The 1978 Rose Bowl was a

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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 on Monday, January 2, and was the 64th

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 ...

. The

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, champions of the

Pacific-8 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

, defeated the favored Michigan Wolverines, champions of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

, Washington

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Warren Moon Harold Warren Moon (born November 18, 1956) is an American former football quarterback who played professionally for 23 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the Houston Oilers of the National Football League (NFL) and the Edmonton ...

was named the Rose Bowl Player of the Game. The Huskies led at the half and extended it to early in the third quarter, then held off a Wolverine comeback with two interceptions deep in their own territory in the last two minutes to win by seven. It was the second of three consecutive losses in the Rose Bowl for Michigan, a two-touchdown favorite entering this game. The face value of game tickets was $17.50 each.

Teams

Michigan Wolverines

Led by junior quarterback

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, Michigan began the season

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second, and were first after four of the first six weeks. However, a stunning loss on October 22 at

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 to ...

dropped them to sixth. A win over fourth-ranked

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gave the Wolverines the Big Ten title and they came into the Rose Bowl ranked fourth.

Washington Huskies

In their third season under head coach Don James and quarterback Warren Moon, Washington stumbled out of the gate, losing three of their first four games, all out of conference. They then won six of seven, losing at

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 St ...

on October 29 (later vacated by the Bruins, due to ineligible players). The Huskies won the Pac-8 title and earned the Rose Bowl berth when UCLA lost its final game on a last second field goal to

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

, Washington entered the game ranked thirteenth in the AP poll, and tied for fourteenth in the UPI coaches poll.

Scoring

First quarter

* Washington –

2-yard run (Steve Robbins kick); UW 7–0

Second quarter

* Washington – Robbins 30-yard field goal; UW 10–0 * Washington – Moon 1-yard run (Robbins kick); UW 17–0

Third quarter

* Washington – Spider Gaines 28-yard pass from Moon (Robbins kick); UW 24–0 * Michigan – Curt Stephenson 76-yard pass from

(Gregg Willner kick); UW 24–7 * Washington – Robbins 18-yard field goal; UW 27–7

Fourth quarter

* Michigan – Russell Davis 2-yard run (Willner kick); UW 27–14 * Michigan – Stan Edwards 32-yard pass from Leach (kick failed); UW 27–20

Statistics

: :

Aftermath

With Notre Dame beating top-ranked and undefeated

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

in the Cotton Bowl, Michigan had hopes that a dominant win over Washington would boost the Wolverines to the national title. The Huskies' dramatic upset ended those hopes, and Notre Dame was voted first in the polls among five one-loss teams;

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

, Texas, and

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

were the others. Michigan dropped to ninth in the final AP poll and Washington climbed to tenth; both were a spot higher in the UPI coaches poll.

References

External links

Summary at Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan Athletics History
{{Washington Huskies bowl game navbox Rose Bowl Rose Bowl Game Michigan Wolverines football bowl games Washington Huskies football bowl games Rose Bowl January 1978 sports events in the United States