1925 Rose Bowl
Encyclopedia
The 1925 Rose Bowl was a college football
bowl game
. It was the 11th Rose Bowl Game
. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish
defeated Stanford University
, 27-10. The game featured two legendary coaches, Knute Rockne
of Notre Dame, and Glenn "Pop" Warner
in his first year at Stanford. The game also featured the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame
. Elmer Layden
of Notre Dame and Ernie Nevers of Stanford were named the Rose Bowl Players Of The Game when the award was created in 1953 and selections were made retroactively.
This was the first appearance for Notre Dame in any post season bowl game. It was the second appearance for Stanford in a bowl game, since their appearance in the First Tournament East West football game
, later known as the 1902 Rose Bowl
. This was the first appearance of the Notre Dame football team on the West Coast, and eventually led to the founding of the Notre Dame – USC rivalry. This game marked the first time a wirephoto
, known at the time as a "telepix", was transmitted of a bowl game.
teams played a very limited conference schedule. Teams played from three to five conference opponents in an eight game schedule. The Cardinal defeated Occidental, and had a close 7-0 win against Olympic Club
. They defeated Oregon 28-13 in their opening PCC conference game. A close 3-0 victory over Idaho in Portland, Oregon
was their last close game. The beat Montana 41-3 to run their PCC record to 3-0. The Stanford Cardinal and California Golden Bears met in one of the biggest of the Big Games
in 1924. Both teams were undefeated with the PCC championship on the line. Stanford was 3-0, and Cal was 2-0-1. Thousands packed Tightwad Hill
above a sold out California Memorial Stadium
. California needed a win, but the game ended in a 20-20 tie, giving Stanford the sole possession of first place in the PCC.
refused to play Notre Dame "on account of [Notre Dame's] low scholastic standards. Since Notre Dame was a Catholic school, its academics were considered inferior at the time. USC's coach, “Gloomy”Gus Henderson
reached out to Rockne through correspondence stating that "USC would welcome the chance to play Notre Dame New Year's Day in Pasadena. While Rockne favored playing USC, Stanford, which won the Pacific Coast Conference title, had first choice and eventually realized that playing Notre Dame would be lucrative, and the two played in the 1925 Rose Bowl.
Quarterback Harry Stuhldreher
, left halfback Jim Crowley
, right halfback Don Miller
and fullback Elmer Layden
had run rampant through Irish opponents' defenses since coach Knute Rockne devised the lineup in 1922 during their sophomore season. A legendary quote from Grantland Rice
, a sportswriter for the former New York Herald Tribune, gave them football immortality. After Notre Dame's 13-7 upset victory over a strong Army team, on October 18, 1924, Rice penned a famous passage of sports journalism:
Notre Dame would later notch its 200th victory in a 34-3 win over Georgia Tech in the homecoming game on November 1, 1924. Their only other close game would come against Northwestern at Soldier field on November 22, where the Irish won 13-6.
, a dormitory at the University of Notre Dame, was built with the proceeds, $52,000, from the 1925 Rose Bowl.
Elmer Layden
of Notre Dame and Ernie Nevers of Stanford were named the Rose Bowl Players Of The Game when the award was created in 1953 and selections were made retroactively.
Notre Dame would never again appear in the Rose Bowl game, and would not appear in any bowl game until the 1970 Cotton Bowl Classic
game. In the 2007 college football season, the UCLA Bruins would host the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Rose Bowl stadium where the Irish would win 20-6. With the Rose Bowl Game joining the Bowl Championship Series
, the possibility has existed that Notre Dame could again play in the Rose Bowl game.
Knute Rockne died in a plane crash in 1931. Don Miller, who died in 1979 as the last of the living Four Horsemen, said that the 1925 Rose Bowl champion team was Rockne's favorite team.
The Notre Dame – Stanford rivalry
game is now one of the many Notre Dame Fighting Irish football rivalries
. The teams next played each other in 1942 and again in 1963-64. The modern series began in 1988 and has been played annually except in 1995-96. As of 2010, Notre Dame leads the series 17-8. When the game is played in Palo Alto
, it is usually the last game on Stanford's schedule (as has been the case since 1999), one week after the Cardinal plays archrival Cal in The Big Game
.
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
bowl game
Bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...
. It was the 11th Rose Bowl Game
Rose Bowl Game
The Rose Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2...
. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame's nickname is inherited from Irish immigrant soldiers who fought in the Civil War with the Union's Irish Brigade, , recollected among other places in the poetry of Joyce Kilmer who served with one of the Irish Brigade regiments during World War I...
defeated Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, 27-10. The game featured two legendary coaches, Knute Rockne
Knute Rockne
Knute Kenneth Rockne was an American football player and coach. He is regarded as one of the greatest coaches in college football history...
of Notre Dame, and Glenn "Pop" Warner
Glenn Scobey Warner
Glenn Scobey Warner , most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American football player and coach...
in his first year at Stanford. The game also featured the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame
Four Horsemen (football)
The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame comprised a winning group of American football players at the University of Notre Dame under coach Knute Rockne. They were the backfield of Notre Dame's 1924 football team...
. Elmer Layden
Elmer Layden
Elmer Francis Layden was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive. He played college football at the University of Notre Dame where he starred at fullback as a member of the legendary "Four Horsemen" backfield...
of Notre Dame and Ernie Nevers of Stanford were named the Rose Bowl Players Of The Game when the award was created in 1953 and selections were made retroactively.
This was the first appearance for Notre Dame in any post season bowl game. It was the second appearance for Stanford in a bowl game, since their appearance in the First Tournament East West football game
1902 Rose Bowl
Originally titled the "Tournament East-West football game," what is now known as the Rose Bowl Game was first played on January 1, 1902 in Pasadena, California, starting the tradition of New Year's Day bowl games.The inaugural game featured Fielding H...
, later known as the 1902 Rose Bowl
1902 Rose Bowl
Originally titled the "Tournament East-West football game," what is now known as the Rose Bowl Game was first played on January 1, 1902 in Pasadena, California, starting the tradition of New Year's Day bowl games.The inaugural game featured Fielding H...
. This was the first appearance of the Notre Dame football team on the West Coast, and eventually led to the founding of the Notre Dame – USC rivalry. This game marked the first time a wirephoto
Wirephoto
Wirephoto or telephotography is the sending of pictures by telegraph or telephone.Western Union transmitted its first halftone photograph in 1921. AT&T followed in 1924, and RCA sent a Radiophoto in 1926. The Associated Press began its Wirephoto service in 1935, and held a trademark on the term AP...
, known at the time as a "telepix", was transmitted of a bowl game.
Stanford University Cardinal
The Pacific Coast ConferencePacific Coast Conference
The Pacific Coast Conference was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pacific-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, the older league had a completely different charter and was disbanded in 1959 due to a major crisis...
teams played a very limited conference schedule. Teams played from three to five conference opponents in an eight game schedule. The Cardinal defeated Occidental, and had a close 7-0 win against Olympic Club
Olympic Club
The Olympic Club is a San Francisco, California, athletic club and private social club with three golf courses located at San Francisco's border with Daly City, California. The club's main "City Clubhouse" is located in downtown San Francisco. The club's "Lakeside Clubhouse" is located just north...
. They defeated Oregon 28-13 in their opening PCC conference game. A close 3-0 victory over Idaho in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
was their last close game. The beat Montana 41-3 to run their PCC record to 3-0. The Stanford Cardinal and California Golden Bears met in one of the biggest of the Big Games
Big Game (football)
The Big Game is an American college football rivalry game played by the California Golden Bears football team of the University of California, Berkeley and the Stanford Cardinal football team of Stanford University. It is typically played in late November or early December...
in 1924. Both teams were undefeated with the PCC championship on the line. Stanford was 3-0, and Cal was 2-0-1. Thousands packed Tightwad Hill
Tightwad Hill
Tightwad Hill is the popular name for Charter Hill, the hill rising to the east of California Memorial Stadium at the University of California, Berkeley. Tightwad Hill is so named as it affords a free view of the stadium's field, allowing fans of the Golden Bears to see the game live, even if the...
above a sold out California Memorial Stadium
California Memorial Stadium
California Memorial Stadium is an outdoor football stadium on the campus of the University of California in Berkeley. Commonly known as Memorial Stadium, it is the home field for the University of California Golden Bears of the Pacific-12 Conference...
. California needed a win, but the game ended in a 20-20 tie, giving Stanford the sole possession of first place in the PCC.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame garnered interest from the Rose Bowl committee to have Notre Dame come and play a Pacific Coast Conference opponent for the 1925 football season. Coach Rockne and the Notre Dame administration realized how lucrative an annual trip to Los Angeles would be for the football program. Notre Dame's west coast alumni began lobbying Rockne to bring the team to the Rose Bowl as a season finale on a yearly basis. The Rose Bowl committee favored this arrangement (at the time there was no tie in with the Big Ten); however the Pacific Coast Conference had reservations. Specifically, two members schools, Stanford and BerkeleyUniversity of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
refused to play Notre Dame "on account of [Notre Dame's] low scholastic standards. Since Notre Dame was a Catholic school, its academics were considered inferior at the time. USC's coach, “Gloomy”Gus Henderson
Gus Henderson
Elmer Clinton "Gloomy Gus" Henderson was an American football coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Southern California , the University of Tulsa , and Occidental College , compiling a career college football record of 126–42–7...
reached out to Rockne through correspondence stating that "USC would welcome the chance to play Notre Dame New Year's Day in Pasadena. While Rockne favored playing USC, Stanford, which won the Pacific Coast Conference title, had first choice and eventually realized that playing Notre Dame would be lucrative, and the two played in the 1925 Rose Bowl.
Quarterback Harry Stuhldreher
Harry Stuhldreher
Harry Augustus Stuhldreher was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played quarterback at University of Notre Dame from 1922 to 1924, where he was a three-time All-American and member of the legendary "Four Horsemen" backfield...
, left halfback Jim Crowley
Jim Crowley
James Harold "Jim" Crowley was an American football player and coach. He gained fame as one-fourth of the University of Notre Dame's legendary "Four Horsemen" backfield where he played halfback from 1922 to 1924. After a brief career as a professional football player, Crowley turned to coaching...
, right halfback Don Miller
Don Miller
Don Miller may refer to:*Don Miller , member of the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, the backfield of Notre Dame's 1924 football team*Don Miller Don Miller may refer to:*Don Miller (American football), member of the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, the backfield of Notre Dame's 1924 football team*Don...
and fullback Elmer Layden
Elmer Layden
Elmer Francis Layden was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive. He played college football at the University of Notre Dame where he starred at fullback as a member of the legendary "Four Horsemen" backfield...
had run rampant through Irish opponents' defenses since coach Knute Rockne devised the lineup in 1922 during their sophomore season. A legendary quote from Grantland Rice
Grantland Rice
Grantland Rice was an early 20th century American sportswriter known for his elegant prose. His writing was published in newspapers around the country and broadcast on the radio.-Biography:...
, a sportswriter for the former New York Herald Tribune, gave them football immortality. After Notre Dame's 13-7 upset victory over a strong Army team, on October 18, 1924, Rice penned a famous passage of sports journalism:
"Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are: Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the
precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below."
Notre Dame would later notch its 200th victory in a 34-3 win over Georgia Tech in the homecoming game on November 1, 1924. Their only other close game would come against Northwestern at Soldier field on November 22, where the Irish won 13-6.
Game summary
Three Irish touchdowns were scored on Stanford turnovers. Stanford had eight, which proved to be the difference, as the Indians otherwise dominated the Fighting Irish. Elmer Layden scored three touchdowns for Notre Dame, one on a three-yard run in the second quarter to give Notre Dame a 6-3 lead and two more on interception returns. Ernie Nevers, an All-American two-way star for Stanford, played all 60 minutes in the game. He rushed for 114 yards, more yardage than all the Four Horsemen combined.Second quarter
- Notre Dame – Layden 3-yard run (kick failed) 2 13:30 6-3
- Notre Dame – Layden 78-yard interception return (Crowley kick) 2 8:00 13-3
Third quarter
- Notre Dame – Hunsinger 20-yard fumble return (Crowley kick) 3 5:00 20-3
- Stanford – ShipkeyTed Shipkey-External links:...
7-yard pass from Walker (Cuddeback kick) 3 1:00 20-10
Aftermath
The next year, the University of Southern California would invite Notre Dame to a home and home series, which was the foundation of the Notre Dame – USC rivalry. Previously, the furthest west the Irish ever had traveled was to play at Nebraska and Kansas. Dillon HallDillon Hall (University of Notre Dame)
Dillon Hall is one of the 29 Residence Halls on the campus of the University of Notre Dame and one of the 15 male dorms. Dillon is located directly west of Alumni Hall and is directly adjacent to South Dining Hall on the west. Dillon has space for 334 undergraduate students.-History:Dillon Hall is...
, a dormitory at the University of Notre Dame, was built with the proceeds, $52,000, from the 1925 Rose Bowl.
Elmer Layden
Elmer Layden
Elmer Francis Layden was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive. He played college football at the University of Notre Dame where he starred at fullback as a member of the legendary "Four Horsemen" backfield...
of Notre Dame and Ernie Nevers of Stanford were named the Rose Bowl Players Of The Game when the award was created in 1953 and selections were made retroactively.
Notre Dame would never again appear in the Rose Bowl game, and would not appear in any bowl game until the 1970 Cotton Bowl Classic
1970 Cotton Bowl Classic
The 1970 Cotton Bowl Classic was a postseason college football bowl game between the Texas Longhorns and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Texas won the game, 21–17, and secured its second consensus National Championship in school history.-External links:...
game. In the 2007 college football season, the UCLA Bruins would host the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Rose Bowl stadium where the Irish would win 20-6. With the Rose Bowl Game joining the Bowl Championship Series
Bowl Championship Series
The Bowl Championship Series is a selection system that creates five bowl match-ups involving ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , including an opportunity for the top two to compete in the BCS National Championship Game.The BCS relies on a combination of...
, the possibility has existed that Notre Dame could again play in the Rose Bowl game.
Knute Rockne died in a plane crash in 1931. Don Miller, who died in 1979 as the last of the living Four Horsemen, said that the 1925 Rose Bowl champion team was Rockne's favorite team.
The Notre Dame – Stanford rivalry
Notre Dame – Stanford rivalry
The Notre Dame–Stanford football rivalry is an American college football rivalry game played by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team of the University of Notre Dame and the Stanford Cardinal football team of Stanford University. As of 2011, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Stanford...
game is now one of the many Notre Dame Fighting Irish football rivalries
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football rivalries
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football rivalries refers to rivalries of the University of Notre Dame in the sport of college football. Notre Dame rivalries encompass many teams. Because the Fighting Irish are independent of a football conference, they play a more national schedule, and have thus...
. The teams next played each other in 1942 and again in 1963-64. The modern series began in 1988 and has been played annually except in 1995-96. As of 2010, Notre Dame leads the series 17-8. When the game is played in Palo Alto
Stanford Stadium
Stanford Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium on the Stanford University campus, the home of Stanford Cardinal college football team. It originally opened in 1921 as a football and track stadium, an earthen horseshoe with wooden bleacher seating and flooring upon a steel frame...
, it is usually the last game on Stanford's schedule (as has been the case since 1999), one week after the Cardinal plays archrival Cal in The Big Game
Big Game (football)
The Big Game is an American college football rivalry game played by the California Golden Bears football team of the University of California, Berkeley and the Stanford Cardinal football team of Stanford University. It is typically played in late November or early December...
.