The 1948 Rose Bowl was the 34th edition of the college football

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 Subdiv ...

, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on Thursday, January 1. The second-ranked and undefeated

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisi ...

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 ...

routed the #8 USC Trojans, champions of the Pacific Coast Conference, 49–0. It was the second year of the initial five-year agreement between the conferences to match their champions each New Year's Day in Pasadena. Michigan halfback

Bob Chappuis Robert Richard Chappuis ( ; February 24, 1923 – June 14, 2012) was an American football player who played halfback and quarterback for the University of Michigan Wolverines in 1942, 1946, and 1947. His college years were interrupted by servic ...

was named the Player of the Game when the award was created in 1953 and selections were made retroactively.2008 Rose Bowl Program
,

2008 Rose Bowl The 2008 Rose Bowl Game presented by Citi, the 94th Rose Bowl Game, played on January 1, 2008 at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California, was a college football bowl game. The contest was televised on ABC, the 20th straight year the network ...

. Accessed January 26, 2008. Michigan tied the record for the most points scored by a team in the Rose Bowl, first set by the 1901 Wolverines in the first Rose Bowl and later matched by

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 ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. Oregon supplanted the record in

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. Michigan also tied the game's record for largest margin of victory also set by the 1901 Michigan team that defeated Stanford by an identical 49–0 score. The record of seven PATs converted by Michigan kicker Jim Brieske remains unbroken, but was tied in 2008 by USC's

David Buehler David Jonathan Buehler (born February 5, 1987) is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He was drafted by the Cowboys in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college footb ...

. The game was aired by local station KTLA in the first telecast of a bowl game in the Greater Los Angeles Area. It was also the first time a U.S. motion picture newsreel was taken in color. In a special unofficial AP Poll five days after the game, Michigan replaced Notre Dame as the 1947 national champion by a vote of 226 to 119.

Teams

USC Trojans

In October, USC tied Rice 7–7 and defeated #4 California 39–14 in Berkeley. The Trojans' rivalry matchup with defending PCC champion

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 ...

saw USC win 6–0. The game against Notre Dame had 104,953 on hand, the highest attendance for a football game in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum,2002 NCAA Records book - Attendance Records
page 494 (PDF) to see 7–0–1 Rose Bowl-bound USC fall to the 8–0 Fighting Irish, 38–7. USC dropped from third to eighth in the final AP Poll in early December, and Notre Dame did not play in a bowl.

Michigan Wolverines

The 1947 Wolverines, known as the "Mad Magicians," won the Big Nine title on the strength of strong offense and defense. They shut out four opponents, including

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 ...

, 21–0. Their close game was a 14–7 win at #11 Illinois, the reigning Big Nine and Rose Bowl champion.

Game summary

Bob Chappuis and

Bump Elliott Chalmers William "Bump" Elliott (January 30, 1925 – December 7, 2019) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played Halfback (American football), halfback at Purdue University (1943–1944) and the Univ ...

were the stars for the Wolverines. Jack Weisenburger scored three touchdowns. Nine Rose Bowl records were set.

Scoring

First quarter

* Michigan - Jack Weisenburger, 1-yard run (Jim Brieske kick)

Second quarter

* Michigan - Jack Weisenburger, 1-yard run (Jim Brieske kick) * Michigan -

, 11-yard pass from

(Jim Brieske kick)

Third quarter

* Michigan - Howard Yerges, 18-yard pass from

(Jim Brieske kick)

Fourth quarter

* Michigan - Jack Weisenburger, 1-yard run (Jim Brieske kick) * Michigan -

Gene Derricotte Eugene Derricotte (June 14, 1926 – March 31, 2023) was an American college football player who was a halfback and return specialist for the Michigan Wolverines from 1944 to 1948. He was one of the first African-American athletes at the Univ ...

, 45-yard pass from Hank Fonde (Jim Brieske kick) * Michigan - Dick Rifenberg, 29-yard pass from Howard Yerges (Jim Brieske kick)

Aftermath

The final regular season

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...

, taken before the bowls, had Notre Dame #1 (107 first place votes) and Michigan #2 (25 first place votes). Notre Dame did not play in a bowl game. After urging from '' Detroit Free Press'' sports editor

Lyall Smith Lyall F. Smith (November 22, 1914 – October 8, 1991) was an American sports writer and editor. He was the sports editor and columnist for the Detroit Free Press from 1945 to 1965 and the president of the Baseball Writers' Association of Am ...

, the Associated Press conducted its first ever post-bowl poll; Michigan won that unofficial final poll, 266–119. The Wolverines continued their winning streak through the next season, winning all nine games. Because of the no-repeat rule for the Rose Bowl, runner-up Northwestern represented the Big Nine in the

1949 Rose Bowl The 1949 Rose Bowl was the 35th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on Saturday, January 1. The seventh-ranked Northwestern Wildcats of the Big Nine Conference defeated the #4 California Go ...

. Michigan's 1,788 passing yards in 1947 was a school record that stood for 32 years, until

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

Legacy

In Super Bowl LIV, the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The t ...

offense lined up for a 4th & 1 conversion attempt during the first quarter. The offense attempted a running back direct snap, converting the run for a first down. After the game, Chiefs' offensive coordinator

Eric Bieniemy Eric M. Bieniemy Jr. (born August 15, 1969) is an American football coach and former running back who is the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs. He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes and was recognized as a consen ...

told the media he discovered the trick play from watching Michigan run the play on the goal line in the 1948 Rose Bowl, adding it to the team's repertoire. Kansas City went on to win the game. The play was even named shift right to Rose Bowl parade.

References

External links

Summary at Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan Athletics History

1948 Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl
Warner Pathe News, 1948. —Color newsreel

(''New York Times'') {{USC Trojans bowl game navbox Rose Bowl Rose Bowl Game Michigan Wolverines football bowl games USC Trojans football bowl games Rose Bowl January 1948 sports events in the United States