1988 Rose Bowl

1988 Rose Bowl
	74th Rose Bowl Game
USC Trojans	Michigan State Spartans
(8–3)	(8–2–1)
17	20
Head coach: ; Larry Smith	Head coach: ; George Perles
AP	Coaches
16	17
AP	Coaches
8	8
Date	January 1,, 1988
Season	1987
Stadium	Rose Bowl
Location	Pasadena, California
MVP	Percy Snow (MSU LB)
Favorite	USC by 3 points[1]
National anthem	Spirit of Troy
Referee	Gil Marchman (Big Ten;; split crew between; Big Ten and Pac-10)
Halftime show	Spirit of Troy,; Michigan State University Spartan Marching Band
Attendance	101,688
United States TV coverage
Network	NBC
Announcers	Dick Enberg, Merlin Olsen

The 1988 Rose Bowl was the 74th edition of the college football bowl game, played on January 1, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The Michigan State Spartans defeated the USC Trojans 20–17 in a bowl rematch that was much closer than the 27–13 Spartan victory in the regular season. Michigan State linebacker Percy Snow was named the Player of the Game.[2][3][4]

This was the last Rose Bowl game televised by NBC Sports, ending a 37-year partnership. ABC Sports picked up rights to broadcast the game the following year.

This was the Big Ten's first Rose Bowl win in seven years.[3]

Teams

The teams opened the season against each other in East Lansing, Michigan in a nationally-televised game on Labor Day night. Michigan State took advantage of three USC turnovers to defeat the Trojans, 27–13.

Michigan State Spartans

Led by head coach George Perles, a former Pittsburgh Steelers assistant coach, Michigan State had its best team in many years. The Spartans beat traditional Big 10 powers Michigan and Ohio State, and won the Big Ten by 1½ games over Indiana and Iowa, who tied for second place. They followed up the USC win by a 31–8 loss at Notre Dame, and then a 31–3 home loss to Florida State. The season got back on track with a 19–14 win at Iowa. A dramatic 17–11 win over in state rival Michigan occurred on October 10. On October 31, the Spartans defeated Ohio State, making this the first season since the 1966 National Championship when the Spartans defeated both Michigan and Ohio State. The Indiana Hoosiers also had beaten Michigan and Ohio State, and the meeting between Michigan State and Indiana on November 14 determined the Big Ten championship. Michigan State won 27–3 to clinch their first Rose Bowl appearance since the 1965 season. Note that they are the only team in college history to not only beat Big 10 powers Ohio State and Michigan in the same season, but also the USC Trojans twice.

USC Trojans

USC struggled early and was only 4–3 after seven games, but won its next three to set up a showdown with rival UCLA (9–1) for the Pac-10 title and Rose Bowl berth. The UCLA Bruins, with Troy Aikman at quarterback and Gaston Green at running back were favored, and led 13–0 at halftime. It could have been worse, as on the last play of the first half, UCLA's Eric Turner intercepted a deflected pass at the UCLA goal line and had nothing but green grass ahead of him as he appeared primed to return it for a touchdown. But USC QB Rodney Peete ran down Turner and tackled him at the 10-yard line as time expired. USC had cut the lead to 13–10, and then midway through the 4th quarter, quarterback Rodney Peete threw to WR Erik Afholter in the back of the end zone. Afholter juggled the ball atop his shoulder pad as he slid out the end zone; television replays indicated no possession but the referees ruled it a touchdown. Leading 17–13, USC then intercepted Aikman as he tried to lead UCLA back and ran out the clock.

Game summary

Rose Bowl records
at the Hall of Champions

The game was a rematch of the season opener in East Lansing that Michigan State won 27–13. The game was dominated by defense; the story was Michigan State linebacker and game most valuable player Percy Snow, who had 17 unassisted tackles, and four USC turnovers. The Spartans also had their 1988 All-American running back Lorenzo White proved to be a cut-back slashing workhorse with 35 carries for 113 yards by the start of 4th quarter .

After USC tied the game early in the fourth quarter at 17, Michigan State marched to a game-winning field goal by John Langeloh with four minutes to play. The key play of the drive was a third down play in which Michigan State quarterback Bobby McAllister was nearly sacked, then scrambled and at the last instant found receiver Andre Rison at the sideline for a first down that kept the drive alive. USC had time to try to come back, and Trojan quarterback Rodney Peete led USC on a drive to the Spartan 29-yard line with two minutes to play. But Peete fumbled the next snap, Michigan State recovered, and the Spartans ran out the clock. Lorenzo White's performance in this game combined with his superb 4 year Career helped notch his recent January 2019 election to the College Football Hall of Fame .

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References

"The latest line: college football". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. January 1, 1988. p. 28.
Peters, Ken (January 2, 1988). "Big 10 blooms again with Rose Bowl win". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. B1.
May, Peter (January 2, 1988). "Hold Big Ten jokes: Spartans take roses". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (Hartford Courant). p. 1B.
2008 Rose Bowl Program Archived March 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, 2008 Rose Bowl. Accessed January 26, 2008.

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[latln-1] "The latest line: college football". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. January 1, 1988. p. 28.

[bgtnblm-2] Peters, Ken (January 2, 1988). "Big 10 blooms again with Rose Bowl win". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. B1.

[hbgtjo-3] May, Peter (January 2, 1988). "Hold Big Ten jokes: Spartans take roses". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (Hartford Courant). p. 1B.

[ROSEBOWLPROGRAM-4] 2008 Rose Bowl Program Archived March 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, 2008 Rose Bowl. Accessed January 26, 2008.

Rose Bowl Game
History & conference tie-ins	History Rose Bowl Stadium College Football Playoff Broadcasters Big Ten Conference Pac-12 Conference
Games	1902 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Notes	No games were held from 1903 to 1915. The 1942 game was played at Duke Stadium in Durham, NC, due to the attack on Pearl Harbor. The game was also the national title game for the Bowl Championship Series in 2002 and 2006. The game was a College Football Playoff semifinal in its 2015 and 2018 editions.