Stanford University was the first school to participate in three consecutive Grandaddies of Them All, starting with this game profiled on Rose Bowl Friday today. Unfortunately, it didn’t start out great for the Indians, as the team was nicknamed then, as the Columbia Lions came in from across the nation and tossed a shutout in Pasadena—something that would become very common in the next few decades of play.

What stands out about this game was the attendance: only about 35,000 fans showed up as the rain had been falling for many days before the event, and the field itself resembled a swamp. In truth, the matchup wasn’t one of the “best” with the Lions finishing just 13th in the SRS and Stanford coming in behind that at No. 16 overall. Between rain, “lackluster” competitors, and who knows what else, it was a dud of a game.

Unless you’re a Columbia alum, of course, and then this is still an awesome moment in school history. The Lions came into the game with a 7-1 record, the only blemish being a road loss to Princeton. The team had played only the 37th-toughest schedule in the country, but this was still a big accomplishment to get invited to the Rose Bowl. Despite giving up just 45 points all season, the defense was only ranked in the Top 40.

Meanwhile, the Indians came to town with an 8-1-1 record, including an impressive victory over two-time defending Rose Bowl champion USC on the road. Stanford’s defense was stingier than Columbia’s unit, however, ranked in the Top 20. The offense was the issue for the Indians, averaging just a bit over 13 points per game on the year against the No. 21 SOS overall. A defensive struggle was expected, even without rain.

Oh yeah … what was the final score? 7-0. The Lions broke through for the only score in the second quarter and hung on while Stanford basically beat itself, by all accounts. Indians star Bobby Grayson ran for 152 yards, but his teammates couldn’t get the ball into the end zone. The rain was the great equalizer for the usual travel fatigue that Least Coast teams experienced on the Best Coast in these games, traditionally.

This was Columbia’s first and only appearance ever in the Rose Bowl, so no school will ever be able to top its Pasadena winning percentage. Meanwhile, the Indians would return in each of the next two Januarys to establish a new record—but you will have to wait to see how those visits turned out for Stanford … unless you want to read ahead somewhere else on the Internet. Just don’t come back and spoil it for the rest of us.