The 1928 California Golden Bears football team was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

team that represented the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

in the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) during the 1928 college football season. In their third year under head coach

Nibs Price Clarence Merle "Nibs" Price (April 26, 1889 – January 13, 1968) was a basketball and American football coach. After coaching at San Diego High School, he served as the head football coach at the University of California, Berkeley from 1926 to 1 ...

, the team compiled a 6–2–2 record (3–0–2 against PCC opponents), finished in second place in the PCC, lost to

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

in the

1929 Rose Bowl The 1929 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game and the 15th annual Rose Bowl Game. Played on January 1, 1929, the game saw the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (also known at the time as the Georgia Tech Golden Tornado) defeat the California Go ...

, and outscored its opponents by a combined total of 141 to 36. The team was ranked No. 2 in the nation in the

Dickinson System The Dickinson System was a mathematical point formula that awarded national championships in college football. Devised by University of Illinois economics professor Frank G. Dickinson, the system crowned national champions from 1925 to 1940. Dicki ...

ratings released in December 1928. The Rose Bowl game has become one of the most famous moments in Rose Bowl history. In the second quarter, California's defense forced a Georgia Tech fumble on their own 30-yard line, and the loose ball was scooped up by California center

Roy Riegels Roy "Wrong Way" Riegels (April 4, 1908 – March 26, 1993) played for the University of California, Berkeley football team from 1927 to 1929. His wrong-way run in the 1929 Rose Bowl is often cited as the worst blunder in the history of college foo ...

. He began to run towards the Georgia Tech end zone for a score, but then, in trying to get around the Tech players, he inexplicably turned around and headed in the other direction. Riegels advanced all the way to the Golden Bears' one-yard line before teammate

Benny Lom Benjamin Lom (June 29, 1906 – June 29, 1984) was an American college football player who played for three seasons for the University of California, Berkeley Golden Bears, and was best known for his attempt to stop his own teammate Roy Rieg ...

was able to stop him, whereupon he was immediately tackled by what seemed like the entire Georgia Tech team. California elected to punt on the next play; the punt was blocked for a

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

, giving the Yellow Jackets a 2–0 lead and what turned out to be the decisive points.

Schedule

References

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

California Golden Bears football seasons California Golden Bears football {{collegefootball-1928-season-stub