The 1973 Rose Bowl was the 59th

edition Edition may refer to: * Edition (book), a bibliographical term for a substantially similar set of copies * Edition (printmaking), a publishing term for a set print run * Edition (textual criticism), a particular version of a text * Edition Recor ...

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. It matched the undefeated and top-ranked

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ''Trojans'', the women's athletic teams are referred ...

of the

Pacific-8 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

with the #3

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...

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 ...

. USC running back

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 ...

scored four touchdowns in the second half and was named the Player of the Game, as the favored Trojans won They were unanimous

national champions National champions are corporations which are technically private businesses but due to governmental policy are ceded a dominant position in a national economy. In this system, these large organizations are expected not only to seek profit but als ...

in both major polls, the first time in college football history.Christine Daniels �
The 1972 Trojans
Los Angeles Times, January 28, 2008 (The final UPI

Coaches Poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officiall ...

was released prior to the bowl games, in early December.) The attendance of 106,869 set the

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

record, as well as the NCAA bowl game record.''UCLA Football – 2007 UCLA Football (Media Guide)''. UCLA Athletic Department (2007), page 165 (PDF copy available at www.uclabruins.com) 2002 NCAA Records book – Attendance Records
page 494 (PDF)

Teams

The national championship was on the line for #1 USC, and likely #3 Ohio State. Although #2

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

already had defeated Penn State in the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...

on New Year's Eve to finish their season a convincing win in the Rose Bowl for the Buckeyes might well have swayed the voters to put Ohio State at #1.

USC

The USC Trojans won all eleven games in the 1972 regular season. Their opener against #4

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

propelled them to the top of the polls, where they remained throughout the season. They had help from new head coach

Pepper Rodgers Franklin Cullen "Pepper" Rodgers (October 8, 1931 – May 14, 2020) was an American football player and coach. As a college football player, he led the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to an undefeated season in 1952 and later became their head ...

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

, who had defeated #1

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

to start the season, led by junior college transfer quarterback

Mark Harmon Thomas Mark Harmon (born September 2, 1951) is an American actor. He is most famous for playing the lead role of Leroy Jethro Gibbs in '' NCIS''. He also appeared in a wide variety of roles since the early 1970s. After spending the majority of ...

. The Trojans' closest contest was a defeat of #15

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. S ...

. In the

UCLA–USC rivalry The UCLA–USC rivalry is the American collegiate athletics rivalry between the UCLA Bruins sports teams of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and USC Trojans teams of the University of Southern California (USC). Both univer ...

game with the Rose Bowl on the line for both teams, the Bruins were outmatched by the Trojans USC then soundly defeated Notre Dame behind the six touchdowns of

Anthony Davis Anthony Marshon Davis Jr. (born March 11, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays the power forward and center positions. Davis is an eight-time ...

. Quarterbacking duties were shared by Mike Rae and

Pat Haden Patrick Capper Haden (born January 23, 1953) is the former athletic director at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles from August 2010 to June 2016. He played quarterback for the USC Trojans before playing professionally in ...

. The Trojans were favored by two touchdowns in this the first of three consecutive appearances, all against Ohio State.

Ohio State

This was the first year that freshmen were eligible for varsity football in the University Division (now FBS) due to the NCAA rescinding an earlier rule, and it was the first of four Rose Bowl appearances for freshman

Archie Griffin Archie Mason Griffin (born August 21, 1954) is a former American football running back. He played seven seasons in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals. As college football's only two-time Heisman Trophy winner, he is considered one of the greate ...

. Ohio State had one loss at

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

, on November 11. USC had demolished the Spartans only five weeks earlier in a night game at the Coliseum. Against rival

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

, the Rose Bowl was on the line for both teams; the Big Ten had rescinded its long-standing "no repeat" rule, so Michigan was eligible to play in the Rose Bowl for a second straight year, and the unbeaten Wolverines were a slight favorite over the Buckeyes in Columbus. However, Ohio State used a defensive goal line stand in the first half and another in the second half to beat #3 Michigan The Buckeyes and Wolverines shared the Big Ten title, and the conference's athletic directors voted to give Ohio State the Rose Bowl bid. Because the Big Ten and Pac-8 did not yet permit teams to play in any postseason game except the Rose Bowl, the Wolverines stayed at home. The two conferences allowed multiple bowl teams starting with the

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

season.

Game summary

At the half, the score was tied at seven. USC running back

exploded for four touchdowns in the second half and Anthony Davis added another as the Trojans coasted to a 32-point lead. Ohio State scored a touchdown in the last minute and the final score was It was the fourth consecutive win for the Pac-8, but that streak ended in the next year's rematch.

Scoring

First quarter

*USC –

Lynn Swann Lynn Curtis Swann (born March 7, 1952) is an American former American football, football player, broadcaster, politician, and athletic director, best known for his association with the University of Southern California and the Pittsburgh Steelers ...

10-yard pass from Mike Rae (Rae kick), 1:30

Second quarter

*OSU – Randy Keith 1-yard run (Blair Conway kick), 13:37

Third quarter

*USC –

2-yard run (Rae kick), 12:18 *OSU – Conway 21-yard field goal, 8:11 *USC –

20-yard run (Rae kick), 5:51 *USC – Cunningham 1-yard run (Rae kick), 1:25

Fourth quarter

*USC – Cunningham 1-yard run (Rae kick), 9:10 *USC – Cunningham 1-yard run (Rae kick), 5:13 *OSU – John Bledsoe 5 run (Conway kick), 0:34

Statistics

: :

Aftermath

Rose Bowl records

Cunningham set three modern Rose Bowl records with four touchdowns in his final college football game. As of

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, the records for touchdowns, rushing touchdowns and points scored have been matched by Eric Ball (

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

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 ...

(

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

), and Vince Young (

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

). A Rose Bowl record for most points in a half at 45 was set in the second half (USC 35, Ohio State 10). This was later tied in

(

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

24,

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 ...

21) and surpassed by

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 ...

and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

with 53 points in the second half in

. The record attendance of this year was later approached, but never be matched again in the Rose Bowl. In 1998, the Rose Bowl stadium was renovated and had its seating capacity reduced, and was no longer the largest football stadium in the United States. As of the

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 ...

game, the Rose Bowl game still draws the largest crowds of any post-season college football contest.

Ohio State–USC

This was the first of three Ohio State-USC matchups in the Rose Bowl in the 1970s. It was the first of four consecutive Rose Bowl appearances for the Buckeyes under head coach

Woody Hayes Wayne Woodrow Hayes (February 14, 1913 – March 12, 1987) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Denison University (1946–1948), Miami University in Oxford, Ohio (1949–1950), and Ohio State University (1951 ...

and two-time Heisman trophy winner Archie Griffin. Prior to the game contest, Hayes pushed a camera into the face of a local news screaming, "That'll take care of you, you son of a bitch." Hayes was ejected and left California with a subpoena.Steve Greenberg and Laura Lanese – Game of My Life: Memorable Stories of Buckeye Football, 2006 Sports Publishing LLC, won the rematch the following year, the sole Rose Bowl victory for the Big Ten in the 1970s.

NFL players

The 1972 Trojans had 33 players selected in the next several

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

s, including five first-round selections:

Charle Young Charle Edward Young (born February 5, 1951) is a former American football tight end who played for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles (1973–1976), the Los Angeles Rams (1977–1979), the San Fran ...

, Pete Adams,

, and Steve Riley. The 1972 Trojan team was named one of the best teams of the Twentieth century. The Buckeyes had eight eventual NFL first round selections: Tim Fox,

Kurt Schumacher Curt Ernst Carl Schumacher, better known as Kurt Schumacher (13 October 1895 – 20 August 1952), was a German politician who became chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany from 1946 and the first Leader of the Opposition in the Wes ...

Doug France Frederick Douglas France Jr. (April 26, 1953 – April 8, 2016) was an American professional football player who was a tackle for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Los Angeles Rams. He played college foot ...

Neal Colzie Cornelius Connie Colzie, better known as Neal Colzie, (February 28, 1953 – August 20, 2001) was an American football cornerback for the Oakland Raiders (1975–1978), Miami Dolphins (1979), and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1980–1983). He also playe ...

John Hicks Sir John Richards Hicks (8 April 1904 – 20 May 1989) was a British economist. He is considered one of the most important and influential economists of the twentieth century. The most familiar of his many contributions in the field of economic ...

Rick Middleton Richard David "Nifty" Middleton (born December 4, 1953) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player for the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League. Playing career As a youth, Middleton played in the 1966 Que ...

, and

Randy Gradishar Randy Charles Gradishar (born March 3, 1952) is an American former professional football player who was a middle linebacker in the 1970s and 1980s for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). A native of Ohio, Gradishar was a tw ...

Legacy

Sports announcer

Keith Jackson Keith Max Jackson (October 18, 1928 – January 12, 2018) was an American sports commentator, journalist, author, and radio personality, known for his career with ABC Sports (1966–2006). While he covered a variety of sports over his caree ...

identified the 1972 USC Trojans as the greatest team he ever saw. Sportswriter

Beano Cook Carroll Hoff "Beano" Cook (September 1, 1931 – October 11, 2012) was an American television personality who worked for ESPN. He was a college football historian and commentator. He received his B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1954. ...

placed them at third of his all time teams on the basis of that assertion.Beano Cook
All-time top 25: '47 Irish were greatest
ESPN.com, August 1, 2007. ''The Sporting News'' ranked the 1972 Trojans in their top 25 greatest teams.

Quotes

"I never saw any team that could beat them," USC head coach John McKay said.

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a U.S. state, state in the Northwestern United States, Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first President of the United States, U.S. p ...
head coach Jim Sweeney disagreed. "USC's not the No. 1 team in the country," said Sweeney, whose Cougars endured a to the Trojans. "The 972Miami Dolphins are better."

References

Bibliography

*University of Southern California football media guide. (PDF copy available a
www.usctrojans.com
*Ohio State University football media guide. (PDF copy available a
www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com
*''College Football's Twenty-Five Greatest Teams'':

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

. * {{USC Trojans bowl game navbox Rose Bowl Rose Bowl Game Ohio State Buckeyes football bowl games USC Trojans football bowl games January 1973 sports events in the United States Rose Bowl