The 1951 Rose Bowl was the 37th

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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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

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. ...

on Monday, January 1. The ninth-ranked

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

, champions 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

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 tea ...

, champions 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 ...

, 14–6. Michigan fullback

Don Dufek Donald Patrick Dufek Jr. (born April 28, 1954) is a former American football player who played safety and special teams for eight seasons with the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He had previously played for the Michigan W ...

scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and was named the Player of the Game. With a record of 9–0–1, the Golden Bears were ranked fourth in the nation.Rose Bowl Game Timeline
, ''

Pasadena Tournament of Roses The Rose Parade, also known as the Tournament of Roses Parade (or simply the Tournament of Roses), is an annual parade held mostly along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California, United States, on New Year's Day (or on Monday, January 2 if New ...

'' It was the Big Ten's fifth consecutive win in the Rose Bowl, and California's third straight loss.

Teams

Michigan Wolverines

Michigan upset rival

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

9–3 in the notorious Snow Bowl game, played in of snow in

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

California Golden Bears

This was California's third consecutive trip to the Rose Bowl and were slightly favored.

Pete Schabarum Peter Frank Schabarum (January 9, 1929 – August 2, 2021) was an American football player and politician who was a member of the California State Assembly and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Biography Schabarum was born January 9 ...

broke a 77-yard run on the second play of the game, but a backfield-in-motion penalty nullified the score to stop the Cal momentum.

Scoring

First quarter

:''No scoring''

Second quarter

* California - Bob Cummings, 39-yard pass from Jim Marinos (

Les Richter Leslie Alan Richter (October 6, 1930 – June 12, 2010) was an American football linebacker who played for the Los Angeles Rams of National Football League (NFL). He also served as the head of operations for NASCAR and president of the River ...

kick failed)

Third quarter

:''No scoring''

Fourth quarter

* Michigan -

, 1-yard run (

Harry Allis Harry Dean Allis (April 22, 1928 – September 6, 2006) was an American football placekicker. He played college football for the University of Michigan from 1948 to 1950. He was the leading scorer in the Big Ten Conference during the 1948 ...

kick) * Michigan - Dufek, 7-yard run (Allis kick)

Game notes

Chuck Ortmann Charles H. Ortmann (June 1, 1929 – March 7, 2018) was an American football player who played for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1948 to 1950 and in the National Football League for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1951 and the Dallas Texan ...

completed 15 of 19 passes for 146 yards for Michigan and Jim Marinos was 4 for 7 completions for 69 yards for Cal. * This was Michigan's third victory in the Rose Bowl (

1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world' ...

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

, 1951) in as many attempts. * California back

became a member of the

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member governing body of Los Angeles County, California, United States. History On April 1, 1850 the citizens of Los Angeles elected a three-man Court of Sessions as their firs ...

in 1972. * California's record in the Rose Bowl fell to 2–4–1; their next (and most recent) appearance was eight years away, also a loss.

Aftermath

After this third consecutive loss by California, the Pacific Coast Conference enacted a "no-repeat" rule, similar to the Big Ten's. Future teams affected were

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijiangs ...

and Oregon State in

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

, and both resulted in wins for the Big Ten. With the PCC's dissolution in the spring of 1959, the succeeding AAWU (Big Five) abolished that rule, and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

won the next two Rose Bowls in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

and

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

. Although

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

appeared in consecutive Rose Bowls in 1961 and

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

, (both as "at-large" invitations, the latter after champion

declined), the Big Ten kept its rule until the early 1970s; the last team affected was Michigan State in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

, when runner-up

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mo ...

edged unranked

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses ** South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

by a point. The first Big Ten team to make a repeat appearance in the 1970s was

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

, the conference's only win in Pasadena that decade.

References

External links

Summary at Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan Athletics History
{{Michigan Wolverines bowl game navbox Rose Bowl Rose Bowl Game California Golden Bears football bowl games Michigan Wolverines football bowl games 1951 in sports in California January 1951 sports events in the United States