1946 rose bowl game

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Kiel McDonald won the Pac championship in with Utah. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. See our ethics statement. Alabama has played in a total of six Rose Bowl games and Roll Bama Roll is looking back at each of those historic football matches. Alabama's final Rose Bowl game in was on New Year's Day, - a full 20 years since the Crimson Tide's inaugural appearance in the Tournament of Roses invitational football game.

Crimson Tide Head Coach Frank Thomas had led Alabama to a second national championship in - the fifth in the program's history - but building on that success proved impossible due to World War II. The university dropped the football program in due to the war. The next season Thomas struggled to restart the program with a group of returning vets, 4-F students and teenagers too young to draft that he dubbed his "War Babies. One reason for his optimism was an undersized tailback named Harry Gilmer.

With a one-of-a-kind leaping throwing style as accurate as it was unorthodox, Gilmer became the force driving the Crimson Tide offense. He captivated the Alabama faithful from the start when he opened the season by returning a LSU kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. No less than Grantland Rice declared him "the greatest college passer I ever saw. With the conclusion of WW II in the spring of , Thomas' war babies were joined by a number of returning veterans on campus in the fall.

It proved to be one of the strongest squads Thomas ever put on the field. The Crimson Tide barreled to an undefeated season; their closest call being a victory over Georgia in Birmingham. Alabama, known as the "wooden horse" led at the half and the Trojans had a net loss of 24 yards.

USC, which had won eight straight Rose Bowl games since , didn't make a first down until the third quarter when the score was Alabama outgained USC to 41 yards. Quarterback Harry Gilmer threw only 11 times in the game for one touchdown and ran for yards on 16 carries. Hal Self scored twice, on a one yard run and on a yard Gilmer pass.

Cravath fielded several strong Trojan squads relying on experienced players from Navy and Marine training programs set up at USC. He also overhauled the USC offense, instituting the "T" formation featuring with four backs, not one, handling the ball. The Trojans carried the Pacific Conference crown with a lackluster record outscoring their opposition by just 75 points.

Alabama, on the other hand, had amassed a point differential during their undefeated season. Going into the game the Crimson Tide was a two-score favorite but that did little to impress the mavens of the West Coast media.