| 1941 Rose Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 27th Rose Bowl Game | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1941 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1940 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Rose Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Pasadena, California | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Pete Kmetovic (Stanford HB) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Stanford by 7[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 92,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
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The1941 Rose Bowl was the twenty-seventhedition of thecollege footballbowl game, played on January 1, 1941 at theRose Bowl inPasadena, California. Unbeaten andsecond-rankedStanford of thePacific Coast Conference defeated No. 7Nebraska of theMVIAA to claim a share of the national championship.[2][3]
It was Nebraska's first bowl game and Stanford's eighth, all in the Rose Bowl, and is the only time the programs have met. The 1941 game was the last edition of the Rose Bowl to feature a team from the MVIAA,Big Eight, orBig 12 until 2002.
Nebraska entered 8–1 and ranked seventh nationally, its only loss a 13–7 defeat at top-rankedMinnesota.[4] After declining previous bowl invitations, celebrations reportedly lasted for 24 hoursLincoln after the announcement of the school's first postseason appearance. University classes were canceled, and students stormed theNebraska State Capitol demanding the governor lead a rendition of "Dear Old Nebraska U." The Cornhuskers were led by fourth-year head coachBiff Jones and featured twoAll-Americans,Warren Alfson andForrest Behm.
Stanford was led by first-year head coachClark Shaughnessy, who brought his revolutionaryT formation toPalo Alto, helping the Indians to a 9–0 regular season just a year after finishing 1–7–1.[5][6] Shaughnessy's offensive design was filled with fakes and pitchouts, and had quarterbackFrankie Albert take snaps directly under center, a rarity at the time.[6] His 1940 team earned the nickname "Wow Boys," a nod to Stanford's "Vow Boys" teams of the mid-1930s.[6] The Indians entered the Rose Bowl ranked second nationally.
Nebraska received the opening kickoff and marched fifty yards to take a quick 7–0 lead.[1] Albert led a game-tying touchdown drive, after which Stanford forced an NU punt, butPete Kmetovic fumbled deep in his own territory.[7] Nebraska reclaimed the lead on a deep pass toAllen Zikmund.[1] After a missed extra point and a leaping touchdown byHugh Gallarneau, Stanford led 14–13 at halftime.
Trailing by one late in the third quarter, Nebraska stopped Stanford on four consecutive goal-line runs. The Cornhuskers punted on first down from their own one-yard line, which was returned for a winding touchdown by Kmetovic.[1] It made the score 21–13, which stood through the fourth quarter as the final tally.[2][3] SportswriterCy Sherman wrote that while the game was evenly matched on the lines, backfield "wizards" Albert and Kmetovic (named the game's most valuable player) made the difference.[7]
| Qtr | Team | Detail[8] | NU | STAN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NU | Vike Francis 2-yd run (Francis kick) | 7 | 0 |
| STAN | Hugh Gallarneau 9-yd run (Frankie Albert kick) | 7 | 7 | |
| 2 | NU | Allen Zikmund 33-yd pass from Herm Rohrig (kick blocked) | 13 | 7 |
| STAN | Gallarneau 41-yd pass from Albert (Albert kick) | 13 | 14 | |
| 3 | STAN | Pete Kmetovic 39-yd punt return (Albert kick) | 13 | 21 |
Official statistics vary slightly between the schools. Statistics shown are from Nebraska's records.
| Statistic[8] | Nebraska | Stanford |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 9 | 15 |
| Rushing yards | 58 | 202 |
| Comp.–att.–yards | 3–15–70 | 7–15–74 |
| Total offense | 128 | 276 |
| Turnovers | 4 | 4 |
Stanford finished a perfect 10–0 and was named national champion by several selectors, though Minnesota was named champion of theAP poll despite not playing a bowl game. Nebraska head coachBiff Jones, whose only two losses in 1940 were to the Golden Gophers and Indians, was noncommittal when asked which team deserved the title.[1]
Shaughnessy's rapid transformation of Stanford's program thrust the T formation, an afterthought since the 1890s, into the national spotlight.[9] Nebraska adopted the formation the following year, with significantly less success than the Indians.[10] It became the most widely used offensive scheme in college football throughout the 1940s and 1950s, leading Shuaghnessy to become known as "the father of the T formation."[9]
As the program's first bowl, the game was remembered fondly by Nebraska supporters;Bob Devaney arrived in Lincoln in 1962 and later joked it was years before he learned NU actuallylost the 1941 Rose Bowl.[11]
This game is described byDavid Dodge in his 1942 mystery novelShear the Black Sheep.