The1978 Rose Bowl was acollege footballbowl game, played on Monday, January 2, and was the 64thRose Bowl Game. TheWashington Huskies, champions of thePacific-8 Conference, defeated the favoredMichigan Wolverines, champions of theBig Ten Conference,27–20. WashingtonquarterbackWarren Moon was named the Rose Bowl Player of the Game.^[3]

The Huskies led17–0 at the half and extended it to24–0 early in the third quarter, then held off a Wolverine comeback with two interceptions deep in their own territory in the last two minutes to win by seven.^[4][5][6] It was the second of three consecutive losses in the Rose Bowl for Michigan, a two-touchdown favorite entering this game.^[1]

The face value of game tickets was $17.50 each.^[1]

Led by junior quarterbackRick Leach, Michigan began the seasonranked second, and were first after four of the first six weeks. However, a stunning16–0 loss on October 22 atMinnesota dropped them to sixth. A14–6 win over fourth-rankedrivalOhio State gave the Wolverines the Big Ten title and they came into the Rose Bowl ranked fourth.^[7]

In their third season under head coachDon James and quarterback Warren Moon, Washington stumbled out of the gate, losing three of their first four games, all out of conference. They then won six of seven, losing20–12 atUCLA on October 29 (later vacated by the Bruins, due to ineligible players). The Huskies won the Pac-8 title and earned the Rose Bowl berth when UCLA lost its final game on a last second field goal toUSC,29–27. Washington entered the game ranked thirteenth in the AP poll, and tied for fourteenth in the UPI coaches poll.^[7]

• Washington –Warren Moon 2-yard run (Steve Robbins kick); UW 7–0

• Washington – Robbins 30-yard field goal; UW 10–0
• Washington – Moon 1-yard run (Robbins kick); UW 17–0

• Washington – Spider Gaines 28-yard pass from Moon (Robbins kick); UW 24–0
• Michigan – Curt Stephenson 76-yard pass fromRick Leach (Gregg Willner kick); UW 24–7
• Washington – Robbins 18-yard field goal; UW 27–7

• Michigan –Russell Davis 2-yard run (Willner kick); UW 27–14
• Michigan –Stan Edwards 32-yard pass from Leach (kick failed); UW 27–20

Statistics	Washington	Michigan
First downs	17	22
Rushes–yards	48–164	48–149
Passing yards	234	239
Passes	13–24–2	14–27–2
Total yards	398	388
Punts–average	5–39	4–43
Fumbles–lost	0–0	2–1
Turnovers by	2	3
Penalties–yards	6–47	3–11

Source:^[4][5]

WithNotre Dame beatingtop-ranked and undefeatedTexas in theCotton Bowl, Michigan had hopes that a dominant win over Washington would boost the Wolverines to the national title. The Huskies' dramatic upset ended those hopes, and Notre Dame was voted first in the polls among five one-loss teams;Alabama,Arkansas, Texas, andPenn State were the others. Michigan dropped to ninth in the final AP poll and Washington climbed to tenth; both were a spot higher in the UPI coaches poll.^[8]

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

• 1977–78 NCAA football bowl games
• Rose Bowl Game
• 20th century in Pasadena, California
• Michigan Wolverines football bowl games
• Washington Huskies football bowl games
• 1978 in sports in California
• January 1978 sports events in the United States

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• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata