Rose Bowl Friday takes its first look at a unique kind of Granddaddy of Them All: played on January 2 for the first time (due to the first day of the year falling on a Sunday) and the first tie game as well (a scoreless tie, to boot!). That’s a lot to unpack here today, as we examine the matchup between the Washington & Jefferson Presidents and the defending champions, the California Golden Bears. Sounds like fun, eh?

[Oh, and this was the last “Rose Bowl” played at Tournament Park, as the titular stadium would open soon.]

The Presidents went 10-0 against a mediocre schedule, featuring only 4 major-college teams: Lehigh, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia. Meanwhile, the Golden Bears posted a 9-0 mark against a worse schedule, with only Oregon, Washington, Washington State, and Stanford measuring up as major competition. On paper, Washington & Jefferson had the SOS edge, by 34 spots, actually, among 102 teams.

The fact that the Presidents hailed from a campus of only 450 students is something to be in awe of, however. The Golden Bears has the SRS edge by 6 spots, yet considering the size of the campus and its student body in Berkeley, it’s pretty impressive that Washington & Jefferson was able to earn this invitation—with a Black starting quarterback, no less, the first one in Rose Bowl history. The scoreless tie is shocking.

Why? The Presidents played the same 11 players on offense and defense the whole game, held Cal without a completed pass, and limited the Golden Bears to just two first downs the entire contest. Washington & Jefferson was coached by Greasy Neale, who went on to lead the Philadelphia Eagles to consecutive NFL titles in 1948 and 1949. He’s in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, so you know the Presidents were formidable.

California finished with just 49 rushing yards as well, after outscoring their opponents, 312-33, during the regular season. The feat of Washington & Jefferson to pull this off under adverse circumstances is just unreal, if we have not mentioned this before now. The credit goes to Neale, as a small school never would reach the Rose Bowl again; the Golden Bears would not be invited back for seven more seasons, either.