For Rose Bowl Friday today, we have our last wartime Granddaddy of Them All, and in this situation, the University of Tennessee made its second appearance in Pasadena, earning a rematch with the USC Trojans. Alas, the result was nearly the same as the West Coast bullies dealt a shutdown to the Volunteers again. Interestingly, Tennessee has yet to return to the Rose Bowl after all these years. Bets on the next visit? Ha!

But we digress (again): despite their 7-0-1 record, the Vols were ranked just 12th in the nation. They’d outscored opponents by a 173-58 margin, and the only blemish on their slate was a 0-0 tie against Alabama. All of Tennessee’s eight regular-season games were against legitimate teams, too, although the SOS didn’t come out very high (35th). Perhaps that was the issue; either way, the Volunteers were nothing to sneeze at.

As for the Trojans, their schedule—which allowed for minimal travel—was against a California-only roster of schools, including three that were considered small time in 1944. But USC was ranked No. 7 still, despite a terrible SOS rating (77th). And this was among only 95 teams that qualified for big-time status during this wartime year. The Trojans’ 7-0-2 record also included a No. 16 offensive ranking and a No. 15 defensive one.

Somehow, USC was favored by 17 points, and surprisingly, they covered that in a 25-0 victory. The Trojans took an early lead on a blocked punt that returned for a touchdown, and USC added another TD before halftime. Yet due to two missed extra points, it was only 12-0 on the scoreboard. Trojans quarterback Jim Hardy was the overall star, with two TD passes and fourth-quarter touchdown run, as well. That was that.

This was the second-straight Rose Bowl win for USC, and at this point overall, the Trojans had an 8-0 record in the Granddaddy. They had outscored those eight opponents by a combined 192-32 margin, as well. There was clearly a “daddy” in Pasadena to this point, and not much would change going deep into the future. However, there would be a paradigm shift of sorts over the next two years for the Rose Bowl, too.

Stay tuned for that bit of fun over the rest of this month on the Fridays to come …