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Rose Bowl 1961
Washington 17 Minnesota 7
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Washington, 9-1 under fourth-year coach Jim Owens, entered the 1961
Rose Bowl as defending champions but decided underdogs. The Minnesota
Gophers, 8-1 and coached by Murray Warmath, entered the game atop the
national polls. They had won the UPI National Championship (in that day
voted before the bowls) by the slimmest of margins over fellow Big 10
member, Iowa.
The Huskies scored their first points in a fourth-down-and-three
situation on Minnesota's 27-yard line. Halfback George Fleming kicked a
44-yard field goal, putting Washington on the scoreboard first and
Fleming into the Rose Bowl record book with the longest field goal kick
in its history.
Quarterback Bob Schloredt, who missed the second half of the season
with an injury, entered the game in the first quarter replacing starter
Bob Hivner. Schloredt promptly fired a 12-yard pass to fullback Ray
Jackson. Jackson followed the reception with a 30-yard run to the Gopher
30. Three line plunges later, the ball rested on the Gopher 18 as the
first quarter ended. The Huskies were using mostly outside tosses to
advance the ball, a pattern the Gophers did not adjust to defensively
until the second half.
Charlie Mitchell, a Husky halfback, took a toss around the right side
for another 10 yards to the Gopher 8 to open the second quarter.
Schloredt advanced to the 3-yard line, losing the opportunity to score
when he slipped. After an incomplete pass, Schloredt hit halfback Brent
Wooten with a 3-yard toss for the first touchdown in the 47th annual
Rose Bowl game. Fleming's extra point put the Dawgs up 10-0.
Still unable to move against the fast-reacting Washington line,
Minnesota punted. A clipping penalty on the return left the Huskies on
their own 13, and they lost six yards on their first play. Schloredt
punted from the 7-yard line to the Husky 47. Minnesota took over with
its first good scoring chance but the Gophers could not convert. The
Gophers drove to the 32 and then turned the ball over on downs.
Washington
quickly marched down the field. Jackson carried for 10 yards and then
Fleming took a pitch to the 48. Faced with a second-and-two, Schloredt
called his own number on the quarterback sneak. Minnesota was expecting
an outside play. Schloredt slid through the middle, broke loose to the
right, picked up an important block from end Folkins, and didn't get
caught until he was dragged down on the 18, a 31-yard gain. Jackson
gained 3 up the middle, then Schloredt rolled out and carried the ball
to the 7-yard line. Jackson carried it to the 1-foot line and Schloredt
scored the touchdown on a sneak. With Fleming's PAT, Washington had 17
points-all that the Huskies would score-and a 17-0 lead at the half.
The halftime show at the 1961 Rose Bowl provided one of the classic
moments in all of college bowl history. The Washington cheerleaders had
planned a flip card presentation for the half-time show, with 2,232
Washington students holding cards in designated area of the
stands. There were to be fifteen images shown from the stands with a
national television audience watching the halftime show as the UW band
performed. Images one through eleven appeared as planned, But the
twelfth image was supposed to be a Husky dog. It instead appeared to be
a beaver. Although shocked, the cheerleaders ordered the crowd to
continue with the flip presentation. The next image was supposed to
spell out "HUSKIES". Instead, the word "SEIKSUH" appeared (Huskies
backward). The placards were totally backward. When the fourteenth image
appeared, it read "CAL TECH". This was broadcast to the world and the UW
band quit playing a marched off the field. The stadium fell completely
quiet. The fifteenth and final display was never shown.
The start of the second half saw a stunned national and stadium
audience sit back for what they hoped would be a more even contest. But,
Minnesota scored its only points of the game in the third quarter,
taking advantage of one of Washington's three fumbles to set to work on
the Husky 32. The Gophers drove 32 yards, scoring on an 18-yard option
play. Right halfback Bill Munsey took the pitch from Gopher quarterback
Sandy Stephens, scoring on his third carry of the day. James Rogers
added the PAT. Schloredt was named Most Valuable Player, the second time in as many years he was accorded the honor. By virtue of the victory, Washington finished #6 in the final AP poll. The Golden Gophers had earned their sixth national championship and first-ever trip to the Rose Bowl that season. It is probably fitting that the game featured limited drama. For this reason, it is chiefly remembered as the "Cal Tech Flip Card Hoax" Rose Bowl.
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| George Fleming carries for a big gain against the Gophers. | |
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| Charley Mitchell returns a punt. | |
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| Minnesota’s QB Stephens (#15) and running backs Mulholland (#40) and Hagberg (#36) racked up 202 yards rushing | |
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| Making a first down, Charlie Mitchell is upended by Sandy Stephens (15). | |
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Schloredt (15) breaks through the Minnesota line for 31 yards. |
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Cal Tech Engineering and Science, January 1961 |
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Attendance: 97,314
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A group of Cal Tech students now known as the "Fiendish Fourteen" had
been upset at not being well represented in the Rose Bowl Parade. One of
the students obtained an original instruction for the entire flip card
presentation from a Washington cheerleader simply by asking for it, the
cheerleader believing he was being interviewed by a reporter. Using the
original sheets, 2,232 copies made. When the changes were made, the Cal
Tech students switched the cards and instruction sheets while the
cheerleaders enjoyed a day at Disneyland.
