1923 Rose Bowl
Encyclopedia
The 1923 Rose Bowl, played on January 1, 1923, was an American Football
bowl game
. It was the 9th Rose Bowl Game
. The USC Trojans defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions
14-3. Leo Calland
, a USC guard, was named the Rose Bowl Player of the Game when the award was created in 1953 and selections were made retroactively. It was the very first Tournament of Roses football game held in the newly constructed Rose Bowl Stadium. The 1923 Rose Bowl was actually the fourth USC football game played in the stadium. The stadium was dedicated officially on January 1, although Cal had defeated USC in the very first game in the stadium on October 28, 1922. USC defeated Idaho and Washington State in the new stadium to close out their season. It was the very first bowl game appearance for both the University of Southern California
and Pennsylvania State University
football teams.
The game now known as the Rose Bowl Game was played at Tournament Park
until 1922. Organizers of the Tournament of Roses realized that the temporary stands were inadequate for a crowd of 40,000+, and sought to build a better, permanent stadium.
The Rose Bowl was designed by architect Myron Hunt
in 1921. His design was influenced by the Yale Bowl
(New Haven, Connecticut
, built 1914). The Arroyo Seco
dry riverbed was selected as the location for the stadium. The Rose Bowl was under construction from 1921 to 1922.
A number of regular season games were played there before the actual Tournament of Roses football game to try out the new stadium. USC played three games there. Olympic Club also played a football game there.
The Lions tied Syracuse 0–0 at the Polo Grounds
in New York city in front of their largest seasonal crowd to date, 25,000. Then the Nittany Lions lost to Navy 0–14 in Washington D.C., breaking a 30-game undefeated streak on November 3. Despite the loss, the Tournament selection committee re-affirmed its choice. They beat Carnegie Tech, but the Tournament committee still faced controversy. They re-affirmed their decision again. The Nittany Lions then lost to in-state rivals Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh.
for the USC Trojans. The first PCC conference game was against California. The very first game in the Rose Bowl stadium was the regular season contest on October 28, 1922 when Cal
defeated USC
12-0. This was the only loss for USC, and California finished the season undefeated. Cal declined the invitation to the 1923 Rose Bowl game by vote of the associated students. This made the deciding games to be whether Cal would defeat Washington by more than 12, and whether USC would defeat Stanford on November 11. USC went on to beat Occidental and Stanford. The Trojans then played Idaho, and Washington State in the new Rose Bowl stadium and defeated both. The Trojans actually finished fourth in the PCC behind Cal, Oregon, and Washington. The PCC committee held a mail vote. The Trojans were given the berth on the basis of the defeat of Washington State and the tie between Washington and Oregon on Thanksgiving Day. The Trojans received six of eight conference votes.
by train on December 19. They stopped in Chicago and the Grand Canyon
. They arrived in Pasadena, California
on
December 24. The Nittany Lions worked out in the Rose Bowl stadium, alternating with the Trojans. Lions coach Bezdek was noted for changing their play style frequently.
The morning of the game on January 1, the team watched the Tournament of Roses Parade
. The Lions left in several taxi cabs at 11 a.m. for the drive to the Rose Bowl, but as the 2:15 p.m. kickoff approached, the team was delayed by post-parade traffic. Only after the cab drivers drove over the lawns of local residents, did the Penn State team finally reach the Rose
Bowl stadium.
When the team arrived, they found kickoff already had been delayed by 10 minutes. Penn State coach Hugo Bezdek and USC coach Gus Henderson almost came to blows as Bezdek successfully lobbied game officials for additional warmup time. The game finally started an hour late and ended in moonlight, with sportswriters lighting matches in order to finish their stories.
Penn State scored first on a 20-yard drop-kick field goal by Mike Palm
. Roy "Bullet" Baker rushed for 123 yards and one touchdown for the Trojans. The Lions were held to five first downs and 104 yards.
, USC has appeared 32 times in the Rose Bowl game, more than any other school.
The nearby Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
also was under construction during this time and would be completed in May 1923. It would become the home stadium for USC. The Rose Bowl was completed earlier. Originally built as a horseshoe, the Rose Bowl stadium was expanded several times over the years.
Penn State's share of the proceeds, $21,349.64, was directed toward the $2 million Emergency Building Fund and in particular the construction of Varsity Hall (now Irvin Hall) on campus.
The game was the first USC game attended by Giles Pellerin
, at the time a high school student; Pellerin, who became known as the "Super Fan", would go on to attend 797 consecutive USC football games over a period of 73 years until his death at age 91 just outside the same stadium in 1998.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
bowl game
Bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...
. It was the 9th Rose Bowl Game
Rose Bowl Game
The Rose Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2...
. The USC Trojans defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions
Penn State Nittany Lions football
The Penn State Nittany Lions football team represents the Pennsylvania State University in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference. It is one of the most tradition-rich and storied college football programs in the...
14-3. Leo Calland
Leo Calland
Leo B. Calland was an American football and basketball player and coach who later became a San Diego city parks administrator...
, a USC guard, was named the Rose Bowl Player of the Game when the award was created in 1953 and selections were made retroactively. It was the very first Tournament of Roses football game held in the newly constructed Rose Bowl Stadium. The 1923 Rose Bowl was actually the fourth USC football game played in the stadium. The stadium was dedicated officially on January 1, although Cal had defeated USC in the very first game in the stadium on October 28, 1922. USC defeated Idaho and Washington State in the new stadium to close out their season. It was the very first bowl game appearance for both the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
and Pennsylvania State University
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
football teams.
Stadium
Tournament Park
Tournament Park is a private park maintained by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. It was simply known as the "town lot" before renamed Tournament Park in 1900. It is best known for being the site of the first Rose Bowl Game in 1902, and the second to eighth Rose Bowl...
until 1922. Organizers of the Tournament of Roses realized that the temporary stands were inadequate for a crowd of 40,000+, and sought to build a better, permanent stadium.
The Rose Bowl was designed by architect Myron Hunt
Myron Hunt
Myron Hunt was an American architect whose numerous projects include many noted landmarks in Southern California...
in 1921. His design was influenced by the Yale Bowl
Yale Bowl
The Yale Bowl is a football stadium in New Haven, Connecticut on the border of West Haven, about 1½ miles west of Yale's main campus. Completed in 1914, the stadium seats 61,446, reduced by renovations from the original capacity of 70,869...
(New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
, built 1914). The Arroyo Seco
Arroyo Seco (Los Angeles County)
The Arroyo Seco, meaning "dry stream" in Spanish, is a seasonal river, canyon, watershed, and cultural area in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The Arroyo Seco has been called the most celebrated canyon in Southern California.-River course:...
dry riverbed was selected as the location for the stadium. The Rose Bowl was under construction from 1921 to 1922.
A number of regular season games were played there before the actual Tournament of Roses football game to try out the new stadium. USC played three games there. Olympic Club also played a football game there.
Penn State Nittany Lions
In the 1921 season, Penn State was 8–0–2 with wins over Navy, Georgia Tech, and Washington. In the 1922 season the Lions opened with wins over St. Bonaventure, William and Mary, Gettysburg, Lebanon Valley. By mid October they were viewed as a likely candidate to be invited to play in the Rose Bowl. On October 21, the Nittany Lions got their fifth straight season win against Middlebury for their homecoming game. Penn State was officially extended an invitation by the Tournament committee, and they accepted.The Lions tied Syracuse 0–0 at the Polo Grounds
Polo Grounds
The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963...
in New York city in front of their largest seasonal crowd to date, 25,000. Then the Nittany Lions lost to Navy 0–14 in Washington D.C., breaking a 30-game undefeated streak on November 3. Despite the loss, the Tournament selection committee re-affirmed its choice. They beat Carnegie Tech, but the Tournament committee still faced controversy. They re-affirmed their decision again. The Nittany Lions then lost to in-state rivals Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh.
USC Trojans
The Trojans opened 5-0 to start the season. This was the first season of competition in the Pacific Coast ConferencePacific Coast Conference
The Pacific Coast Conference was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pacific-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, the older league had a completely different charter and was disbanded in 1959 due to a major crisis...
for the USC Trojans. The first PCC conference game was against California. The very first game in the Rose Bowl stadium was the regular season contest on October 28, 1922 when Cal
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
defeated USC
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
12-0. This was the only loss for USC, and California finished the season undefeated. Cal declined the invitation to the 1923 Rose Bowl game by vote of the associated students. This made the deciding games to be whether Cal would defeat Washington by more than 12, and whether USC would defeat Stanford on November 11. USC went on to beat Occidental and Stanford. The Trojans then played Idaho, and Washington State in the new Rose Bowl stadium and defeated both. The Trojans actually finished fourth in the PCC behind Cal, Oregon, and Washington. The PCC committee held a mail vote. The Trojans were given the berth on the basis of the defeat of Washington State and the tie between Washington and Oregon on Thanksgiving Day. The Trojans received six of eight conference votes.
Game summary
The 29-member Penn State traveling party left State College, PennsylvaniaState College, Pennsylvania
State College is the largest borough in Centre County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is the principal city of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Centre County. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 42,034, and roughly double...
by train on December 19. They stopped in Chicago and the Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, the 15th national park in the United States...
. They arrived in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
on
December 24. The Nittany Lions worked out in the Rose Bowl stadium, alternating with the Trojans. Lions coach Bezdek was noted for changing their play style frequently.
The morning of the game on January 1, the team watched the Tournament of Roses Parade
Tournament of Roses Parade
The Tournament of Roses Parade, better known as the Rose Parade, is "America's New Year Celebration", a festival of flower-covered floats, marching bands, equestrians and a college football game on New Year's Day , produced by the non-profit Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association.The annual...
. The Lions left in several taxi cabs at 11 a.m. for the drive to the Rose Bowl, but as the 2:15 p.m. kickoff approached, the team was delayed by post-parade traffic. Only after the cab drivers drove over the lawns of local residents, did the Penn State team finally reach the Rose
Bowl stadium.
When the team arrived, they found kickoff already had been delayed by 10 minutes. Penn State coach Hugo Bezdek and USC coach Gus Henderson almost came to blows as Bezdek successfully lobbied game officials for additional warmup time. The game finally started an hour late and ended in moonlight, with sportswriters lighting matches in order to finish their stories.
Penn State scored first on a 20-yard drop-kick field goal by Mike Palm
Mike Palm (American football)
Myron Herrick Palm was a professional football player in the National Football League for the New York Giants. He was also a player-coach in 1933 for the NFL's Cincinnati Reds. He was also the owner and head coach of the Brooklyn-Rochester Tigers of the second American Football League from 1936-1937...
. Roy "Bullet" Baker rushed for 123 yards and one touchdown for the Trojans. The Lions were held to five first downs and 104 yards.
Aftermath
As of the 2007 football season and 2008 Rose Bowl2008 Rose Bowl
The 2008 Rose Bowl Game presented by Citi, the 94th Rose Bowl Game, played on January 1, 2008 at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California, was a college football bowl game. The contest was televised on ABC, the 20th straight year the network aired the Rose Bowl, starting at 4:30pm EST...
, USC has appeared 32 times in the Rose Bowl game, more than any other school.
The nearby Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team...
also was under construction during this time and would be completed in May 1923. It would become the home stadium for USC. The Rose Bowl was completed earlier. Originally built as a horseshoe, the Rose Bowl stadium was expanded several times over the years.
Penn State's share of the proceeds, $21,349.64, was directed toward the $2 million Emergency Building Fund and in particular the construction of Varsity Hall (now Irvin Hall) on campus.
The game was the first USC game attended by Giles Pellerin
Giles Pellerin
Giles L. Pellerin , nicknamed the Superfan or Super Fan, was an American telephone company executive and a fan of the University of Southern California Trojans college football team, notable for having attended 797 consecutive USC football games over a period of 73 years until his death at age 91...
, at the time a high school student; Pellerin, who became known as the "Super Fan", would go on to attend 797 consecutive USC football games over a period of 73 years until his death at age 91 just outside the same stadium in 1998.