The 1941 Rose Bowl, played on January 1, 1941, was an American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 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 27th 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...

 with the #7 ranked Cornhuskers

1940 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

The 1940 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team was the representative of the University of Nebraska in the 1940 college football season. The team was coached by Biff Jones and played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.-Before the season:...

 taking on the #2 ranked Stanford Indians

1940 Stanford Indians football team

The 1940 Stanford Indians football team, nicknamed the "Wow Boys", represented Stanford University in National Collegiate Athletic Association intercollegiate competition during the 1940 season. First-year head coach Clark Shaughnessy inherited a team that finished with a 1–7–1 record the previous...

. At the end of the 2009 college football season, this game stands as the only meeting between these two football programs. The final score was a 21-13 Stanford victory. This was the Cornhuskers

Nebraska Cornhuskers football

The Nebraska Cornhuskers represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in college football. The program has established itself as a traditional powerhouse, and has the fourth-most all-time victories of any NCAA Division I-A team. Nebraska is one of only six football programs in NCAA Division I-A...

 first bowl game.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Cornhuskers

The Nebraska Cornhusker football team was 8-1 going into the Rose Bowl and was ranked seventh in the nation with their one loss of the season to top-ranked Minnesota. After the announcement of the Rose Bowl acceptance, the celebration that followed lasted for 24 hours in Lincoln, according to newspaper reports. University classes were canceled, and students stormed the state capitol, demanding that the governor lead the singing of the school song, "There Is No Place Like Nebraska

Dear Old Nebraska U

Dear Old Nebraska U is a fight song of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln often played at football games by the University of Nebraska Cornhusker Marching Band...

." The team had two All-Americans: Warren Alfson

Warren Alfson

Warren Alfson was an American football guard and linebacker for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, as well as the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National Football League.-Early years:He was born and raised in Wisner, Nebraska...

 and Forrest Behm and was led by coach Lawrence Mcceney "Biff" Jones.

Stanford University Indians

The 1940 Stanford football season started with a new football coach, Clark Shaughnessy, who would bring a revolutionary football style called the T formation

T formation

In American football, a T formation is a formation used by the offensive team in which three running backs line up in a row about five yards behind the quarterback, forming the shape of a "T"....

. This new style of playing was filled with tricks, fakes and pitchouts that helped the Indians to a perfect 9-0 regular season and a nickname of the "Wow Boys". The new features of the style involved quarterback Frankie Albert

Frankie Albert

Frank Cullen "Frankie" Albert was an American football player. He played as a quarterback with the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League...

 taking the snap from right behind the center.

First Quarter

NEBR - Vike Francis 2 run (Francis kick).

STAN - Hugh Gallarneau

Hugh Gallarneau

Hugh H. "Duke" Gallarneau was an NFL halfback from 1941–1942 and 1945–1947 for the Chicago Bears. He played college football at Stanford, where he was an All-American.-College career:...

 9 run (Frankie Albert kick).

Second Quarter

NEBR - Allen Zikmund 33 pass from Herm Rohrig (kick blocked).

STAN - Gallarneau 41 pass from Albert (Albert kick).

Highlight of the game

The highlight of the game is often considered to be one of the best plays in Rose Bowl history. The Indians drove from their own 23-yard line to the Cornhusker one-yard line before a valiant goal-line stand by Nebraska denied Stanford the end zone. Stanford had four cracks at the end zone from the one-yard line, but the Cornhuskers held each time.

After taking over on their own one, Nebraska opted to punt on first down. Then came the play of the game. Kmetovic took the punt at the Cornhusker 40-yard line and dashed and darted his way to the end zone, giving Stanford an insurmountable 21-13 lead.

Statistics

Note: Both schools report slightly different stats, these stats are from Nebraska's records

	Stanford	Nebraska
First Downs	15	9
Rushing Yards	202	58
Passing Att-com-int	13-6-2	14-4-0
Passing Yards	68	85
Total Offense	375	128

Aftermath

This game is generally considered the clincher that convinced football pundits that the T formation style was the offense of the future.

The game retains a special place in Cornhusker history and future Hall of Fame Coach Bob Devaney

Bob Devaney

Robert S. "Bob" Devaney was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Wyoming from 1957 to 1961 and at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln from 1962 to 1972, compiling a career college football record of 136–30–7...

used to joke that he'd been in the state several years before he found out the Cornhuskers had lost the 1941 Rose Bowl game.

External links

• http://www.huskerpedia.com/games/1940/10stanford.html
• http://www.huskersnside.com//pdf5/40179.pdf?ATCLID=2722&SPSID=8&SPID=22&DB_OEM_ID=100
• http://www.huskerpedia.com/games/1940/RoseStanfordRecap.html#stats
• http://netnebraska.org/extras/husker_century/hc_events/hc_rosebowl.html
• http://www.huskers.com//pdf7/134548.pdf
• http://www.huskers.com//pdf7/134543.pdf