Today's Tidbit... The First Game In The Rose Bowl, 101 Years Ago Today

Colorado visits UCLA tonight in a game played in Rose Bowl Stadium and five-and-one-half hours drive north, USC and Cal clashed at California Memorial Stadium this afternoon. It was a different situation a century ago. Colorado played in the Rocky Mountain Conference, while UCLA was still known as the Southern Branch of the University of California, and their athletic teams were the Cubs. The Southern Branch boys played in the six-team Southern California Conference against teams like Redlands, Occidental, and Whittier, finishing the season tied for fourth with a 1-3-1 conference record.

So, when it came time in 1922 to kick the tires on the newly-built Tournament of Roses Stadium in Pasadena, the city fathers invited USC and Cal to play the first game on the hallowed ground we now call the Rose Bowl, a game that occurred 101 years ago today.

Both teams entered the game undefeated, but few viewed USC as being in the same class as Cal. Cal's Wonder Boys were a wonder. Undefeated in 1920 and 1921, they beat the Trojans 38-7 the previous year, so while USC was a potential challenge, few thought they had much potential until they heard the weather forecast, which called for rain.

USC had a 197-pound right tackle, the heaviest starter in the game. ('How They Will Line Up,' Los Angeles Times, October 28, 1922.)