We continue or buildup to the Cotton Bowl with a flashback to another installment in the long series between Ohio State and USC. This time, we'll revisit the 1955 Rose Bowl, a game that ended what became Woody Hayes' first national championship season.
Continuing last week's theme, Ohio State's stability after Woody Hayes arrived belies the instability of the program before he arrived. Ohio State's administration, local media, and fan base were notoriously impatient. Paul Brown's war-time success notwithstanding, the program chewed through head coaches that could not deliver immediate results or fired them as soon as their fortunes turned south.
There are any number of cases that describe this pattern. Sam Willaman guided Ohio State to a 7-1 record in 1933 and some sportswriters even named the Buckeyes the best team in the country that year. Ohio State fired him that same year for "underperforming." Paul Bixler quit after a year on the job, citing the unrelenting pressure from local media and boosters. His predecessor, Carroll Widdoes finished 1944 undefeated and resigned after 1945 citing the same pressure. He lasted two two years. Wes Fesler (Hayes' predecessor), an Ohio State alum, guided the Buckeyes to the 1949 Big Ten championship and a Rose Bowl win over undefeated California. Ohio State fired him the next year.
Entering 1954, Ohio State fans expected this to be Woody Hayes' fate as well. Hayes' Buckeyes were 4-3-2 in 1951 and 6-3 in 1952 and 1953. As Hayes' tells it, he overheard his neighbors in the pre-season remark among themselves at a small neighborhood gathering that "this is the year we get Woody." There was nothing Hayes had shown in his first three years on the job that would've guaranteed him a fifth year in Columbus.
Hayes used that as motivation. Picked to finish fifth in the Big Ten that year and starting the season unranked, the Buckeyes opened 1954 with a 28-0 win over Indiana, beat No. 18 California in Ohio Stadium, and routed pre-season Big Ten favorite Illinois, 40-7, in Champaign. Follow-up victories over No. 13 Iowa and No. 2 Wisconsin catapulted Ohio State to No. 1 in the country. Before Mississippi State exceeded it in 2014, it was the fastest any team went from unranked to No. 1 in the history of the AP Poll.
Ohio State finished the regular season with a Rose Bowl berth after hammering No. 12 Michigan, 21-7, in Ohio Stadium.
Across the sideline, USC was just fortunate to be there. The Pacific Coast Conference had a peculiar "no-repeat" rule in place and USC was clearly not the best team in the conference. UCLA was. The Bruins, which won the Coaches' Poll national championship in 1954, outscored every opponent it played by an average margin of 40-4. That included a 34-0 rout of 8-3 USC. The Trojans, however, finished No. 2 in the league and got the Rose Bowl berth instead of the cross-town rival Bruins.
| Statistic | Ohio State | USC |
|---|---|---|
| First Downs | 22 | 6 |
| Rushing Yards | 295 | 177 |
| Passing Yards | 65 | 29 |
| Passes Attempted | 11 | 8 |
| Passes Completed | 6 | 3 |
| Passes Intercepted By | 0 | 1 |
| Punts | 4 | 5 |
| Fumbles Lost | 0 | 3 |
| Penalty Yards | 40 | 60 |
Rose Bowl historians may note this was arguably the sloppiest Rose Bowl ever contested. It rained the entire game, the first such rain-soaked encounter since the 1934 Rose Bowl between Stanford and Columbia was contested in a glorified lake. By the second quarter of the game, the jersey numbers on Ohio State's white jerseys were indecipherable.
The game was never seriously in doubt once it started. Ohio State started with the ball and easily drove the length of the field to the Trojans' 14. A pre-snap infraction moved the Buckeyes to the 19-yard line for a field goal try, which kicker Tad Weed missed.
However, USC's first drive of the game ended when Jim Parker pounced on a Jim Contratto fumble at the Ohio State 31-yard line. Howard "Hopalong" Cassady and Jerry Harkrader alternated every carry of the drive until Ohio State got to USC's 3-yard line. Dave Leggett, the eventual MVP of the game, capped the drive with a score at the start of the second quarter.
USC fumbled on its next drive. Dave Leggett recovered and concluded the following drive with a 21-yard pass to Bobby Watkins to take the Buckeyes up 14-0.
USC's only bright spot of the entire contest came when it forced an Ohio State punt on the Buckeyes' next drive. USC tailback Aramis Dandoy set a Rose Bowl record with an 86-yard punt return for a touchdown. That record still stands.
It was never enough, though. USC's best chance to tie the game came in the third quarter when USC tailback Jon Arnett broke a 70-yard play from scrimmage to get the ball to the Ohio State 26-yard line. However, the Trojans turned the ball over on downs after the next four plays.
A 12-play, 77-yard drive for Ohio State that followed ended with a Jerry Harkrader 9-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. Ohio State missed the PAT, which concluded the scoring for the day at 20-7.
Ohio State, a touchdown favorite, had more than proved its worth as a national championship-caliber squad. UCLA took the Coaches' Poll that year but Ohio State took the AP Poll, giving the Buckeyes their first national championship since 1942.
It was also the first of five national championships for Woody Hayes who, several months earlier, had to overhear his neighbors hoping he would lose his job. For Ohio State fans, USC in the 1955 Rose Bowl was the last stepping stone for Hayes to keep his job and to solidify his position as Ohio State's all-time winningest head coach.
The stakes won't be as high in the Cotton Bowl when the Buckeyes face the Trojans. However, Ohio State fans will hope the story plays out the same. Ohio State was the better team with the better athletes. It left no doubt about that even if the weather conditions weren't cooperative.
