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Rose Bowl 1929
Georgia Tech 8 California 7
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By VICTOR G. SIDLER Associated Press Sports Writer
While thousands of California of followers, part of a throng of 70,000 that filled the picturesque Rose Bowl to capacity, were amazed almost beyond belief, Roy Riegels, center and captain-elect of the Bears’ aggregation, dashed to his goal line after recovering a Tech fumble. California tried to kick out of danger, but the punt was blocked and a safety furnished Georgia Tech the winning point.
It was a team that was out battled through virtually the greater part of the struggle that emerged with the laurels of victory, but it was an aggregation of ball hawks, taking advantage of every break coming their way. The Tornado men were outplayed through most of the first half, and in the final quarter when the Bears, lashed by impending defeat, staged a mighty finish to put across seven points.
Facing a demoralized foe at the start of the third quarter, the Tornado blazed a trail to the California goal line in a crashing drive that the Bears checked once, but found too desperate to hold a second time. Warner Mizell, brilliant halfback, and "Stumpy" Thomason, his squat and powerful running mate, on two plays scored from California's 45-yard line.
The opening of the final period saw the launching of a last hope drive by the Bears that could not be denied. Eighty yards the brilliant passing and plunging of Benny Lom, versatile halfback, carried the westerners to a score. Lee Eisan, quarterback, and Captain Irvine Phillips, end, received Lom's varied heaves, the latter crossing the goal line. Stanley Barr, halfback, accounted for the extra point.
The prowess of southern football, already placed on a lush pedestal in Rose Bowl competition, was raised to greater heights by the victory of Tech. The Golden Tornado’s victory gave the South a preponderance of wins in the three games that that section has been represented in. Dixie footballers have taken home two wins, and deadlocked in the other.
In a first period, replete with throbbing moments, the Bears swept the Tornado men off their feet. A 37-yard thrust by Lom brought the ball down the field and the Bears held an offensive advantage almost throughout. The westerners reached Tech's 21-yard line, a blow from which the Dixie warriors did not recover until late in the quarter. But the Tornado lifted itself to swirl to California’s 37-yard line, mainly in the form of a twisting 33-yard run by Mizell.
The second quarter was as thrilling as the first and even more heart tingling. It saw the southerners score a safety on one of the greatest “boners" in gridiron history; saw California drive through the air to Tech's 25-yard line; saw the southerners put underway a counter attack that carried them to the Bear 14 yard marker, and saw California's rise in crescendo to a 68-yard dash by Lom across the opposition’s goal, only to be blasted by a penalty.
A groan echoed through the huge stadium as the two teams lined up, the fighters of Dixie determined to block the kick. Riegels passed to Lom in back of his goal line, but the kick was blocked and Barr fell on the ball, giving Tech a safety.
Riegels, one of the outstanding centers on the coast during the 1928 season, was replaced and, as he walked to the players bench, was given a cheer.
The Golden Tornado left a routed Bear aggregation as it gathered force for another swoop at the West's bulkwarks. Picking up the oval on its own 45-yard line following an exchange of punts, the Southern Tempest stormed to California's 14-yard marker, with a 22-yard pass, Dunlap to Jones featuring.
The Dixie whirlwind twisted and tore at the Bears in the third period, crushing California hopes by sweeping across the West's goal line. Taking the ball on California's 30-yard line after an exchange of fumbles, Tech started on a drive that all but ended in a score.
Mizell hit center for four yards and Lumpkin three more to put the ball on the 3-yard line. Lumpkin chopped through center for two. Lumpkin was held for no gain on the next play, however, and Lom, punting for California, sent the ball out of danger with a long kick to midfield.
It was but a brief respite, however, for the next play started the Tornado again. Dunlap packed the ball to California's 45-yard line. Mizell slashed around left end for 30 yards and the southerners were on their foes' 15-yard marker. Thomason, cutting back through tackle, twisted across the line for a touchdown. His kick for the extra point was low and wide.
Riegels came back in this period to erase part of the stigma of his earlier mistake. He blocked one of Mizell's kicks and recovered the oval on the Tech 28 yard line, but his efforts went for naught as two attempts to penetrate the southern line resulted in material losses.
California had the edge on yards gained from scrimmage, making 169 yards to Georgia Tech's 164. California made thirteen first downs while the southerners made six. Of the fifteen passes tried, the Bears completed seven. Georgia passed three times and completed once.
California gained 112 yards by aerial plays, Tech gained 35. The Bears punted eight times for a total of 367 yards, averaging 45 yards to the kick. Their opponents punted ten times for a total of 382 yards, averaging 39 yards to the kick.
Mizell proved the best ground gainer of the game, making 136 yards in eleven plays. Lom, the outstanding ball carrier for California, carried the ball thirteen times for a total gain of 121 yards, an average of 9.3 yards to the play.
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| Roy Riegels heads toward history. | |
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A dejected Riegels walks from field. |
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Sequential photos of Riegels' wrong way run. |
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Cal's Russell Avery makes a leaping catch of a long pass. |
Cal's Benny Lom goes 37 yards around end on game's second play. |
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Tech's Warner Mizell carries around right end. |
"Stumpy" Thomason bursts free for Tech's winning score. |
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The "Wrong Way Run" has become a part of American pop history. |
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Attendance: 70,000 Scoring Summary
Second Quarter GT- Safety, Maree block Lom punt in endzone.
Third Quarter GT- Thomason 15 run (kick failed)
Fourth Quarter CAL- Phillips 10 yard pass
from Lom (Barr kick) CAL- Lom 13-121 |
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Rose
Bowl, Pasadena, Calif. Jan. 2 (AP) The Georgia Tech gridmen, a Golden
Tornado which rose out of ranks of the South to win the right to
represent the East, rode one of football's strangest breaks to a
spectacular 8 to 7 victory over California's Golden Bears, standard
bearers of the West in the annual New Year's Day classic here yesterday.
A brace of heaves, with Lom hurling, and
plunges by Barr and Schmidt, plunked the Bears down on their foe’s 25
yard line, but they lost the ball on downs when a pass, Lom to Barr,
failed. Then came the "boner" that gave the southerners first blood.
Stumpy Thomason, Tech halfback, fumbled on the first play, Riegels
recovering. The sturdy center started then for the Tech goal and
reversed suddenly to run 75 yards to within a foot of his own goal line.
As he was about to step over the line, a teammate, Lom, caught up with
him and pulled him back.
