1970 Rose Bowl

The 1970 Rose Bowl was the 56th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Thursday, January 1. The USC Trojans, champions of the Pacific-8 Conference, defeated the Michigan Wolverines, champions of the Big Ten Conference, 10–3. USC flanker Bob Chandler scored the only touchdown and was named the Player of the Game.^[2][3][4]

1970 Rose Bowl
56th Rose Bowl Game
USC Trojans Michigan Wolverines (9–0–1) (8–2) Pac-8 Big Ten 10 3 Head coach:  John McKay Head coach:  Jim Young (interim) AP Coaches 5 4 AP Coaches 7 8
1 2 3 4 Total USC 3 0 7 0 10 Michigan 0 0 3 0 3
Date	January 1, 1970
Season	1969
Stadium	Rose Bowl
Location	Pasadena, California
MVP	Bob Chandler (FL, USC)
Favorite	Michigan by 4½ points [1]
Referee	Ross Dean (Big Ten; split crew: Big Ten, Pac-8)
Attendance	103,878
United States TV coverage
Network	NBC
Announcers	Curt Gowdy, Kyle Rote
Nielsen ratings	29.7
Rose Bowl  ← 1969  1971 →

Teams

Michigan

See also: 1969 Michigan Wolverines football team

After early season losses to #9 Missouri and unranked Michigan State, the Wolverines won four straight games before their showdown with heavily-favored and top-ranked Ohio State for the Big Ten championship. Michigan shocked the college football world by upsetting the top-ranked Buckeyes 24–12 to tie for the conference title and receive the Rose Bowl bid.^[5][6][7] (Ohio State was ineligible anyway because of the Big Ten's "no repeat" rule,^[8] which was rescinded in 1971.)

Just days before the Rose Bowl, first-year head coach Bo Schembechler, age forty, suffered a mild heart attack and had to miss the game;^[9][10] defensive coordinator Jim Young was the acting head coach.^[3]

USC

See also: 1969 USC Trojans football team

Aided by a pass interference penalty on fourth down followed by a controversial last-minute touchdown, USC earned the Rose Bowl berth with a 14–12 win over rival UCLA in their regular season finale.^[11] The only blemish on their record was a 14–14 tie at Notre Dame in mid-October.^[12] The Trojans were making their record fourth consecutive Rose Bowl appearance, as the Pac-8 did not have a "no repeat" rule.

Game summary

The score was tied at 3–3 at halftime. With three minutes to play in the third quarter, USC quarterback Jimmy Jones threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Bob Chandler to give the Trojans a 10–3 lead. A scoreless fourth quarter ensured the USC victory.^[2][3][4]

Scoring

First quarter

• USC – Ron Ayala 25-yard field goal^[13]

Second quarter

• Michigan – Tim Killian, 20-yard field goal

Third quarter

• USC – Bob Chandler, 33-yard pass from Jimmy Jones (Ron Ayala kick)

Fourth quarter

• No scoring

Statistics

Statistics	USC	Michigan
First downs	16	20
Rushing yards	195	162
Passing yards	128	127
Passes	10–18–0	14–32–1
Total yards	323	289
Punts–average	5–41	6–36
Fumbles lost	0	0
Turnovers by	0	1
Yards penalized	38	20

Source:^[2][3]

Aftermath

• USC finished the year undefeated with one tie, earning a #3 ranking behind undefeated and untied #1 Texas and #2 Penn State.
• Chandler went on to play in the NFL for 11 years with the Buffalo Bills and the Oakland Raiders.
• Michigan finished 8–3 and was ranked 9th in the AP poll (released in January) and 8th in the UPI poll (released after the regular season in early December).