The1970 Rose Bowl was the 56thedition of thecollege footballbowl game, played at theRose Bowl inPasadena, California, on Thursday, January 1. TheUSC Trojans, champions of thePacific-8 Conference, defeated theMichigan Wolverines, champions of theBig Ten Conference,10–3. USC flankerBob Chandler scored the only touchdown and was named thePlayer of the Game.^[2][3][4]

After early season losses to #9Missouri and unrankedMichigan State, the Wolverines won four straight games before their showdown with heavily-favored and top-rankedOhio State for the Big Ten championship. Michigan shocked the college football world by upsetting the top-ranked Buckeyes 24–12 to tie for the conference title and receive the Rose Bowl bid.^[5][6][7] (Ohio State was ineligible anyway because of the Big Ten's "no repeat" rule,^[8] which was rescinded in 1971.)

Just days before the Rose Bowl, first-year head coachBo Schembechler, age forty, suffered a mild heart attack and had to miss the game;^[9][10] defensive coordinator Jim Young was the acting head coach.^[3]

Aided by a pass interference penalty on fourth down followed by a controversial last-minute touchdown, USC earned the Rose Bowl berth with a 14–12 win overrivalUCLA in their regular season finale.^[11] The only blemish on their record was a14–14 tie atNotre Dame in mid-October.^[12] The Trojans were making their record fourth consecutive Rose Bowl appearance, as the Pac-8 did not have a "no repeat" rule.

The score was tied at 3–3 at halftime. With three minutes to play in the third quarter, USCquarterbackJimmy Jones threw a 33-yard touchdown pass toBob Chandler to give the Trojans a10–3 lead. A scoreless fourth quarter ensured the USC victory.^[2][3][4]

• USC – Ron Ayala 25-yard field goal^[13]

• Michigan – Tim Killian, 20-yard field goal

• USC –Bob Chandler, 33-yard pass fromJimmy Jones (Ron Ayala kick)

• No scoring

Statistics	USC	Michigan
First downs	16	20
Rushing yards	195	162
Passing yards	128	127
Passes	10–18–0	14–32–1
Total yards	323	289
Punts–average	5–41	6–36
Fumbles lost	0	0
Turnovers by	0	1
Yards penalized	38	20

Source:^[2][3]

• USC finished the year undefeated with one tie, earning a #3 ranking behind undefeated and untied #1Texas and #2Penn State.
• Chandler went on to play in theNFL for 11 years with theBuffalo Bills and theOakland Raiders.
• Michigan finished8–3 and was ranked 9th in theAP poll (released in January) and 8th in theUPI poll (released after the regular season in early December).

• Summary at Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan Athletics History

• 1969–70 NCAA football bowl games
• Rose Bowl Game
• 20th century in Pasadena, California
• Michigan Wolverines football bowl games
• USC Trojans football bowl games
• January 1970 sports events in the United States
• 1970 in sports in California

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• Articles with short description
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