Rematch in the Rose Bowl

It was getting so cold on the upper reaches of the Mississippi that the University of Minnesota football team decided on a year-end vacation. Pasadena's Rose Bowl seemed just the place. "We've talked it all over," said Coach Murray Warmath, "and if we're good enough, we'd like to go." The unbeaten Gophers figured to be more than good enough to beat Iowa's corn-fed Hawkeyes and earn the trip to California.

"There's been no Rose Bowl talk at Iowa," said the Hawkeyes' Coach Forest Evashevski. The "One Man Gang" who led Michigan's bruising prewar powerhouses in 1939-40 had yet to win a football game in Minneapolis--either as Michigan player or Iowa coach. So he forgot about New Year's Day and concentrated on the task at hand. "I'll be taping my players all night," he added as he brooded over the long roster of Iowa casualties.

Vital Statistics. Tape or talk, Evashevski had finally found the formula for success. The Gophers fumbled on the fourth play from scrimmage and the fired-up lowans wasted not a moment. Quarterback Ken Ploen called his shots with cool aplomb, flicked a couple of precise, pinpoint passes, and, eight plays later, the Hawkeyes scored.

Chagrined, the Gophers ground their way back. Half a dozen times they pounded into Iowa territory; half a dozen times they bumbled away the ball game. Minnesota passes that would have made the difference were intercepted. Up front, Iowa's furious linemen jolted Gopher ball carriers into disastrous fumbles. For all their errors, the Gophers had the edge in first downs, 16-11, in rushing yardage, 232-181, in passing yardage, 71-32. But when the gun ended the game, they were behind in the only statistics that count. The score: Iowa 7. Minnesota o.

California-Bred. Now it was proper for Iowa to think of Pasadena. But when word came in from the West, the Hawkeyes learned that they faced no vacation. Out in San Francisco, Oregon State's Beavers skinned past Stanford's favored Indians, 20-19. Only last month, the Beavers had almost chewed up Iowa before losing a close one, 14-13. Last week they demonstrated that they had learned how to come from behind in the clutch.

Tutored by bulky (260 Ibs.) Tommy Prothro, once chief recruiter for U.C.L.A.'s Coach Red Sanders. Oregon State boasted nine California-bred bruisers on its first team. It was no surprise that they played Sanders' type of football: a power-packed single-wing offense that kept right on rolling after Stanford's sharpshooting passer, John Brodie, put the Indians out in front 19-7. Late in the third quarter, Oregon State completed a lovely 59-yd. pitch-and-run pass play of their own leading to a touchdown and, midway in the last quarter, went all the way on another pass. The extra point made the difference. Come New Year's Day, barring the absolutely unexpected, Iowa will find Oregon State waiting in Pasadena for the first seasonal rematch in Rose Bowl history.

Other bowl-bearing scores: P: Tennessee upset Georgia Tech 6-0. became top choice for the Cotton or Sugar Bowl. P:Texas A. & M. whipped S.M.U. 33-7, needs only N.C.A.A. permission for a Cotton Bowl bid.

P: Colorado, after a 14-14 tie with Missouri, was a strong Orange Bowl candidate.

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