1978 Rose Bowl


The 1978 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game, played on Monday, January 2, and was the 64th Rose Bowl Game. The Washington Huskies, champions of the Pacific-8 Conference, defeated the favored Michigan Wolverines, champions of the Big Ten Conference, Washington quarterback Warren Moon was named the Rose Bowl Player of the Game.
The Huskies led at the half and extended it to early in the third quarter, then held off a Wolverine comeback with two interceptions deep in their own territory in the last two minutes to win by seven. It was the second of three consecutive losses in the Rose Bowl for Michigan, a two-touchdown favorite entering this game.
The face value of game tickets was $17.50 each.

Teams

Michigan Wolverines

Led by junior quarterback Rick Leach, Michigan began the season ranked second, and were first after four of the first six weeks. However, a stunning loss on October 22 at Minnesota dropped them to sixth. A win over fourth-ranked rival Ohio State gave the Wolverines the Big Ten title and they came into the Rose Bowl ranked fourth.

Washington Huskies

In their third season under head coach Don James and quarterback Warren Moon, Washington stumbled out of the gate, losing three of their first four games, all out of conference. They then won six of seven, losing at [1977 1977 UCLA Bruins football team|UCLA Bruins football team|UCLA] on October 29. The Huskies won the Pac-8 title and earned the Rose Bowl berth when UCLA lost its final game on a last second field goal to USC, Washington entered the game ranked thirteenth in the AP poll, and tied for fourteenth in the UPI coaches poll.

Scoring

First quarter

Second quarter

  • Washington – Robbins 30-yard field goal; UW 10–0
  • Washington – Moon 1-yard run ; UW 17–0

Third quarter

  • Washington – Spider Gaines 28-yard pass from Moon ; UW 24–0
  • Michigan – Curt Stephenson 76-yard pass from Rick Leach ; UW 24–7
  • Washington – Robbins 18-yard field goal; UW 27–7

Fourth quarter

Aftermath

With [1977 1977 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|Notre Dame] beating top-ranked and undefeated [1977 1977 Texas Longhorns football team|Texas Longhorns football team|Texas] in the Cotton Bowl, Michigan had hopes that a dominant win over Washington would boost the Wolverines to the national title. The Huskies' dramatic upset ended those hopes, and Notre Dame was voted first in the polls among five one-loss teams; Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, and Penn State were the others. Michigan dropped to ninth in the final AP poll and Washington climbed to tenth; both were a spot higher in the UPI coaches poll.