The 1929 Rose Bowl was a 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 Subdivi ...

and the 15th annual Rose Bowl Game. Played on January 1, 1929, the game saw the

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Ramblin' Wrec ...

(also known at the time as the Georgia Tech Golden Tornado) defeat the California Golden Bears by a score of 8–7. The game was notable for a play in which Cal's All-American

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

Roy Riegels Roy "Wrong Way" Riegels (April 4, 1908 – March 26, 1993) played for the University of California, Berkeley football team from 1927 to 1929. His wrong-way run in the 1929 Rose Bowl is often cited as the worst blunder in the history of college foo ...

scooped up a Georgia Tech fumble and ran in the wrong direction towards his own goal line, earning him the dubious nickname, "Wrong Way". The two-point

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

on the ensuing punt proved to be the margin of victory. Riegels' teammate

Benny Lom Benjamin Lom (June 29, 1906 – June 29, 1984) was an American college football player who played for three seasons for the University of California, Berkeley Golden Bears, and was best known for his attempt to stop his own teammate Roy Rieg ...

, who attempted to tackle Riegels on the run, was named the Rose Bowl 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.

Teams

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

This was the first appearance for Georgia Tech in a post season bowl game. They had run through their regular season schedule. This included a 13–0 win over Notre Dame and a 20–6 win over Georgia in the

Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate is an American college football rivalry between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The two Southern universities are located in the U.S. state of Georgia and are separated by . They have been heat ...

rivalry game. They were named national champion by two organizations. They were invited by the Tournament of Roses committee to play in the game.

California Golden Bears

California was not the Pacific Coast Conference champion in 1928. The 1928 USC Trojans, under coach Howard Jones, were the PCC champions, and also were named a national champion. They were undefeated with a 9–0–1 record. The lone blemish on the Trojans' record came at Cal, who had tied USC 0–0 on October 20. USC had defeated Notre Dame 27–14, the only common opponent with Georgia Tech. The University of Southern California declined the bid to play in the Rose Bowl. California, the second place team with a 3–0–2 conference record appeared instead to represent the Pacific Coast Conference. After tying USC, Cal had lost to the Olympic Club "Winged Os". The Bears beat Oregon, Washington and Nevada. They tied Stanford 13–13 in the 1928 Big Game. The Stanford Indians had appeared in the 1928 Rose Bowl where they defeated Pittsburgh 7–6, having been selected controversially over USC the year before.

The game

On January 1, 1929, the Golden Bears faced the

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

Yellow Jackets at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Midway through the second quarter, Cal's

, who played center, picked up a fumble by Tech's Stumpy Thomason. Just 30 yards away from the Yellow Jackets'

end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field. ...

, Riegels was somehow turned around and ran 65 yards in the wrong direction. Teammate and quarterback

chased Riegels, screaming at him to stop. Known for his speed, Lom finally caught up with Riegels at California's 3-yard line and tried to turn him around, but he was immediately hit by a wave of Tech players and tackled back to the 1-yard line. The Bears chose to punt rather than risk a play so close to their own end zone, but Tech's Vance Maree blocked Lom's punt for a safety, giving Georgia Tech a 2–0 lead. Riegels was so distraught that he had to be talked into returning to the game for the second half. Lom passed for a touchdown and kicked the extra point, and Riegels blocked a Tech punt in the second half, but Tech would win the game—and their second national championship—by a final score of 8–7.

Scoring

Second Quarter

*GT – Maree and Westbrook block Lom’s punt for a safety

Third Quarter

*GT – Thomason, 14-yard run (Thomason kick failed)

Fourth Quarter

*Cal – Phillips, 10-yard pass from Lom (Barr kick good)

Aftermath

After the game, coach

Nibs Price Clarence Merle "Nibs" Price (April 26, 1889 – January 13, 1968) was a basketball and American football coach. After coaching at San Diego High School, he served as the head football coach at the University of California, Berkeley from 1926 to 1 ...

defended Riegels, saying "It was an accident that might have happened to anyone." Price credits Riegels as the smartest player he ever coached. Riegels explained that he was hit during a pivot and wound up doing a U-turn, which faced him the opposite direction. Later, the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

football rules committee would pass a rule barring a player from advancing a recovered fumble once it hits the ground. Riegels would take his spot as captain during his senior year, earning

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

honors. Despite the nationwide mockery that followed, Riegels went on to live a normal life, serving in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, coaching high school, and college football—including time at Cal—and running his own chemical company. He was even able to capitalize on his blunder, parodying the now-famous run in vaudeville acts.Wrong Way Riegels
. Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine, Spring 1998 Riegels was inducted into the Rose Bowl hall of Fame in 1991. The character of "Lefty" Phelps in the movie ''

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

'' (1929), directed by Frank Capra, is based on Riegels and uses the incident to propel Phelps into the Marine Corps. The opening sequence uses photographs of Riegels during the actual Rose Bowl game. Benny Lom was named Most Valuable player of the game retroactively when the award was instituted in 1953. Riegels used his experience to encourage others who had made similar plays. In 1957, Paramount High School's Jan Bandringa had intercepted a pass only to run it 55 yards into his own end zone, resulting in a safety for Centennial High, who won the game 9–7. In a regular season game in 1964, Jim Marshall of the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

also ran a recovered fumble into his own end zone. Both received word of encouragement from Riegels. In 1971, Tech's entire 1928 team was inducted into the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame. Roy Riegels and teammate Benny Lom attended as special guests. The Georgia Tech Letterman's Club presented Riegels and Lom with membership cards. In 1991, Riegels was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame. Riegels died in 1993, at the age of 84. In 1998, he was posthumously elected to Cal's Hall of Fame. In 2003, a panel from the College Football Hall of Fame and CBS Sports chose Riegels' "Wrong way run in the Rose Bowl" one of six "Most Memorable Moments of the Century."CBS SportsLine Millennium Poll
accessed 2007-01-01

Quotes from and about the 1929 Rose Bowl

*''"He's running the wrong way. Let's see how far he can go."''—Georgia Tech head coach Bill Alexander *''"What am I seeing? What's wrong with me? Am I crazy? Am I crazy? Am I crazy?"''—Broadcaster Graham McNamee, calling the game on radio *''"Coach, I can't do it. I've ruined you, I've ruined myself, I've ruined the University of California. I couldn't face that crowd to save my life."'' *:''"Roy, get up and go back out there — the game is only half over."''—Halftime exchange between Riegels and head coach Nibs Price *''"For many years I've had to go along and laugh whenever my wrong-way run was brought up, even though I've grown tired listening and reading about it. But it certainly wasn't the most serious thing in the world. I regretted doing it, even as you do, but you'll get over it."''—Letter from Riegels to Paramount High School's Jan Bandringa in 1957. Bandringa had intercepted a pass only to run it 55 yards into his own end zone, resulting in a safety for Centennial High, who won the game 9–7. *When presented his membership card into the Georgia Tech Lettermen's Club, Riegels quipped, "''Believe me, I feel I've earned this.''"

References

External links

Video of Riegels run
{{Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets bowl game navbox Rose Bowl Rose Bowl Game California Golden Bears football bowl games Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football bowl games January 1929 sports events 1929 in sports in California January 1929 events in the United States