1944 Rose Bowl
| 1944 Rose Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 30th Rose Bowl Game | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1944 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1943 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Rose Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Pasadena, California | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Norman Verry (G) – USC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 68,000 [1] | ||||||||||||||||||
The 1944 Rose Bowl, played on January 1, 1944, was a college football bowl game, the 30th Rose Bowl Game. The game featured two teams from the Pacific Coast Conference, due to the travel restrictions imposed by the war effort. This game determines the champion of the Pacific Coast Conference for the 1943 college football season. The USC Trojans defeated the Washington Huskies, 29–0, in a one-sided game.[2]
The favored Washington Huskies team had a record of four wins and no losses in its abbreviated season, without any Pacific Conference games. Their opponents were Whitman College, the Spokane Air Command, the March Field Flyers, and again against the Spokane Air Command.
The USC quarterback, Jim Hardy, threw three touchdown passes to lead the Trojans. This victory was the Trojan's seventh Rose Bowl victory and also gave them their Pacific Coast Conference Championship.[3] For the first time, the Rose Bowl was broadcast on the radio abroad to all American servicemen, with General Eisenhower in Western Europe allowing all troops who were not on the front lines to tune in and listen.[4]
Scoring
Second Quarter
- USC – George Callanan, 11-yard pass from Jim Hardy (Jamison kick good)
Third Quarter
- USC – Callanan, 10-yard pass from Hardy (Jamison kick good)
- USC – Gordon Gray, 21-yard pass from Hardy (Jamison kick blocked)
Fourth Quarter
- USC – Gray, 36-yard pass from Bell (Jamison kick good)
- USC – Austin’s kick blocked and recovered by Akins in the end zone for a safety
