sense of deja vu, as if I'd been there before. I eventually realized it was from watching so many Rose Bowl parades on TV! Everything was familiar.

The 1979 Rose Bowl was a day that will live in infamy. USC's Charles White was awarded a touchdown even though he had fumbled the ball and never crossed the goal line. It's been known henceforth as the phantom touchdown. I don't know if it's still there, but for years, either at Crisler Arena or in the football offices, they had a HUGE poster of the referee with him arms raised for a touchdown, with Charles White lying on the ground with the ball not even in his hands, AND short of the endzone. I have been searching for a copy of that picture.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

6. 1979

The Bane of my Rosebowl existence! :)

I watched that game with several friends, most of whom were pulling for USC. We, or at least I, still refer to it as the "mystery touchdown' game. I had a copy of that picture too. It was from the LA Times.
Here is a write up about the game from the Rose Bowl website............


Frustration continues for Bo Schembechler who loses his fifth straight Rose Bowl game, this time with another 10-1 Michigan team that succumbs to John Robinson's 11-1 USC Trojans 17-10. Overthrows by Michigan's Rick Leach lead to two USC interceptions by Ronnie Lott and Dennis Smith and 10 points on a Paul McDonald to Hoby Brenner touchdown pass and a 35-yard Frank Jordan field goal. Michigan scores on a 36-yard Greg Willner field goal and a 44-yard scoring pass from Leach to Roosevelt Smith. The touchdown that gives USC its winning margin is a disputed one by Charles White who is stripped of the ball by Ron Simpkins while attempting to cross the goal line with Michigan's Mark Braman recovering on the one. It is ruled a touchdown even though many observers feel White crossed the goal line but the ball didn't. The victory makes USC's all-time Rose Bowl record 16-6.

[Lefty48197]

2. Was that the year the Big Ten changed their traditional rules

against going to the Rose Bowl two years in a row, and sent OSU again, when it should have been a Michigan year? I had the pleasure of sitting in the Rose Bowl endzone on Jan 1, 2000 watching Barry Alvarez's Wisconsin Badgers beat Stanford for Barry's second Rose Bowl victory. I recommend that every college football fan go watch your team there when your number comes up. The Mountains and the moderate temperatures on January 1 make for a great setting. Think of it as a pilgrimage.

[1gobluedem]

3. No, that was the 1973 Rose Bowl

The 10-10 tie in which Dennis Franklin broke his collarbone so the Big Ten athletic directors voted to send OSU even though Michigan was higher ranked.

The rule was changed in 1975 and in 1976 Michigan was the first Big Ten team to play in a game other than the Rose Bowl -- the Orange Bowl. They've gone to a bowl game every year since; the longest consecutive bowl streak in the country. From the team with more wins than any other in the country.

Go Blue!

[Awsi Dooger]

4. USC claims that year as a national championship

What a pile of undeserved crap. Oklahoma was a dominant team, going 11-0 with only one scare, against Texas. USC not only had the desperate last second victory in the Rose Bowl, but they also sported a loss and a tie.

The polls split the title because of one of the most absurd and obviously targeted instances ever of changing the rules in the middle of the game. Oklahoma was a unanimous number one at midseason, then the UPI coaches poll decided a team on probation could no longer appear in their poll or be elegible for the championship. So Oklahoma suddenly didn't exist.

Regardless, that Rose Bowl was a great game. The 2-point conversion was a shoestring catch. Pat Haden was the QB but I forget the receiver. Dickerson, or something like that. I hate to Google something I should remember. JK McKay, the coach's son, made the long TD catch to make it 17-16.

[BOSSHOG]

5. Shelton Diggs

Although we were in the corner of the end zone all the scoring occurred right in front of us. At the angle we were sitting we couldn't see the other end zone.