| 1940 Rose Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 26th Rose Bowl Game | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1940 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1939 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Rose Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Pasadena, California | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Ambrose Schindler (USC QB) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Even[1][2][3] | ||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Spirit of Troy | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Louis Conlan (Pacific Coast; split crew: Pacific Coast,SEC) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Halftime show | Spirit of Troy | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 92,200 | ||||||||||||||||||
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The1940 Rose Bowl was the 26thedition of thecollege footballbowl game, played at theRose Bowl inPasadena, California, on Monday, January 1.
In a matchup of undefeated teams, thethird-rankedUSC Trojans of thePacific Coast Conference (PCC) shut out the #2Tennessee Volunteers of theSoutheastern Conference (SEC), 14–0.[4][5][6][7] USC quarterbackAmbrose Schindler was named the Player of the Game when the award was created in 1953 and selections were made retroactively.[8]
The Rose Bowl committee had both USC and Tennessee on their list and it was likely that USC and Tennessee would play each other.[9][10] The Volunteers were offered a berth in theSugar Bowl on November 25;[11] they were also in the mix for theCotton Bowl, which would have pitted them against the #1Texas A&M Aggies.[12] But the Rose Bowl committee did not extend official invitations until December 10, 1939.[13]
In the regular season, Tennessee shut out all ten opponents. Led by twoAll-American guards,Ed Molinski andBob Suffridge, the Volunteers were forced to play without their star tailbackGeorge Cafego, who fell victim to a knee injury againstThe Citadel on November 11.[14] After a 7–0 win overAuburn on December 9, Tennessee officially was extended an invitation to the Rose Bowl.[15]
The Trojans opened the season againstOregon, tying the Ducks 7–7, then scored three straight shutouts, becoming ranked #8 following the second, a 26–0 win overIllinois. A November 4 game featured #7 USC defeating #11Oregon State 19–7. AtNotre Dame on November 25, #4 USC defeated the #7 Irish 20–12. A win overWashington by scoring in the last 1:15 set up the very first epicUCLA–USC rivalry matchup.
Kenny Washington,Woody Strode,Jackie Robinson, and Ray Bartlett starred on theBruins, in which African Americans made up three of the four backfield players.[16] This was a rarity to have so many African Americans when only a few dozen at all played on college football teams.[17] The ninth-ranked Bruins also were also undefeated, with three ties. This was the first UCLA–USC rivalry football game with national implications, as it was the first with the Rose Bowl on the line for both.
The attendance of 103,303 was the second largest college football crowd ever in theLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum. UCLA attempted a pass on fourth down, instead of kicking a field goal. Bobby Robertson of USC knocked down Ned Matthews’ four-yard pass in the end zone with less than five minutes to play to preserve the scoreless tie. The Pacific Coast Conference voted to have USC, with a 7–0–2 record play in the Rose Bowl instead of UCLA with a 6–0–4 record.[18][13]Art Cohn, sports editor of theOakland Tribune implied that race may have been a factor in the decision, since teams from the south refused to play against African Americans.[19] After the regular season, the Trojans were named national champions.[20]
Trojan backs Granny Lansdell andAmbrose Schindler rushed for 51 and 81 yards respectively, for a team total of 229 yards rushing. Schindler scored one touchdown and passed toAl Krueger — the hero from theprevious year — for the other. Head coach Howard Jones earned his second straight Rose Bowl victory, and his fifth in as many appearances.
USC head coach Jones died less than two years later, in the summer of 1941. Joe Shell, the captain of the Trojans who became an oil company owner and a state assemblyman, died on April 8, 2008.[21]
USC bases its 1939national championship claim on winning theDickinson System, a formula devised by a University of Illinois professor which awarded the only championship trophy between 1926 and 1940. In 1939, Dickinson was the only poll or system to rank the Trojans number one.[20] USC's stance, however, is in keeping with that of most other schools which won the Dickinson title; only Notre Dame, which won the Dickinson crown in 1938, does not claim a major national title for that year. Since at least 1969, USC had not listed 1939 as a national championship year; but in 2004, USC once again began recognizing the 1939 team as national champions after it determined that it qualified.[22][23][24]
Ambrose "Amblin' Amby" Schindler went on to be the MVP in the 1940College All-Star Game inChicago in late August. He was inducted into theSan Diego Hall of Champions Breitbard Hall of Fame in 1973.[25] He was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997.[26] He was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 2002.
Tennessee playerBill Barnes was later the head coach of theUCLA Bruins and led them to the1962 Rose Bowl.