1926 Rose Bowl

The 1926 Rose Bowl Game was held on January 1, 1926, in Pasadena, California. The game is commonly referred to as "The Game That Changed The South."^[1] The game featured the Alabama Crimson Tide, making their first bowl appearance, and the Washington Huskies.

1926 Rose Bowl
12th Rose Bowl Game
Alabama Crimson Tide Washington Huskies (9–0) (10–0–1) SoCon PCC 20 19 Head coach:  Wallace Wade Head coach:  Enoch Bagshaw
1 2 3 4 Total Alabama 0 0 20 0 20 Washington 6 6 0 7 19
Date	January 1, 1926
Season	1925
Stadium	Rose Bowl
Location	Pasadena, California
MVP	Johnny Mack Brown (Alabama)
Referee	Walter Eckersall
Attendance	55,000
Rose Bowl  ← 1925  1927 →

The Crimson Tide was led by Johnny Mack Brown, and the Huskies by George "Wildcat" Wilson.^[2]

Alabama were victorious 20–19, as they scored all 20 points in the third quarter. With the victory, the Crimson Tide were awarded with their first national championship.

The game made its radio broadcast debut, with Charles Paddock, a sports writer and former Olympian track star, at the microphone.^[3] Coach Wade was later inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 1990.^[4]

Johnny Mack Brown went on to a long career as a movie actor, mostly in westerns.^[5]

Team selection

Alabama scoring a touchdown.

The Rose Bowl committee extended an invitation to Clark Shaughnessy's Tulane team,^[6] but the school administration declined the offer because it did not want to sacrifice academics to play a football game.^[7]

Scoring

Coach Wallace and his players

First quarter

• Wash – Paton, 1-yard run (Guttormsen kick failed)

Second quarter

• Wash – Cole, 20-yard pass from Wilson (Guttormsen kick failed)

Third quarter

• Ala – Hubert, 1-yard run (Buckler kick good)
• Ala – Brown, 59-yard pass from Gillis (Buckler kick good)
• Ala – Brown, 30-yard pass from Hubert (Buckler kick failed)

Fourth quarter

• Wash – Guttormsen, 27-yard pass from Wilson (Cook kick good)