1978 Rose Bowl: Michigan 20 Washington 27
No. 4 Michigan (10-1) vs. No. 13 Washington (7-4).
The game was just posted on Youtube tonight.
My childhood was wrecked at the 1:58:19 mark by UW LB Michael Jackson.
Michigan was down 7-27 in the 3rd quarter, but almost pulled off the win with 1:28 left.
August 23rd, 2015 at 2:44 AM ^
Markus,
You're breaking my heart brother.
August 23rd, 2015 at 3:51 AM ^
I was a freshman, we had a huge get together to watch the game. There was beer & spaghetti & beer & I don't remember what else except more beer (not that it would've made any difference, but legal drinking age was 18 then). They replayed the leap into the end zone about 20 times, with what for then must have been an incredible amount of camera angles. It was so indisputably clear White had fumbled. Keith Jackson and I guess probably Frank Broyles agreed and said it should be Michigan ball, score still 10-7 USC if memory serves...
I had the opportunity to meet Ronnie Lott about 20 years later, and I told him that loss had F*d up my life and created a feeling of injustice that had only JUST been somewhat alleviated by us winning the NC on Jan 1 1998. He smiled and said he had a perfect view of the play, and White scored... then said he was taking that story with him to the grave. BUT if they asked him up there for the truth he was gonna try a "No Comment" and see if that would work!
August 23rd, 2015 at 3:32 AM ^
August 23rd, 2015 at 5:44 AM ^
August 23rd, 2015 at 5:49 AM ^
August 23rd, 2015 at 7:14 AM ^
August 23rd, 2015 at 8:13 AM ^
Of course it's unfair. The whole thing originated because they needed an event to help fund the Rose Parade. It's a great tradition that's benefited all sides; it's silly to complain about it.
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August 23rd, 2015 at 6:32 AM ^
August 23rd, 2015 at 7:27 AM ^
Thanks for posting-much appreciated.
August 23rd, 2015 at 8:40 AM ^
This one just about killed me. I was a junior in high school and I was despondent for about a week. It taught me to learn to let it go. But, God, this one hurt.
August 23rd, 2015 at 9:46 AM ^
for me, too. 1977 was the first year I had season tickets (this season will be my 39th) and Michigan had just finished of a 10-1 regular season by knocking off Rod Gerald, Ron Springs and Woody/OSU, who had come in to Michigan Stadium undefeated in the Big Ten.
I was absolutely sure Bo was going to get that 1st Rose Bowl victory against Washington. This Michigan Team was loaded with talent and I couldn't see us possibly losing to a 4-loss Huskie team, figuring that we had already laid our egg mid-season in the loss at Minnesota and still had an outside chance at the MNC as extra motivation.
Boom! Thud! Moon shot us down.
This one was painful.
August 23rd, 2015 at 10:15 AM ^
As I recounted above, in my memory the pain of this loss pales in comparison to the following Rose Bowl and The Phantom Touchdown. I'd add to that other games I recall with more disappointment:
Bo's 1st Rose, where he suffered the heart attack the night before; the loss to post-Plunkett Stanford, where they got nothing but FG but we never did anything on offense; and the Big 10's only win of the 70s, which we were cheated out of playing in by The Vote.
Really, there's a way of looking at the loss to Moon & UDub as leading directly to Bo realizing he absolutely had to have AC & a Wangler type QB. In that light I'm less regretful about that loss than any other of that decade...
August 23rd, 2015 at 12:41 PM ^
We've played in 15 Rose Bowls against the PAC since Bo arrived.
We've scored more than 21 points three times.
If that's all you can muster on the road against top-flight competition, getting victories is going to be tough.
August 23rd, 2015 at 2:07 PM ^
On the other hand - we scored 21 and won the National Championship... so maybe the game is more about scoring more points than the opponent and not just how many you score?
August 23rd, 2015 at 2:18 PM ^
My point remains the same, however. We scored 21 and won NC, so simply scoring points alone isn't the object.
I will say that your point about B1G fans under rating the Pac 10/12 teams is spot on. Our coaches haven't helped matters by continually trying to play the Rose like it's an extension of the 10 Year War.
Again with the exception of the game vs Texas where we couldn't stop Vince Young, so had no choice but open it up.
August 23rd, 2015 at 9:21 AM ^
Those were rough years for the Big Ten. They were 1-9 in the Rose Bowl during that decade. The whole "Big Two Little Eight" routine (run, stop the run against largely inferior teams) was okay regionally but it fell apart when playing road games (including the Rose Bowl) against teams with equal or better talent.
August 23rd, 2015 at 11:46 AM ^
This is a critical point that Michigan fans never want to admit—that PAC10 teams are typically loaded with great talent, especially USC. Every year going into the Rose Bowl i heard the same bluster from people in Ann Arbor who were deluding themselves with the same notion—that the PAC10 was a sissified finesse conference that would wilt under Michigan's relentless physicality.
Unfortunately, that delusion was still in existence under Lloyd Carr. Before the 2004 Rose Bowl, Jim Herrman said, "We have to get numbers to the ball,...Those are 'party' plays. There goes the ball. There's a party out there. Go to it. Don't be late. The receivers don't like to catch the ball and get hit."
USC's receivers were so intimidated that the Trojans were limited to 24/35 for 342 yards and four receiving TDs in a 28-14 victory that wasn't as close as the score implies.
You'd think that a 4-11 record in the Rose Bowl against the PAC since 1970 would persuade Michigan fans that the talent out there is substantial, but I guarantee that when Harbaugh gets us back in Pasadena, we'll hear the same damn thing from the fans—the PAC12 is a finesse conference and we just have to hit 'em in the mouth and they'll cry. Perhaps with Harbaugh in charge we can actually make that happen.
August 23rd, 2015 at 11:52 AM ^
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August 23rd, 2015 at 2:13 PM ^
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August 23rd, 2015 at 2:20 PM ^
August 23rd, 2015 at 2:18 PM ^
Seattle Washignton is nearly an 18 hour drive from LA. We didn't lose that game because of travel. Bo failed in the rose bowls, no real way around it.