Rose Bowl
1986
UCLA 45
Iowa 28
PASADENA, Calif.- Eric Ball, a second-string freshman tailback,
scored four touchdowns and ran for 227 yards today as U.C.L.A. continued
its Rose Bowl domination of Big Ten teams by upsetting favored Iowa,
45-28. Chuck Long of Iowa, the nation's best senior quarterback in the
regular season was completely stymied and unable to rescue the Hawkeyes
as he has done so many times. Ronnie Harmon, the Iowa tailback, lost
four fumbles in the first half, leaving him with thorny memories of the
72nd Rose Bowl, played before a crowd of 103,292. It was U.C.L.A.'s
third Rose Bowl victory in the last four years and the Pac-10's fifth
straight triumph over the Big Ten. The Pac 10 champions have won 17 of
the last 21 Rose Bowls.
Ball, the Bruins main weapon today, is a 220-pound, 6-footer from
Ypsilanti, Mich., who was redshirted last season. He scored touchdowns
on runs of 40, 30,6, and 32 yards, meaning that 108 of his 227 yards
resulted in 24 points (video). He easily won the Rose Bowl's most valuable
player award. U.C.L.A. had another, big hero in Matt Stevens, the
substitute quarterback who learned only two days ago he would start in
place of David Norrie, who had not recovered sufficiently from a pulled
muscle in his right thigh. Stevens passed for one touchdown and went in
on a half-yard quarterback sneak for another score. "I was nervous
before the game." Said Stevens. Then I sort of came down to earth and my
teammates gave me confidence."
Ball, who grew up three miles from the University of Michigan's football
stadium, said, "I didn't anticipate so much running today but had to
when Gaston Green was hurt." Green, the sophomore No. 1 tailback for
U.C.L.A., pulled a leg muscle in the second quarter so Ball had to do
all the work instead of sharing it with Green as was the original plan.
Ball's four touchdowns fell one short of the Rose Bowl record set by
Neil Snow of Michigan in the first Rose Bowl game in 1902.
Long, who completed 29 of 37 passes for 319 yards and a touchdown for
Iowa was sacked for a total of 34 yards and was penalized once for
intentionally grounding the ball. Hayden Fry, Iowa's coach, had to
swallow another bitter pill of Rose Bowl defeat just four years after
his Hawkeyes were upset by Washington, 28-0, in the 1982 game. He said
before this game that he wanted "to amend" that result. But Fry conceded
that the turnovers had hurt his team.
"Ronnie Harmon ran as hard as anyone on the field when he had the ball,"
the coach said of his tailback from Bayside, Queens. He fumbled one time
the whole year before tonight. Ronnie is a great person, and he is very
hurt right now. It happens to all great athletes at one time and it's a
shame it happened in the Rose Bowl." “It's one of those things," Harmon
said after his last game for Iowa. "It was probably the worst day I ever
had my four years at Iowa, but you can't look back. I feel fine now,"
Asked if he could ever forget those four fumbles, Harmon said, "That's
like asking me if I can forget my broken leg.” He suffered a broken leg
in the 1984 season. Donahue called Iowa a good team, then added, "But
when you turn it over against another good team you have trouble."
The victory today left Iowa with a 10-2 record for the season. U.C.L.A.,
which was upset by Southern California in the regular-season finale,
finished at 9-2-1. Iowa scored first, getting a touchdown on a l yard
leap by the fullback, David Hudson after Nate Creer intercepted a
Stevens pass at midfield. U.C.L.A. came right back, however, and drove
79 yards, to tie the game, scoring on Ball’s 30 yard run. John Lee put
U.C.L.A. ahead, 10-7, when he kicked a 42-yard field goal shortly after
Harmon lost his second fumble at the Iowa 44. Two plays later Harmon
lost his third fumble of the first period at the Iowa 34. But the Bruins
failed to make anything of this and when Iowa took over, the Hawkeyes
tied it at 10-10 on Rob Houghtlin's 24-yard field goal.
U.C.L.A. came right back and went 69 yards in four plays, getting a
touchdown on Ball's 40 yard sweep to the right. The run put the Bruins
ahead to stay. They got their 24-10 halftime lead by scoring three plays
after Harmon lost his fourth fumble at the U.C.L.A 48. Harmon thus
equaled by himself in one half the record for fumbles lost by a team in
a Rose Bowl game. Long scored for Iowa on a 4-yard keeper at the outset
of the second half. But U.C.L.A. just kept pouring it on as the Hawkeyes
gave up more points than in any other game this season.
Asked what he thought of Ball, Fry said, "I didn't know who he was, they
were all running by me so fast."
Rob Houghtlin tied the game at 10-10
UCLA's Tommy Taylor stops this running play
Matt Stevens unleashes a pass
Fighting for one extra yard
Attendance- 103,292
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
UI- Hudson 1 run (Houghtlin kick)
UCLA- Ball 30 run (Lee kick)
UCLA- FG Lee 42
Second Quarter
UI- FG Houghtlin 24
UCLA- Ball 40 run (Lee kick)
UCLA- Ball 6 run (Lee kick)
Third Quarter
Iowa- Long 4 run (Houghtlin kick)
UCLA- Sherrard 6 pass from Stevens (Lee kick)
UCLA- Ball 32 run (Lee kick)
Fourth Quarter
UI- FG Houghtlin 52
UCLA- Stevens 1 run (Lee kick)
UI- Happel 11 pass from Long (K. Harmon run)
Individual Statistics
Rushing
UI- R. Harmon 14-55, Hudson 13-53
UCLA- Ball 22-227, Green 13-46, Farr 5-42
Passing
UI- Long 29-37-319
UCLA- Stevens 16-26-189
Receiving
UI- R. Harmon 11-102, Happel 6-89, Flagg 3-55, Smith 4-44
UCLA- Dorrell 3-59, Sherrard 4-48, Tennell 3-30
