The 1951 Rose Bowl was the 37th edition of the

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

, played at the Rose Bowl in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, 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 commerci ...

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 National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except wo ...

, champions of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

, 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 te ...

, champions of the

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a collegiate 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 (includin ...

, 14–6. Michigan fullback

Don Dufek Donald Patrick Dufek Jr. (born April 28, 1954) is an American former professional football player who was a safety and special teamer for eight seasons with the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football ...

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

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Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

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, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

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 professional football player who was a linebacker for the Los Angeles Rams of National Football League (NFL). He also served as the head of operations for NASCAR and presid ...

kick failed)

Third quarter

:''No scoring''

Fourth quarter

* Michigan -

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

Game notes

* Chuck Ortmann 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's ...

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

, 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 Board of Supervisors, 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 Se ...

in 1972. * California's record in the Rose Bowl fell to 2–4–1; their next (and most recent)

appearance Appearance may refer to: * Visual appearance, the way in which objects reflect and transmit light * Human physical appearance, what someone looks like * ''Appearances'' (film), a 1921 film directed by Donald Crisp * Appearance (philosophy), or ...

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, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

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 Yijian ...

and

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees through all 11 of the universit ...

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 thir ...

, and both resulted in wins for the Big Ten. With the PCC's dissolution in the spring of 1959, the succeeding

AAWU The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

(Big Five) abolished that rule, and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

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 * Janu ...

and

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

. Although

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

appeared in consecutive Rose Bowls in 1961 and

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

, (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 Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

, when runner-up

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

edged unranked

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

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 20th century in Pasadena, California California Golden Bears football bowl games Michigan Wolverines football bowl games 1951 in sports in California January 1951 sports events in the United States