The 1949 Rose Bowl was the 35th
edition
Edition may refer to:
* Edition (book), a bibliographical term for a substantially similar set of copies
* Edition (printmaking), a publishing term for a set print run
* Edition (textual criticism), a particular version of a text
* Edition Recor ...
of the
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...
bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...
, played at the
Rose Bowl in
Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
...
on Saturday, January 1. The
seventh-ranked Northwestern Wildcats
The Northwestern Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern University, located in Evanston, Illinois. Northwestern is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and the only private university in the conference. Northwestern ...
of the
Big Nine Conference
The Big Nine Conference, formerly the Big Eight Conference, was a high school sports conference in Genesee County, Michigan, that ended with four high schools in 2012.
History
Formed in 1960 as the Big Eight Conference, the conference became th ...
defeated the #4
California Golden Bears
The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club tea ...
, champions of the
Pacific Coast Conference
The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including ...
, 20–14.
Northwestern halfback
Frank Aschenbrenner
Francis Xavier Aschenbrenner (July 12, 1925 – January 30, 2012) was a professional American football player for the Chicago Hornets and the Montreal Alouettes.
Early years
Aschenbrenner was born Francis Xavier Aschenbrenner on July 12, 19 ...
was named the
Player of the Game when the award was created in 1953 and selections were made retroactively.
It was the third Rose Bowl since the Big Nine and PCC made an
exclusive agreement to match their conference champions; the Big Nine team won for the third straight year.
Northwestern has played in just one Rose Bowl since, 47 years later in January
1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...
. Until the
2013 Gator Bowl
The 2013 TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game held on January 1, 2013, at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida in the United States. The 68th edition of the Gator Bowl began at noon Eastern Standard Tim ...
, this was the program's only bowl game win.
Teams
Northwestern Wildcats
Northwestern had finished 8–2 in the
Big 9 Conference, losing only to perennial powerhouses
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...
(0–28) and
Notre Dame (7–12).
Northwestern blanked
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...
19–0,
Purdue
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mo ...
21–0, and
Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
* Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
* Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
** North Syracuse, New York
* Syracuse, Indiana
*Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, M ...
48–0. Northwestern rallied from three turnovers and a 16-point deficit to defeat
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...
19–16 as well as defeating
Ohio State
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...
21–7,
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
16–7, and
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...
20–7.
The Big Nine's "no repeat" rule prevented two-time champion Michigan from making a consecutive trip to the Rose Bowl, so second-place Northwestern received the invitation to the game.
California Golden Bears
California had a perfect record going into the game and had averaged 28 points per game over the course of the season.
Although neither team had faced each other before,
Coach
Waldorf had previously been the Wildcats coach from 1935 to 1946 before leaving for the Golden Bears. Northwestern head coach
Bob Voigts
Werner Robert Voigts (March 29, 1916 – December 7, 2000) was an American football and basketball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Northwestern University from 1947 to 1954, compiling a record of 33–39–1. Voigts led ...
was only 33-years-old and had been named an
All-American in 1938 playing for Waldorf.
California and
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
both had perfect records in the
Pacific Coast Conference
The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including ...
.
California was undefeated overall, and Oregon's only loss was at undefeated
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...
,
that year's national champions, and the Ducks had seven victories in the PCC to Cal's six. Oregon, led by quarterback
Norm Van Brocklin
Norman Mack Van Brocklin (March 15, 1926 – May 2, 1983), nicknamed "The Dutchman", was an American football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. He spent his first nine seasons with the Los An ...
and halfback
John McKay,
opted for a playoff game, but California declined.
The tiebreaker format the PCC elected to use was that the championship team be elected by the schools. The PCC had ten members in 1948, six in the Northwest and four in California, so it was assumed that Oregon would be the team playing in the Rose Bowl, as even a 5–5 tie vote would be in their favor.
Instead California was voted champion of the PCC,
because the University of Washington had persuaded the University of Montana
The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...
, then a member of the PCC, to vote for California, something that has not been forgotten by Oregon fans.[ (The PCC allowed a second bowl team that season and Oregon went to the Cotton Bowl,] but lost 21–13 to hometown SMU in Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
.)
Game summary
Frank Aschenbrenner
Francis Xavier Aschenbrenner (July 12, 1925 – January 30, 2012) was a professional American football player for the Chicago Hornets and the Montreal Alouettes.
Early years
Aschenbrenner was born Francis Xavier Aschenbrenner on July 12, 19 ...
ran 73 yards, the longest touchdown return in Rose Bowl history. In the second quarter, the Wildcats were awarded a touchdown in a controversial call when Art Murakowski
Arthur Raymond Murakowski (March 15, 1925 – September 13, 1985) was an American football player. He played fullback for the Northwestern University football team from 1946 to 1949. He was selected as a first-team All-American and won the Ch ...
fumbled the ball entering the endzone, but missed the point-after. Although Jensen is injured early in the third quarter, Cal mounted a 56-yard drive for a touchdown and point-after giving them a one-point lead.
In the fourth quarter, with less than three minutes and 88 yards to go, the Wildcats launched a historic drive: Aschenbrenner made the only complete pass of the game to Stonesifer for 18 yards, followed by a 14-yard run by Perricone, a 5-yard penalty against Cal, and then a Statue of Liberty play and 45-yard run by Ed Tunnicliff for a touchdown. The Bears attempted a passing drive in the last minute, but PeeWee Day intercepted a pass to end Cal's hopes of a title.
Both Aschenbrenner's and Jensen's runs were from scrimmage. The final touchdown was a direct snap from center to a running back (Tunnicliff) from a T-formation set.
References
{{Northwestern Wildcats bowl game navbox
Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl Game
California Golden Bears football bowl games
Northwestern Wildcats football bowl games
1949 in sports in California
January 1949 sports events in the United States