What most people think of when it comes to the Rose Bowl is the stadium itself, followed by the “traditional” game matchup between the Midwest’s B1G Conference and the West Coast’s Pacific-12 Conference. The reality is that the matchup didn’t start out that way; the stadium itself was not built until more than 20 years after the “first” Rose Bowl game; and the traditional matchup went by the wayside lately. Fact(s) check!

We’re taking some time today on Rose Bowl Friday this offseason to delineate some details about the first game to retroactively be called a “Rose Bowl”: the January 1, 1902 game between Michigan and Stanford. What follows below is just some clarity on the actual facts surrounding the season itself, the participating teams, the college football landscape of the time, and the game itself. Enjoy this historical-accuracy data:

  • The contemporary name of the game at the time was the Tournament East–West football game. Much like the “Super Bowl” lore, the term “Rose Bowl” has been retroactively applied to this matchup between Michigan and Stanford;
  • Michigan Head Coach Fielding Yost had been the Stanford head coach the prior season (1900), so he probably knew exactly what he was facing in his opponent. Think about the 2002 Super Bowl for a modern-day example of this kind of “scouting” when putting the 49-0 final score in context;
  • Stanford actually asked for the game to be suspended with 8 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. After a scoreless first quarter, Michigan scored its 49 points in the second (17) and third quarters (32). Overall, the first half was 35 minutes long, and the second half was 27 minutes long;
  • The game was played at Tournament Park, as the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena was not built until 1923. Temporary stands were constrcuted for spectators, so this wasn’t even a real football stadium at all, and the sport was very different than it is now (no forward passes, for example);
  • While Michigan’s 1901 season is an official one in the NCAA record books for some reason (see below), Stanford’s season is not. Today, this would be like a Power 5 conference team taking on a NAIA team, so the score itself should not be taken as anything other than a poorly scheduled exhibition game;
  • Of Michigan’s 11 victories in 1901, only 6 of the wins came against opponents which teams are considered official teams in the NCAA records. In addition to Stanford, Michigan beat 4 other “unofficial” school teams, meaning almost half its schedule was against significantly lesser competition;
  • Michigan actually punted 21 times in this game, while Stanford punted just 16 times. However, Stanford fumbled the ball 9 times in comparison to Michigan’s single fumble. Again, no forward passes were attempted in this game, as those were against the rules of the sport at the time;
  • Stanford would next play in the “Rose Bowl” after the conclusion of the 1924 season, while Michigan would not return to the Rose Bowl until after the 1947 season.

The next “Rose Bowl” was not played again until January 1, 1916, when Washington State beat Brown, 14-0. That WSU season also is not considered an official NCAA season, although Brown’s season is considered one. Therefore, that was a huge upset. Sometime soon, we will check back on that game, which remains the only “Rose Bowl” ever won by the Cougars despite their long affiliation with the Granddaddy of Them All.