1989 Rose Bowl

NCAAFootballSingleGameHeader
Name=1989 Rose Bowl
Date=January 2, 1989
Year=1988
Visitor School=University of Michigan
Visitor Name Short=Michigan
Visitor Nickname=Wolverines
Visitor Record=8-2-1
Visitor

Visitor Coaches=
Visitor Coach=Bo Schembechler
Visitor1=3
Visitor2=0
Visitor3=6
Visitor4=13
Visitor Total=22
Home School=University of Southern California
Home Name Short=USC
Home Nickname=Trojans
Home Record=10-1
Home

Home Coaches=
Home Coach=Larry Smith
Home1=0
Home2=14
Home3=0
Home4=0
Home Total=14
Type=bg
Stadium=Rose Bowl
City=Pasadena, California
Attendance=101,688
US Network=ABC
US Announcers=Keith Jackson, Bob Griese
Anthem=Michigan Marching Band
Halftime=Michigan Marching Band, Spirit of Troy

The 1989 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on Monday January 2, 1989 because New Year's Day was on a Sunday. It was the 75th Rose Bowl Game, and also the 100th anniversary of the Tournament of Roses parade. The Michigan Wolverines defeated the USC Trojans 22-14. Michigan FB Leroy Hoard was named the Rose Bowl Player Of The Game. [http://www.bowlprograms.com/rosebowl/?pg=182 2008 Rose Bowl Program] , 2008 Rose Bowl. Accessed January 26, 2008.] This was the first year that the ABC Television Network covered the Rose Bowl. It had been broadcast on the NBC network since the first television broadcast in the 1952 Rose Bowl.

Teams

Michigan Wolverines

Michigan opened the season with consecutive narrow losses to Notre Dame and Miami (FL) who were ranked #2 and #1 respectively at the time. But they recovered to go unbeaten the rest of the way, their only blemish being a 17-17 tie at Iowa. A 17-3 win over defending Big 10 champ Michigan State proved to be the difference as Michigan won the Big 10 by one game over Michigan State. [*cite book
last = Wood
first = Bob
authorlink = Bob Wood
title = Big Ten Country: A Journey Through One Football Season
publisher = William Morrow & Co
year = (August 1989)
doi = --
id = ISBN 0-688-08922-4 ]

USC Trojans

USC opened the season with 9 straight wins and rose to #2 in the rankings. They faced sixth ranked rival UCLA, who was 9-1 and had been ranked #1 for a couple of weeks earlier. Eric Ball, the 1986 Rose Bowl MVP had a crucial fumble in the UCLA vs Washington State game, when the #1 ranked Bruins were upset at home by the Cougars 34-30. [JAY HOVDEY. Unbeaten U.C.L.A. Is Upset. New York Times. October 30. 1988 Quote:"U.C.L.A.'s best running play ended when the tailback Eric Ball fumbled at the Bruin 37 after a gain of 17 yards. The fumble occurred midway through the third quarter, when U.C.L.A. led, 27-13. Five plays later, Washington State scored the second of four successive touchdowns. The fumble was typical of the seesaw nature of the game."] The game was one of the notable ones in the UCLA-USC rivalry in that it was for the PAC-10 championship, a possible Heisman Trophy for either Troy Aikman of UCLA or Rodney Peete of USC. It was also for the Rose Bowl berth. Rodney Peete was found to have measles in the days before the game. USC used a strong ground game and "bend but don't break" defense, in front of the largest Rose Bowl Stadium regular season crowd in history, to beat the Bruins 31-22. The win over the Bruins set up a rare #2 USC vs. #1 Notre Dame for the next week. The Trojans lost to the eventual national champions Fighting Irish 27-10.

Game summary

USC, behind the passing of Heisman Trophy runner-up Rodney Peete and running of Aaron Emmanuel, took a 14-3 lead at halftime. Despite their lack of early success, Michigan stuck with its pounding running attack led by a huge offensive line and running back (and game MVP) Leroy Hoard. They began to wear down the Trojans and USC's offense began to sputter. By the 4th quarter, Michigan's offensive line took over and the Wolverines took a 22-14 lead into the last 2 mintues. Peete tried to lead the Trojans to a touchdown and game tying 2-point conversion but Michigan's defense made sure they were never seriously threatened.

Aftermath

The Irish undefeated season, with victories over Michigan, Miami, USC, and then finally West Virginia in the 1989 Fiesta Bowl, cemented their claim on the National championship that year.

References

External links

* [http://www.rosebowlhistory.org/rose-bowl-1989.php Summary at Rosebowlhistory.org]
* [http://www.tournamentofroses.com/rosebowlgame/ Rose Bowl Game official site]

ee also

*Rose Bowl Game
*1988 NCAA Division I-A football season

Books

*Wood, Bob (Robert) (1989). "Big Ten country : a journey through one football season." Morrow. ISBN 0688089224.