The 1959 Rose Bowl was the 45th

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 rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

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. I ...

, on Thursday, January 1. The heavily-favored and second-ranked

Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 22 sports, 8 for men and 14 for women; a 15th women's sport will be added in 2023. The teams partici ...

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 ...

defeated the #16

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 te ...

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 a ...

, 38–12. Iowa's star halfback

Bob Jeter Robert DeLafayette Jeter, Jr. (May 9, 1937 – November 20, 2008) was an American football cornerback in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears. Early years Jeter was raised in Weirton, West Virginia, whe ...

was named the Player of the Game. Iowa improved to 8–1–1 and California fell to 7–4 for the season. Iowa, 7–1–1, was behind undefeated

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

in the two major polls. LSU was ranked number one in both major polls since week 6 of the season. LSU's Sugar Bowl win over higher ranked #12 Clemson was convincing and was awarded the national championship by the Associated Press and the Coaches' Poll (UPI), as well as by 37 other selectors. Iowa finished first in the football writers poll. Future

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

city mayor

Tom Bates Thomas H. Bates (born February 9, 1938) was the 21st mayor of Berkeley, California, and a member of the California State Assembly. Bates is married to Loni Hancock, another former mayor of Berkeley and State Assembly member who served in the C ...

was a member of the California Golden Bears team. It was the sixth straight Rose Bowl win for the Big Ten, and the twelfth of the last thirteen. The PCC disbanded in the spring and five of its members formed the new

AAWU 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 ...

(Big Five), while the other four competed as independents for several years. It is the last time Cal has appeared in the Rose Bowl.

Teams

Iowa Hawkeyes

Second-

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Iowa were the Big Ten champions, entered the game with a record of 7–1–1 (5–1 Big Ten), and were favored by eighteen points.

California Golden Bears

Sixteenth-ranked

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, led by quarterback

Joe Kapp Joseph Robert Kapp (born March 19, 1938) is an American former football player, coach, and executive. He played college football as a quarterback at the University of California, Berkeley. Kapp played professionally in the Canadian Football Lea ...

, entered the game as Pacific Coast Conference champions with a record of 7–3 (6–1 PCC).

Game summary

Randy Duncan Hearst Randolph "Randy" Duncan, Jr. (March 15, 1937 – September 27, 2016) was an American gridiron football quarterback and lawyer. He played college football at the University of Iowa in the Big Ten Conference. He played in two Rose Bo ...

helped Iowa take a 14–0 lead with a touchdown run in the first quarter and a touchdown pass to Jeff Langston in the second quarter. The Hawkeye backfield carried Iowa the rest of the way, as

Willie Fleming Willie Fleming (born February 2, 1939) is a former professional Canadian football player with the Canadian Football League's BC Lions. Fleming played collegiately as a halfback at the University of Iowa, where he was a member of the Hawkeyes' ...

ran for two touchdowns and

, the Rose Bowl Most Valuable Player, and Don Horn each ran for one touchdown. Iowa attempted a Rose Bowl record three two-point conversions and failed on all three, while Bob Prescott made one of two extra points. End Jack Hart scored all of California's twelve points, running for a touchdown in the third quarter and catching a touchdown in the fourth quarter, both of which were followed by failed two-point conversion attempts. Iowa broke four Rose Bowl records: longest run (Jeter 81), team rushing yards (429), team total yards (516) and individual rushing yards (Jeter 194); and tied another Rose Bowl record set by

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in 1943: first downs (24). The attendance was 98,297. Four Rose Bowl game records were set: Jeter's 81-yard run, his 194 yards of rushing offense, the 429 yards gained on the ground and the 516 yards of total offense.

Scoring

First quarter

*Iowa -

2 run (Bob Prescott kick) (7–0, Iowa)

Second quarter

*Iowa - Jeff Langston 7 pass from Duncan (Prescott kick) (14–0, Iowa) *Iowa - Don Horn 4 run (kick failed) (20–0, Iowa)

Third quarter

*Cal - Jack Hart 1 run (pass failed) (20–6, Iowa) *Iowa -

37 run (pass failed) (26–6, Iowa) *Iowa -

81 run* (pass failed) (32–6, Iowa)

Fourth quarter

*Iowa - Fleming 7 run (pass failed) (38–6, Iowa) *Cal - Hart 17 pass from

(run failed) (38–12, Iowa)

References

{{Iowa Hawkeyes bowl game navbox Rose Bowl Rose Bowl Game California Golden Bears football bowl games Iowa Hawkeyes football bowl games Rose Bowl Rose Bowl