A Special Bowl Game-The 1997 Rose Bowl

The Rose Bowl has a special place in many college football fans’ hearts. It is one of the oldest bowl games in college history. It still remains a big part of college football’s heritiage and tradition. The 1997 Rose Bowl was special to me. I graduated from The Ohio State University in 1994. I lived in Lincoln Tower for two years. Lincoln Tower is near Ohio Stadium or the “Shoe” which is where the Buckeyes play their home football games. I enjoyed participating in a pep band that played at a couple Ohio State games while attending The Ohio State University. A very cool experience to be on the sidelines with the Buckeye players. In 1997, my parents gave me a cool Christmas present. They bought me a ticket to the 1997 Rose Bowl game. The Ohio State Buckeyes played the Arizona St. Sun Devils in the 83rd Rose Bowl.

The 1997 Rose Bowl was played on January 1, 1997. The Rose Bowl is played at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California. Approximately 100,700 fans attended this Rose Bowl. It was very cool to see all the fans wearing their Arizona State and Buckeye colors. My seat for this game was great because it was very close to the football field near the fifty yard line. While sitting in the stands waiting for the game to start, I had to pinch myself several times to make sure I was really at the game.

The Arizona State Sun Devils were undefeated during the 1996 regular season. This 11-0 Sun Devil team was coached by Bruce Snyder and was led by quarterback Jake “The Snake” Plummer.

The Buckeyes entered this game with a 10-1 record. The Buckeyes only loss during the 1996 season was to arch rivel Michigan. The Buckeyes had been successful with a two quarterback scheme all season. The two quarterbacks were Stanley Jackson and Joe Germaine. The Buckeyes were a young team. However, they were strong with offensive stand-out David Boston and Dimitrious Stanley. Ohio State had a tough defense behind Shawn Springs and Andy Katzenmoyer.

In some ways, this game reminded me of a chess game played by high skilled competitors. At halftime, the game was tied 7-7. The game definitely heated up in the second half. In the third quarter, Ohio State’s Joe Germaine connected with Dimitrius Stanley. After the reception, Dimitrius Stanley ran for seventy-two yards and a touchdown. At the end of the third quarter the Buckeyes were ahead of the Sun Devils 14-10.

In the fourth quarter, behind quarterback Jake Plummer, the Sun Devils persistantly drove the ball down the field for a score that gave them the lead. The score was 17-14 with approximately one minute left in the game. Using his senior experience, Joe Germaine marched the Buckeyes offense down the field one last time for the victory. The Buckeyes capilized on poor judgement by Arizona State defensive players in this drive. Two penalities on third downs kept this Ohio State offensive drive going. The final outcome of this drive was a Ohio State touchdown that gave the Buckeyes a Rose Bowl victory. Joe Germaine was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1997 Rose Bowl.

The last Rose Bowl The Ohio State Buckeyes football team had won was when running back Archie Griffin was a sophomore. Another piece of Rose Bowl history is the fact that John Cooper is the only head coach to win a Rose Bowl for a Pac 10 team and a Big Ten team. In 1987, John Cooper and the Arizona St Sun Devils defeated Michigan. In 1997, as head coach of the Buckeyes, John Cooper won his second Rose Bowl by beating Arizona St. 20-17.

.Sources:
Personal Knowledge
www.wikipedia.org./1997 RoseBowl
www.wikipedia.org./1987 RoseBowl