No one could believe we scored first. "There were some pretty good blocks," says Nemeth. Keyshawn Johnson was named the Rose Bowl Player Of The Game. ", The fans were stunned. This year, we didn't. "Dad, I can't tell you." Jun 13, 2022 . On the drive's first play, Tunnicliff fumbled and Cal recovered, but Tunnicliff was ruled down before losing the ball. Every little milestone they reached, the more people got into it. They introduced each of the coaches one by one. Ryan Padgett: When Notre Dame said there was no offer, I had two weeks to find a scholarship. But it's really difficult to comprehensively tell the story of any season, but especially that season, even in 20,000 words. Last edited on 27 December 2022, at 17:04, Northwestern University Wildcat Marching Band, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1996_Rose_Bowl&oldid=1129897014, USC: Barnum 21-yd pass from Otton (Abrams kick) 13:05, USC: McCutcheon 53-yd fumble return (Abrams kick) 2:56, NU: D.Autry 9-yd run (conversion failed) 8:17, USC: K.Johnson 56-yd pass from Otton (Abrams kick) 6:08, NU: D. Autry 2-yd run (conversion failed) 13:01, USC: Washington 2-yd run (Abrams kick) 3:00, This page was last edited on 27 December 2022, at 17:04. Northwestern University's official athletics site: http://nusports.ocsn.com/index-main.html (the page for each sport includes an archives link that lists letter winners and team results). We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. The setting and the circumstances were perfect for minds to drift back six decades to when the stadium was still called Dyche, the Spartans weren't yet in the same league and the Wildcats carried the Big Nine's hopes to Pasadena. And I remember for the first time, during the fourth quarter, not being able to hear Fitzy make calls. The Wildcats, coached by Gary Barnett, wouldn't lose another game for the rest of the regular season -- going a perfect 8-0 in the Big Ten. Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual Generates Audience And he put the board down. But then we walked to the stadium, and we're all kind of dragging, and as soon as you see the stadium, you just light up. Now, they try to indoctrinate you, and really encourage you, having the freshman run the field and everything. Brian Kardos: In the first quarter, we called a sweep to my side, and I got a really nice block on the defensive end, and I pushed him out of bounds, and we were getting up off the ground, and somebody comes over and grabs my shoulder pad. Part of the Northwestern University Archives Repository. Down 210 in the fourth quarter, the Trojans scored three straight touchdowns, with the final coming with 33 seconds remaining. February 6, 2012 / 9:00 AM If you asked me today if I miss playing football, I'd tell you no, I don't miss playing football, I miss being in those locker rooms with my best friends in the world, and laughing and joking. From the Collection: The Asher Golden Collection contains 29 audiocassettes and a small amount of paper documents relating to his coverage of Northwestern football during the 1995-1996 and 1996-1997 seasons, including their first Rose Bowl appearance since 1949 and their first Big 10 title in 60 years. I think I had them at seven "winnable" games and four "miserable" games. Northwestern then took on powerhouse Notre Dame in South Bend, and the visitors fell, barely, 12-7. Tapes 7A-7B report the next weeks game against Duke on September 14, 1996, where the Wildcats won 38-13 over the Blue Devils. A large crowd gathers for a pep rally in honor of the Rose Bowl-bound Wildcats. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) That Notre Dame finished at number 6 and went to the Orange Bowl. I didn't think about it at all. According to the Dec. 22, 1948, L.A. Times, 3,000 people waited in line all night to buy tickets. Get into the end zone, Murakowski did, but he fumbled and Cal recovered. And I went back to the huddle and said, "holy shit.". But that doesn't diminish it at all. Illinois Football All-Time Rosters - 1975-1999 1890s: 1890 | 1891 | 1892 | 1893 | 1894 | 1895 | 1896 | 1897 | 1898 | 1899 1990s: 1900 | 1901 | 1902 | 1903 It just really showed the power of college football. "The stories get better. You ever driven a stick shift? Read more about our data coverage. As Tunnicliff remembers it, "He said, 'Look around, because I don't want you doing it tomorrow.'". ", The Chicago Tribune paid tribute to Northwestern's relentless ground attack that compiled 273 yards: " remember the terrific running of the Wildcat backs, those lads were not stopping until stopped, period.". Rob Johnson: One of the galvanizing moments happened in the press conference after the game. There are professional athletes that are in the Hall of Fame, that have made millions, that don't get the same kind of love that our team gets. "[He] took the ball and put it behind him and stood there for a moment and the play made off as if it was going around the left end, and the defense started to follow 'em, and we on the line took a step in that direction, which drew 'em, and Tunnicliff took off around the right end, and the line just swung around this way and set up a wall, so to speak, before they could recover, and he went right down the line. It stood for "A Relentless Team." And we carried our games at that point on WBBM, which was all news. Marred by decades of futility, things began to change in the Wildcats first game of that Rose Bowl season. N Men's Club, Northwestern University Alumni Association, 1951). The USC Trojans defeated the Northwestern Wildcats, 4132, on the strength of two touchdown passes from USC quarterback Brad Otton to wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson. But it was still a prestigious event, it was starting to catch on. Ryan Padgett: I was pretty highly recruited out of high school, I actually verbally committed to Notre Dame and cancelled all my other visits, to Stanford, and [University of Washington], and all the rest. ", Thousands of students paraded around the campus and the streets of Evanston, and a reported 500 more did a snake dance in front of Marshall Field's in downtown Chicago. We weren't good enough to relax, we had to come out and give our best effort the entire game in order for us to have the season we wanted to have. You give 'em a hug, and you'll tell 'em you love 'em, and you'll always be that to each other. The retellings and reminiscences render crumbling pages irrelevant as those who were there and others far younger share in the lore of the '49 Rose Bowl champions. Jerry Brown: They had a receiver that was really good, and we shut his ass down. And I couldn't believe I fully expected in that meeting that the guy was shooting his mouth off, I was going to have to reprimand who was being a jerk. Bob Voigts, left, and Alex Sarkisian savor the Rose Bowl victory over Cal. It's easy to say you believe, it's easy to say you're ready, but when it gets right down to it, do you really believe? But covering Northwestern the thought never even crossed my mind. There were plenty of great memories that didn't make it into our oral history. "We played a very conservative running game. At another end of the lobby, Sawle says to Keddie, "Do you ever look at the pictures of all of that and pinch yourself? And it was Penn State, Ohio State and Notre Dame in my household. It was the final lesson that we had to learn as a team. This team is really good." The rest of us were journeymen compared with those three. ", "All the papers out there and everybody thought that Cal would win," Aschenbrenner said recently by phone. College Football at Sports-Reference.com Blog and Articles. He had never done that. Rose Bowl, 1996 | Archival and Manuscript Collections . We're not going to let you skewer this one guy and put his head on the stake. As Forman holds court with sons and grandsons in the reunion hotel lobby, one of his boys proudly wears a T-shirt with a black and white photo of Forman airborne, parallel to the Rose Bowl turf, about to take out the defender on Tunnicliff's game-winning touchdown. Johnson was named the Rose Bowl Player Of The Game. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. +40 (724) 307.599 Lu - Vi: 9:00 - 18:00; northwestern rose bowl 1996 roster Northwestern University Archives. The Score will continue to release a new Flashback each weekday until they reach 100. (Before that play, Northwestern's longest rush of the season was Perricone's 50-yard jaunt in the opener at UCLA, so something about playing in California apparently gave added oomph to the Wildcats' offense. 3 players that will define Penn State's 2023 season It's the grand finale. In addition, two folders (box 52 folder 18, box 53 folder 1) contain the results of various women's sports at Northwestern University, 1975-1990.One card-file box contains 3x5 index cards, organized alphabetically by sport, listing scores from sports events dating between 1871 and 1989/1990. 1995 Northwestern Wildcats football team - Wikipedia And we were practicing at the Citrus Bowl in California, and we had already been down for about a week. What a feeling. The Buckeyes-Huskies' audience includes full streaming data, while only partial streaming data for the Ducks-Badgers matchup is currently available. He was not only a great football player but also a great team captain, and we were a team that was going to accomplish things.". ", "I was right in the middle of the pile," Nemeth says. But the rules were the rules. Rob Johnson: The Minnesota Vikings have like a Nordic horn that they blow, and [offensive lineman] Graham Gnos and I ran through the bowels of the Metrodome, and we went and foundit in a room in the basement of the Metrodome. My first thought was, "Oh my god, I threw it in the ground." I had worked at Disneyland a couple summers prior to that season. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. And you go to New York, and they fly your parents out there. Final score, NU: 20, California: 14. "Some of the players didn't realize he broke loose. Football: Northwestern's bowl history, 1948-2003 It was just how it was. ", "Art's feet were not in the end zone," stated the Jan. 2 L.A. Times about its Page One photo of the play in question. Oral history of Northwestern's 95 Rose Bowl season - Inside NU . Twenty years ago, in 1995, Northwestern football produced one of the greatest underdog stories that college football and the world of sport have ever seen. We suck." . My parents had come down the following week, we had about five, six days left before the game, and I had just been interviewed by Channel 7 News, and I saw my parents so I went over to talk to them, and my mom says, Hey, your dad has a surprise for you.' As for the challenge Northwestern faced, Fatso Day says, "We weren't a bit afraid. "University of Chicago students came and criticized us for being athletes rather than students," Perricone says. An out-and-up with the same player, Derrick Mason. The third day, he comes out, takes a wheelbarrow, and says, "I'm going to push this wheelbarrow across Niagara Falls." "My reaction was, 'I'm going to get to that goal line if I have to carry the whole stadium.'". The 82nd Rose Bowl USC and Northwestern photocopied roster, 1996-01-01 1996 Rose Bowl - Wikipedia Word quickly spread in the press box, and there were a couple Northwestern grads up there, and we got all excited. William Bennett (Senior safety): I was very mad, very disappointed. Vintage Northwestern University Football Sweatshirt 1996 Rose Bowl Men Rose Bowl, 1996, Folder 1, Box: 26, Folder: 1. "He was perhaps more relaxed in California for that game than I had seen him in other situations," Forman says. On the Bears' next play from scrimmage, All-America fullback Jackie Jensen, considered by many the best athlete ever at Cal (read more about Jensen in our "'49 Rose Bowl Trivia"), answered with a 67-yard scoring run to make it 7-7. Join our linker program. Year: 1996. When the 'Cats arrived and conducted their first practice before the watchful West Coast media, the Los Angeles Times reported initial impressions: "Onlookers were amazed by the speed, pep and streamlined appearance of the Wildcats, who had engaged in only five exam-hampered drills since the closing of their regular season.". Northwestern Rose Bowl Shirt - Etsy Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. Northwestern (#7) vs. California (#4). Sam Valenzisi (Senior kicker): I remember sitting in Pick-Staiger as a freshman during Welcome Week, and [then-Northwestern University president] Arnie Weber said, "Everybody who was valedictorian of their high school class, stand up. So I held this special dislike for Notre Dame. According to Sam Valenzisi, one of the reasons that team was able to have that belief without evidence was that they had all been successful in the past. It had been 23-straight losing season for the Wildcats as they entered the 1995 season. We actually slept on the dirty, filthy streets of Pasadena, with trash blowing in the wind. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? But I had follow-up questions, and we actually shot the art for the story in the press box at Northwestern. And not in a bad way. With only a home game left against archrival Illinois, the 'Cats had a 6-2 record and a chance for their first Rose Bowl because conference rules then prohibited teams from going to Pasadena in back-to-back years. "Tunnicliff was missing a finger from a combat injury [as a tank driver in Germany]. Charles Bartlett's flowery Chicago Tribune game story began with: "Northwestern's Wildcats, a feline football tribe, suddenly turned into horticulturists, yesterday became posy fanciers of the Rose variety as they wrought a 20 to 7 victory over Illinois in the final Western Conference game of the season. He saved me. "I understood leadership by being around those guys," says Gaspar Perricone (WCAS50), a fullback who went straight from high school to Northwestern. ", Tunnicliff told the L.A. Times: "When Don Burson called it in the huddle, I could have kissed him.". Michigan was ineligible to return in '49 after its 49-0 romp for the roses over USC in 1948. Flashback #25: Northwestern Plays In Rose Bowl (1996) In October almost half of the 45-player roster from the 1949 Rose Bowl team, Northwestern's first bowl team and only bowl winner, returned to Evanston for a 60-year reunion and a halftime tribute. On October 28, USC and Washington played what would be the deciding game for the conference at Husky Stadium. 'One of the greatest underdog stories of our time': Northwestern's run "Waldorf came into the locker room after the game to congratulate us and he said, 'I knew that today I could not lose,'" says Sawle. And I have a big ring, and those guys don't. And when coach Barnett called it, I was like, "Okay! As of 670 The Score's 20th Anniversary on January 3rd, the station has begun to reveal (in chronological order) the Top 100 Chicago Sports Stories that have occurred since they first went on the air 20 years ago. Darnell Autry: After 20 years, people still care. He played like three plays his freshman year. "That did an awful lot to get our motors running," says tackle Steve Sawle (EB50). ohio state volleyball roster 2018 - sejoannadeangelis.org ", Shannon Jones (Sophomore kicker): I remember Steve Schnur sitting next to me and slapping me on the shoulder and saying, "So what are you gonna do after we win the game? The celebration for the victors continued after they left the West Coast. Records are organized alphabetically by the name of the sport, from baseball to wrestling. "There was total silence from this gigantic crowd," says Forman. I remember calling my mom from O'Hare after my visit on my way home, and she was all excited, she said a scholarship spot had just opened up at Washington. Twenty years ago, Northwestern shocked the nation by winning the Big Ten and sending a purple wave to Pasadena, California, for the Rose Bowl in a season that changed the program forever. Chris Martin: Our locker room was their wrestling room. Pat Fitzgerald: It was the best group of men that anybody could wish to be a part of in college. Forman says the team's big-game experiences had the players very upbeat to begin with and Voigts reinforced that as New Year's Day drew near. The 'Cats opened with a 19-0 road victory over UCLA and then a second-straight shutout, 21-0 over Purdue at Dyche. ", "Big Bill Forman left his feet," back Johnny Miller (C51) says, "and that block was the key to the win. It was sort of, "Well, we gotta do this." College Football HQ on SI . 670 The Score's 20th Anniversary Flashback #25: January 2, 1996 - Northwestern plays in the Rose Bowl The second day he said, "Okay, I've accomplished the simple feat, now I'm going to walk backwards across the tightrope." Check out our northwestern rose bowl shirt selection for the very best in unique or custom, handmade pieces from our shops. He was on the 40-man roster and went to . Northwestern University Archives. And protecting us as a team. And he did it. "He had possession when he crossed. Autry ended up finishing fourth in the voting. "This reunion's better than the last one," Sawle says. I was the summer sports editor of The Daily Northwestern the summer before the season, and I did a look at all the games, and I put them into two categories, "winnable," and then one that I called "miserable," which were games that they had no shot of winning. Northwestern Football: Revisiting the 1995 Wildcats Rose Bowl Team "Burson was always funny," says guard Bob Nowicki (EB52). Main . northwestern rose bowl 1996 roster - manoharinternational.com And Wisconsin's All-American tight end goes across the middle, and Geoff Shein just put a hit on him that just reverberated through the stadium. The Northwestern senior put together a showing for the record books. I told them it'd be cheaper to go up there than to stay here. The Trojans lost to the Bruins, 2420. When someone wrote about us or publicly responded to our team and described our team as relentless, then we knew we had arrived. The 82nd Rose Bowl USC and Northwestern photocopied roster, 1996-01-01, Box: 1, Folder: 5. northwestern rose bowl 1996 roster. And he looked at us, and kind of nodded his head and smiled. Field judge Jay Berwanger, winner of the first Heisman Trophy in 1935 (read more about Berwanger in our "'49 Rose Bowl Trivia"), saw it the same way and ruled it a touchdown for Northwestern, which missed the extra point but took a 13-7 lead. Ryan Padgett: Freshman skit night was fun. There were some guys that bought in from [former coach] Francis Peay's administration, and believed and really bought in, and that's hard to do, because he asked a lot of people. ", When the Wildcats opened their season with the blanking of UCLA, their roundtrip was by plane. We weren't allowed to tell anybody what it stood for until somebody called us a relentless team. The last guy who could've caught him didn't see me. Department of Athletics and Recreation, https://www.library.northwestern.edu/libraries-collections/mccormick-library/index.html. It turned into the only lopsided blemish on the Wildcats' season, a 28-0 defeat. ", The out-of-towners received celebrity treatment in other ways.