1996 Rose Bowl

The 1996 Rose Bowl was the 82nd Rose Bowl Game. It was the 50th game in the series featuring the Big Ten Conference and the Pacific-10 Conference. The USC Trojans defeated the Northwestern Wildcats 41-32 on the strength of two touchdown passes from USC QB Brad Otton to WR Keyshawn Johnson. Keyshawn Johnson was named the Rose Bowl Player Of The Game.

Pre-Game Activities

The game was presiding over by the 1996 Tournament of Roses Royal Court and Rose Parade Grand Marshal Kermit, the Frog. Members of the court are: Queen Keli Hutchins, San Marino, San Marino High School; Princesses Lissa Anderson, Pasadena, Blair High School; Sarah Clinton, Arcadia, Arcadia High School; Nancy Grace, South Pasadena, Mayfield Senior School; Katherine Kingston, San Marino, San Marino High School; Jennifer Lai, Pasadena, Blair High School; and Sara Packer, La Canada, La Canada High School.

Teams

Northwestern Wildcats

Main article: 1995 Northwestern Wildcats football team

The Northwestern Wildcats had a string of losing seasons stretching back to 1972. They had last appeared in the 1949 Rose Bowl. The Wildcats opened the 1995 season with a surprise 17-15 win at #9 Notre Dame on September 3, 1995. That Notre Dame team would finish at number 6 and go to the Orange Bowl. However, Notre Dame set the record for largest drop in the rankings AP Poll in the Top 25-era when the next AP poll was released. The Fighting Irish dropped 16 spots, from #9 to #25, after losing to Northwestern (this record has since been beaten by Michigan after losing to Appalachian State during the first week of the 2007 season). The Wildcats, who were then ranked in the AP poll for the first time since 1971, fell out of the spotlight when they lost to Miami University in their next game. They would win against Air Force and Indiana to get back to #25 in the polls. On October 2, the Wildcats had another win that brought them back into national attention, a 19–13 over Michigan in Ann Arbor. The Wildcats would win out the rest of their games with a perfect 8–0 record in the Big Ten Conference. In response to the Wildcats being in the Rose Bowl, announcer Keith Jackson uttered the quote "We've had all the romance, now let's find out if she can dance."

USC Trojans

Main article: 1995 USC Trojans football team

The USC Trojans opened with six wins until losing at Notre Dame 38–10 on October 21. On October 28, USC and Washington played what would be the deciding game for the conference at Husky Stadium. Down 21–0 in the fourth quarter, the Trojans scored three straight touchdowns, with the final coming with 33 seconds remaining. The game ended in a 21-21 tie. A Washington loss to Oregon on November 4 put USC in the lead in the Pac-10 race. Coming into the UCLA-USC rivalry game, the Trojans already had the Rose Bowl berth by virtue of more non-conference victories than Washington, even though a loss to the Bruins would leave both teams with a 6-1-1 record. The Trojans lost to the Bruins 20-24.

Game summary

The Northwestern University "Wildcat" Marching Band performs the Alma Mater at the 1996 Rose Bowl under the direction of John P. Paynter.

Scoring

First quarter

USC: S.Woods 1yd run (Abrams kick) USC 7-0
NU: D.Autry 3 yd run (Gowins kick) Tied 7-7

Second quarter

USC: Barnum 21 yd pass from Otton (Abrams kick) 13:05 USC 14-7
USC: Abrams 30 yd FG 3:29 USC 17-7
USC: McCutcheon 53 yd fumble return (Abrams kick) 2:56 USC 24-7
NU: Gowins 29 yd FG 0:02 USC 24-10

Third quarter

NU: Gowins 28 yd FG 11:01 USC 24-13
NU: D.Autry 9 yd run (conversion failed) 8:17 USC 24-19
USC: K.Johnson 56 yd pass from Otton (Abrams kick) 6:08 USC 31-19
NU: Schnur 1 yd run (Gowins kick) 2:58 USC 31-26

Fourth quarter

NU: D.Autry 2 yd run (conversion failed) 13:01 NU 32-31
USC: Abrams 46 yd FG 9:09 USC 34-32
USC: Washington 2 yd run (Abrams kick) 3:00 USC 41-32

References

1995–96 NCAA football bowl game season

Las Vegas (Dec. 15) Aloha (Dec. 25) Copper (Dec. 27) Alamo (Dec. 28) Independence (Dec. 29) Sun (Dec. 29) Holiday (Dec. 29) Liberty (Dec. 30) Carquest (Dec. 30) Peach (Dec. 30) Gator (Jan. 1) Outback (Jan. 1) Cotton (Jan. 1) Florida Citrus (Jan. 1) Rose (Jan. 1)

Bowl Alliance games: Sugar (Dec. 31) Orange (Jan. 1) Fiesta (Jan. 2)

Rose Bowl Game

History Rose Bowl Stadium College Football Playoff Broadcasters Tie-Ins Big Ten Conference Pac-12 Conference

Games	1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Notes	No Rose Bowl Games were held from 1903 to 1915 The 1942 game was played at Duke Stadium in Durham, NC after Pearl Harbor attacks Bolded years indicate the game was also the BCS National Championship Game

Northwestern Wildcats bowl games

1949 Rose Bowl 1996 Rose Bowl 1997 Florida Citrus Bowl 2000 Alamo Bowl 2003 Motor City Bowl 2005 Sun Bowl 2008 Alamo Bowl 2010 Outback Bowl 2011 TicketCity Bowl 2011 Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas 2013 Gator Bowl 2016 Outback Bowl

USC Trojans bowl games

Pound sign (#) denotes national championship game.

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