Ohio State head coachWoody Hayes came into his first Rose Bowl tied for the national championship with PCC championUCLA. However, #2 UCLA was locked out of the game because of the PCC's "no-repeat" rule,[5]enacted afterCalifornia's third consecutive appearance in January1951.
Ohio StatequarterbackDave Leggett threw eleven passes, completing six, one a touchdown pass to Robert Archbald Watkins Jr.[4] HalfbackHopalong Cassady ran for 92 yards and led the Buckeyes to 304 yards on the ground and an overall advantage of 360-206 yards in total offense.
The teams played in the first rainstorm to hit Pasadena during a Rose Bowl in more than 50 years.[6] The fans were under umbrellas, and it rained during the entire game, turning the field to mud.[7]
Ohio State shared thenational championship with UCLA for the 1954 season. It was the first "split" championship in college football, when the writers selected the Buckeyes and the coaches chose the Bruins.
This was the first time a West Coast team had been affected by the "no-repeat" rule, which was not in place whenCalifornia appeared in three straight (1949,1950,1951). It happened once more, whenOregon State had to stay homethree years later. When the PCC disbanded in 1959, the "no-repeat" rule was dropped by the newAAWU andWashington won the next two Rose Bowls in1960 and1961. The Big Ten kept the rule in place from the late 1940s into the early 1970s, althoughMinnesota made consecutive appearances, the 1961 game was as an "at-large" selection. After the rule was dropped, the first to return in successive years wasOhio State in1974, the sole win for the Big Ten in that decade.
^Boyles, Bob; Paul Guido (2007).50 Years of College Football: A Modern History of America's Most Colorful Sport. Skyhorse Publishing Inc. p. 58.ISBN978-1-60239-090-4.
^2011 Rose Bowl Historic Media Guide, Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association, December 2011
^Lesmirises, Doug -Buckeyes Rose Bowl Rewind: National championship glory in the mud of 1955. Cleveland Plain Dealer, December 16, 2009 Quote: "Through mud, slime, murk and driving rain, Ohio State's dauntless Buckeyes today reached the all-time zenith of the University's football history. Ploughing through muck in the fog and semi-darkness, the Buckeyes vanquished Southern California, 20 to 7, in the worst weather conditions of Rose Bowl history."
