| 1989 Rose Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 75th Rose Bowl Game | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 2, 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1988 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Rose Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Pasadena, California | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Leroy Hoard (Michigan FB) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | USC by 6½ points[1][2] | ||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Michigan Marching Band | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Gordon Riese (Pac-10) (split crew between Pac-10 andBig Ten) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Halftime show | Michigan Marching Band,Spirit of Troy | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 101,688 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ABC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Keith Jackson,Bob Griese | ||||||||||||||||||
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The1989 Rose Bowl was the 75thedition of thecollege footballbowl game, played at theRose Bowl inPasadena, California, on Monday, January 2. This year marked the 100th anniversary of theTournament of Roses parade. TheMichigan Wolverines of theBig Ten Conference upset the fifth-rankedUSC Trojans of thePacific-10 Conference, 22–14.[3][4] Down by 11 points at halftime, the Wolverines shut out the Trojans in the second half and won by eight. Michigan fullbackLeroy Hoard was named the Player of the Game.[5][6][7][8]
It marked consecutive Rose Bowl wins for the Big Ten, which had only twovictories (1974,1981) in the previous eighteen (1970–1987). Michigan head coachBo Schembechler's record in the game improved to 2–7 (.222).[6][7] Under second-year head coachLarry Smith, USC lost consecutive Rose Bowls for the only time in its history; with thePac-12 Conference’s demise in 2024, it marked the last time that would happen. The previous western team to lose consecutively wasCalifornia, which lost three straight (1949–1951) while representing thePacific Coast Conference (PCC).
This was the first of 22 Rose Bowls televised byABC; it had been onNBC since the first television broadcast in January1952. BecauseNew Year's Day was on a Sunday in 1989, the game was played the next day. Both teams returned thefollowing year for a rematch, with a different result.
Michigan opened the season with consecutive narrow losses toNotre Dame andMiami (FL) who were ranked #13 and #1 respectively at the time. But they recovered to go unbeaten the rest of the way, their only blemish being a 17–17 tie atIowa. A 17–3 win over defending Big 10 champMichigan State proved to be the difference as Michigan won the Big 10 by one game over Michigan State.[9]
USC opened the season with nine straight wins and rose to #2 in the rankings. They faced sixth ranked rivalUCLA, who was 9–1 and had been ranked #1 for a couple of weeks earlier. The game in Pasadena was one of the notable ones in theUCLA–USC rivalry in that it was for the Pac-10 championship (Rose Bowl berth), and a possibleHeisman Trophy for either starting quarterback,Troy Aikman of UCLA orRodney Peete of USC. Peete was found to havemeasles in the days before the game; USC used a strong ground game and "bend but don't break" defense, in front of the largest Rose Bowl regular season crowd in history, to beat the Bruins 31–22.[10][11][12]
The win set up a rare #2 USC vs. #1 Notre Dame matchup the following week inLos Angeles, which the undefeated Irish dominated, 27–10.[13][14][15] It was the fifth straight loss for the Trojans in theannual rivalry,[16] a winless streak that continued until1996.[17]
Behind the passing of Heisman Trophy runner-up Rodney Peete and running of Aaron Emmanuel, USC scored two touchdowns in the second quarter and took a 14–3 to halftime. Despite their lack of early success, Michigan stuck with its pounding running attack led by a huge offensive line and running back (and game MVP) Leroy Hoard. They began to wear down the Trojans and USC's offense began to sputter. By the fourth quarter, Michigan's offensive line took over and the Wolverines took a 22–14 lead into the last two minutes. Peete tried to lead the Trojans to a touchdown and game tying two-point conversion but Michigan's defense forced an interception to effectively end the game.[3][4][5][6]