Rose Bowl
1962
Minnesota 21
UCLA 3
In the days before the BCS,
the days before the Big 10-PAC 10 automatic Rose Bowl match-up, the West
Coast champion would decide who there opponent was to be in the New
Year’s Day game. In 1960, the Big Five (the forerunner to today's Pac-10
conference) decided to offer its 1961 Rose Bowl bid to the number-one
team in the nation instead of the Big Ten champion.. Fortunately for the
Big 10, the 8-1 Minnesota Gophers were the number one team in the nation
following the regular season. It would be the first Rose Bowl appearance
in history for Minnesota. On New Year’s Day, the Gophers came out flat
and lost to Washington, 17-7. The West Coast press was merciless in its
criticism of the Minnesota program, implying that the Gophers had been
overrated.
In the off season, Coach Murray Warmath’s Gophers regrouped, determined
to avenge the loss. The team returned quarterback Sandy Stephens and
All-American Bobby Bell. Stephens was the first African-American
quarterback chosen as All-American. He had taken Minnesota from last
place in the Big 10 in 1959 to the National Championship in 1960.
But, in that era, the final polls were conducted before the bowls were
played. Because of the Rose Bowl loss, Stephens had detractors
who said that he, or any black quarterback, couldn’t win the big game.
Minnesota played well in 1961, but finished second in the Big 10
at 7-2 to Ohio State. However, at OSU the Faculty Council voted to
decline the Rose Bowl invitation which set off student demonstrations in
Columbus for two nights. Several thousand marched four miles downtown to
the state capitol and finally university, city, and state police had to
restore order. But, for the University of Minnesota football team, it
was a miracle and a return to Pasadena.
UCLA (7-3) was coached by Bill Barnes. They utilized the old single wing
offense which was rapidly becoming obsolete in the early 60’s. The
Bruins plan was to stop the outside rollouts of Stephens. Minnesota
hoped to use its experience the previous year to take it to the Bruins
from the start. But it was UCLA that scored first, thanks to a 28-yard
field goal by Bob Smith seven minutes into the game. Minnesota,
remembering Washington’s 17-0 first-half lead the previous year,
answered on the next series following a fumble recovery when Stephens
scored on a one-yard plunge with 2:42 to go in the first quarter. Then,
midway through the second quarter, with the ball on the UCLA 40,
Minnesota went for it on fourth down. Stephens’ quarterback sneak
surprised the Bruins, and he picked up four yards and the first down.
Later in the same series, Bill Munsey scored from three yards out on
another fourth-down play, giving the Golden Gophers a 14-3 lead.
The defenses took over
after halftime and neither team could mount a threat for much of the
second half. But late in the game, Stephens directed an 84-yard, 19-play
drive, and scored his second touchdown of the game from two yards out.
That TD ended whatever faint hope UCLA had of rallying for the win.
Minnesota had made good in its comeback, winning 21-3.
UCLA'S defense was designed to stop the outside rollouts of Sandy Stephens, but it couldn’t cope with the inside game that Minnesota turned to. Coach Warmath was carried off the field and Stephens had earned the respect of a generation of football fans and the West Coast press. The game is remembered also for being the first coast-to-coast color telecast of a college football game. It was televised nationwide by NBC.
Cartoon from the Sporting News
Attendance: 98,214
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
UCLA- FG Smith 28
UM- Stephens 1 run (Loechler kick)
Second Quarter
UM- Munsey 3 run (Loechler kick)
Fourth Quarter
UM- Stephens 2 run (Loechler kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing
UM- Stephens 12-46, Dickson 12-45
UCLA- Alexander 10-48, Thompson 6-12
Passing
UM- Stephens 7-11-75
UCLA- Smith 2-5-22
Receiving
UM- Cairns 2-24, Deegan 2-23
UCLA- Alexander 3-26
