The 1964 Rose Bowl was the 50th

Rose Bowl Game The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 (New Year's Day) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2. The Rose ...

, played on January 1, 1964. It featured the

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic faci ...

and the

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac- ...

. Illinois was led by co-captains Dick Butkus and George Donnelly,

Jim Grabowski James Grabowski (born September 9, 1944) is a former American football player and broadcaster. He played college football at the University of Illinois and professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Green Bay Packers and the Ch ...

, Lynn Stewart, and

Archie Sutton Archie Michael Sutton (November 2, 1941 – August 29, 2015) was an American professional football player who played offensive tackle for three seasons for the Minnesota Vikings. Sutton found early fame as a tackle playing for the Illini along ...

on their way to a victory over the Huskies, led by

Junior Coffey Junior Lee Coffey (March 21, 1942 – August 30, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) with the Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons, and New York Giants. Early years Born ...

. The game was scoreless until the second quarter; Washington scored first, following an Illinois fumble at its own 27-yard line. Backup quarterback, Bill Siler, kept it for three yards, then passed it to Joe Mancuso for 18 yards to the Illini 6. Siler then faked a pass and pitched to halfback

Dave Kopay David Marquette Kopay (born June 28, 1942) is a former American football running back in the National Football League who in 1975 became one of the first professional athletes to come out as gay. Life Kopay attended Notre Dame High School in ...

, who scored behind the block of halfback

Ron Medved Ronald George Medved (born May 27, 1944) is a former professional American football player who played defensive back and linebacker for five seasons for the Philadelphia Eagles. From Tacoma, Washington, Medved graduated from Bellarmine Prep in ...

, with 8:26 left in the first half. The Illini got on the scoreboard with Jim Plankenhorn's field goal in the waning seconds of the second quarter and Washington led In the third quarter, after George Donnelly's first interception of the game, Illinois took control as Jim Warren scored a touchdown for the Illini on a two-yard run. In the fourth quarter, with Illinois up by a score of 10-7, Washington was driving downfield, trying to score a go-ahead and possible game-winning touchdown, but George Donnelly intercepted the ball on the 4-yard line and ran it back to the 15. Illinois capitalized on that momentum and moved the ball 85 yards, with

scoring his second touchdown of the game to put Illinois ahead 17-7. Sophomore Grabowski rushed for 125 yards and was named the game's Most Valuable Player. Butkus played both ways in this contest, both at center and linebacker. He recovered a fumble, and had an interception (in addition to leading a defense that held Washington to only 59 yards rushing and 71 yards passing for the game).The Champaign-Urbana News Gazette, January 2, 1964.

Aftermath

The opposing running backs were both drafted by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

, Coffey in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

and Grabowski in 1966.

References

Rose Bowl Rose Bowl Game Illinois Fighting Illini football bowl games Washington Huskies football bowl games Rose Bowl January 1964 sports events in the United States {{Collegefootball-bowl-stub