Originally titled the "Tournament East–West football game," what is now known as the Rose Bowl Game was first played on January 1, 1902, at

Tournament Park Tournament Park is a park and athletics venue in Pasadena, California, United States, northeast of Los Angeles. Currently maintained by the California Institute of Technology, it was simply known as the "town lot" before being renamed "Tournament ...

in Pasadena, California, starting the tradition of New Year's Day

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 ...

s. The inaugural game featured Fielding H. Yost's dominating

1901 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1901 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan in the Western Conference during the 1901 Western Conference football season. In their first year under head coach Fielding H. ...

, representing the East, who crushed a 3–1–2 team from Stanford University, representing the West, by a score of 49–0 after Stanford captain Ralph Fisher requested to quit with eight minutes remaining. Michigan finished the season 11–0 and was considered a national champion. Yost had been Stanford's coach the previous year.

Organization of the game

The

Tournament of Roses Parade A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

began in 1890 as a New Year's Day tradition in the City of Pasadena. The city boosters were exploring a way to bring in tourism and money to the area. The Tournament of Roses Association president, James Wagner, guaranteed $3,500 to cover the expenses of bringing the football teams of the University of Michigan and Stanford University to Pasadena to play. The admission price was between 50 cents and a dollar to attend the game. An additional dollar would be charged to admit a family's horse and buggy to the grounds. The game was played in Tournament Park, where temporary stands were built. The officials were David Brown, referee (a graduate of Stanford and a former football manager); W. K. Peasley, umpire (a graduate of Williams); Phil Wilson, head linesman (a graduate of Stanford and former player) and C. G. Roe, linesman; Jack Sheehan (a graduate of Stanford) and H. K. Crafts, timers. The game kicked off at 2:30 o'clock sharp at the park on the corner of California Street and Wilson Avenue in Pasadena.

Tournament Park

Before the

Rose Bowl stadium The Rose Bowl is an outdoor athletic stadium located in Pasadena, California. Opened in October 1922, the stadium is recognized as a National Historic Landmark and a California Historic Civil Engineering landmark. At a modern capacity of an all ...

was built for the 1923 Rose Bowl, games were played in Pasadena's

, approximately three miles southeast of the current stadium. Tournament Park is now a private park maintained by the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

in Pasadena, California. It was simply known as the "town lot" before being renamed Tournament Park in 1900.

Teams

Stanford had played the Olympic Club and Reliance Club twice, beating and tying each. They beat

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, 12–0, then lost to Cal in the eleventh Big Game, 2–0. The

was nicknamed the "Point-a-Minute" team when they came to Pasadena to play the game. The Wolverines had racked up 501 points while allowing their opponents no points at all. The 49 points they scored in the 1902 Rose Bowl game brought their season total to 550 to 0.

Game summary

* The playing field was 110 yards long * Touchdowns counted five points, field goals five, and conversions one (under modern scoring, the score would be 52–0) * The game was divided into two thirty-minute halves * A team had to make five yards in three downs to make a first down * Forward passes were not allowed * Substitutions were used infrequently, as 11 men usually played the entire game * The game ended with eight minutes left on the clock upon request of Stanford captain Ralph Fisher and by agreement with Michigan team captain Hugh White. The time of halves was 35 minutes and 27 minutes, the latter shortened at the request of Stanford.

Scoring

First half

*Michigan –

Neil Snow Neil Worthington Snow (November 10, 1879 – January 22, 1914) was an American athlete. He competed in American football, baseball, and track and field at the University of Michigan from 1898 to 1902. He was selected as a first-team All-American f ...

5-yard run ( Bruce Shorts kick) 6–0 *Michigan –

Everett Sweeley Everett Marlin Sweeley (March 4, 1880 – September 2, 1957) was an American football player and coach. He played fullback, halfback and end for the University of Michigan from 1899 to 1902 and was a member of Fielding H. Yost's 1901 and 1902 " ...

20-yard field goal 11–0 *Michigan – Curtis Redden 25-yard punt return (Shorts kick) 17–0

Second half

*Michigan – Snow 2-yard run (kick failed) 22–0 *Michigan – Redden 25-yard fumble recovery (Shorts kick) 28–0 *Michigan – Snow 8-yard run (kick failed) 33–0 *Michigan – Snow 17-yard run (kick failed) 38–0 *Michigan – Snow 4-yard run (Shorts kick) 44–0 *Michigan – Albert E. Herrnstein 21-yard run (kick failed) 49–0

Statistics

Game records

Aftermath

The game was so lopsided that for the next 13 years, the Tournament of Roses officials ran chariot races, ostrich races, and other various events instead of football.Bowl Games: College Football's Greatest Tradition, by Robert Ours, 2004, pgs. 3-4 But, on New Year's Day 1916 football returned to stay as

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant uni ...

defeated Brown University in the first annual Tournament of Roses football game. At Stanford, rugby replaced football from the 1906 season through the 1917 season. In record keeping, Neil Snow's five touchdowns are noted along with the "modern" Rose Bowl record of four touchdowns held by Eric Ball,

Sam Cunningham Samuel Lewis Cunningham Jr (August 15, 1950 – September 7, 2021), nicknamed "Bam", was an American football fullback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons with the New England Patriots. He played college football at ...

, and

Ron Dayne Ronald Dayne (born March 14, 1978) is a former professional American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. Dayne played college football for the University of Wisconsin and won the 1999 Heisma ...

. Snow was named the Most Valuable 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. The initial attendance has varied according to different sources. The ESPN BCS article lists the attendance as 8,500. The Michigan football media guide and Michigan articles list the attendance as 8,000. The Official 2007 NCAA Division I football records book lists the attendance at 8,000.Official 2007 NCAA Division I football records book - PDF copy available at NCAA.org Tournament Park would be the site for the second to eighth Rose Bowl Games from 1916 to 1922 before the

opened for the 1923 Rose Bowl. As of 2016, Stanford has appeared in the Rose Bowl 15 times, tied with Ohio State for third most, and Michigan has appeared 20 times, second most. Stanford would make their next bowl appearance in 1925, the

1925 Rose Bowl The 1925 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game. It was the 11th Rose Bowl Game. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated Stanford University, 27–10. The game featured two legendary coaches, Knute Rockne of Notre Dame, and Pop Warner in his fir ...

. Michigan's next bowl game was in the 1948 Rose Bowl.

References

Books

*Maxwell Stiles - ''The Rose Bowl: A Complete Action and Pictorial Exposition of Rose Bowl Football'', Sportsmaster Publications (1946), ASIN: B0007FBNU4 *''America's New Year Celebration'' (The Rose Parade & Rose Bowl Game). Albion Publishing Group Santa Barbara, CA 1999. *''The Rose Bowl Game'' by Rube Samuelsen. Doubleday Company and Inc. 1951. ASIN: B0007DZXFC

External links

Summary at Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan Athletics History
{{Historic college football games Rose Bowl Rose Bowl Game Michigan Wolverines football bowl games Stanford Cardinal football bowl games Rose Bowl Rose Bowl