Our Rose Bowl Friday weekly visit is back to look at the 1954 regular season, where the Ohio State Buckeyes went a perfect 10-0 to win the mythical national championship. We know this takes away much of the anticipation and suspense of our usual Granddaddy of Them All pieces, but sometimes it just cannot be helped. The Buckeyes had a dream season on every level you examine, and it all ended up in Pasadena.

It had been five years since Ohio State had won the B1G title, and the team left no doubts this time with its perfect record: after beating six ranked opponents throughout the season, the Buckeyes finished No. 1 in the SRS and No. 6 in the SOS—not to mention No. 1 in the Associated Press poll. In surrendering just 7.6 points per game, the Ohio State defense was a force to be reckoned with as most teams could barely score on it.

The unlucky opponent was USC, which had lost 34-0 to UCLA in its league-schedule finale. The Bruins were 9-0 themselves but unable to return to the Rose Bowl due to the no-repeat rule put in place after California lost three straight Granddaddies from 1948-1950. The Trojans also lost to Notre Dame, meaning they were just 8-3 coming into the game, ranked a lowly 17th in the AP poll. Ohio State was a huge, 14-point favorite.

And justifiably so! USC was just 20th in the SRS after playing the No. 22 SOS. Yet somehow, the Trojans covered the spread in a 20-7 loss that cemented the Buckeyes’ national title. Ohio State outgained USC, 360-206, and the only score for the Trojans was a very long punt return. One thing that kept both the scoring and the attendance low was the fact it was a rainy day in Pasadena. Barely 89,000 fans showed up, in fact.

We do not know how many of those were Buckeyes fans, but the local contingent certainly was lower than usual for the second-rate USC showing—and the mediocre weather. It would be eight years before the Trojans played in the Rose Bowl again, as well, so this precipitated a downward turn for the USC football program. However, it would be just three years before Ohio State triumphantly returned to Pasadena.

Don’t it always seem to go … this was the first national championship for Woody Hayes, by the way.