| 1959 Rose Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 45th Rose Bowl Game | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1959 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1958 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Rose Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Pasadena, California | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Bob Jeter (Iowa HB) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Iowa by 18 points[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Jack Sprenger (Pacific Coast; split crew: Pacific Coast,Big Ten) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Halftime show | Hawkeye Marching Band,University of California Marching Band | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 98,297 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Mel Allen andChick Hearn | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The1959 Rose Bowl was the 45thedition of thecollege footballbowl game, played at theRose Bowl inPasadena, California, on Thursday, January 1. The heavily-favored and second-rankedIowa Hawkeyes of theBig Ten Conference defeated the #16California Golden Bears of thePacific Coast Conference, 38–12. Iowa's star halfbackBob Jeter was named the Player of the Game.[2][3] Iowa improved to 8–1–1 and California fell to 7–4 for the season.
Iowa, 7–1–1, was behind undefeatedLSU in thetwo major polls. LSU was ranked No. 1 in both major polls since week 6 of the season, and was awarded the national championship by the Associated Press (AP) and the Coaches' Poll (UPI). Iowa finished first in theFootball Writers Association of America (FWAA) poll.
FutureBerkeley, California city mayorTom Bates was a member of the California Golden Bears team.
It was the sixth straight Rose Bowl win for the Big Ten, and the twelfth of the last thirteen.[3] The PCC disbanded in the spring and five of its members formed the newAAWU (Big Five), while the other four competed as independents for several years. It is the last time Cal has appeared in the Rose Bowl.
Second-ranked Iowa were the Big Ten champions, entered the game with a record of 7–1–1 (5–1 Big Ten), and were favored by eighteen points.[1]
Sixteenth-rankedCalifornia, led by quarterbackJoe Kapp, entered the game as Pacific Coast Conference champions with a record of 7–3 (6–1 PCC).[4]
Randy Duncan helped Iowa take a 14–0 lead with a touchdown run in the first quarter and a touchdown pass to Jeff Langston in the second quarter. The Hawkeye backfield carried Iowa the rest of the way, asWillie Fleming ran for two touchdowns andBob Jeter, theRose Bowl Most Valuable Player, and Don Horn each ran for one touchdown. Iowa attempted a Rose Bowl record three two-point conversions and failed on all three, while Bob Prescott made one of two extra points. End Jack Hart scored all of California's twelve points, running for a touchdown in the third quarter and catching a touchdown in the fourth quarter, both of which were followed by failed two-point conversion attempts. Iowa broke four Rose Bowl records: longest run (Jeter 81), team rushing yards (429), team total yards (516) and individual rushing yards (Jeter 194); and tied another Rose Bowl record set byGeorgia in 1943: first downs (24). The attendance was 98,297.[5]
Four Rose Bowl game records were set: Jeter's 81-yard run, his 194 yards of rushing offense, the 429 yards gained on the ground and the 516 yards of total offense.[6]