College football’s 150th anniversary: The 150 best moments that stood the test of time
By Zach Bigalke
111. The First 1 v. 2 Bowl Game (1963)
The AP Poll first came into existence in 1938. For the next 25 years, the top two teams at the end of the regular season avoided one another every postseason. That all changed at the end of the 1962 season, when No. 2 Big Ten champion Wisconsin squared off against No. 1 USC, winners of the Athletic Association of Western Universities that was a bridge between the Pacific Coast Conference and the future Pac-12, in the Rose Bowl.
Knotted at 7-7 after one quarter, USC ran out to a 35-14 lead in the middle frames. Early in the fourth quarter, the Trojans added another touchdown as quarterback Pete Beathard found Fred Hill for his fourth touchdown throw of the game. It looked like the Californians would cruise to an easy victory in their backyard.
The Badgers, especially quarterback Ron Vander Kelen, had another idea. Vander Kelen finished the day with 401 yards through the air on 33-of-48 passing, as he valiantly if futilely led Wisconsin on their comeback bid. Scoring 23 fourth-quarter points, time ran out on the Badgers as the sun set on the San Gabriel Mountains and the Arroyo Seco. That game still reverberates as one of the greatest Rose Bowls in the game’s century-long history and as a notable first in the sport.
110. Irish Down Wolverines in First-Ever 1 vs. 2 Contest (1943)
It only took eight years after the introduction of the AP Poll to the college football world for No. 1 and No. 2 to meet one another on the football field. The poll, first released in 1936, has long provided a pulse on the relative power rankings of the top teams in the college game. In 1943, the top two squads in the country finally met when No. 2 Michigan hosted top-ranked Notre Dame on the second Saturday of October.
Entering the contest, Notre Dame had knocked off Pitt and Georgia Tech by a combined 96-13. Michigan won its first three games against Camp Grant, Western Michigan, and Northwestern by an aggregate score of 104-13. Frank Leahy and Fritz Crisler boasted a pair of dominant squads.
Ultimately, though, the Irish made short work of Michigan. Led by Heisman winner Angelo Bertelli, Notre Dame avenged the previous year’s defeat to the Wolverines. After suffering a humiliating 35-13 defeat that blemished an otherwise perfect record, Michigan refrained from putting Notre Dame on the schedule for 35 years until their next encounter in 1978.
109. Finley Outguns Slingin’ Sammy for SWC Crown (1935)
The Battle for the Iron Skillet is one of college football’s classic rivalry games. Pitting Texas Christian and Southern Methodist against one another, the showdown between the two private ecumenical universities provides a chance to earn bragging rights in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex no matter the additional stakes that might apply.
In 1935, though, the stakes were high for both teams. Under the aerial assault led by Sammy Baugh, TCU was 10-0 and outscored opponents by an average margin of 19 points. SMU arrived in Fort Worth also boasting a perfect 10-0 record and an even gaudier margin of victory of 22 points per game. The Mustangs got the jump in the battle, taking a 14-0 lead into the locker room at halftime. TCU stormed out in the second half, as Baugh led a comeback in front of nearly 40,000 fans.
The game looked headed to a 14-14 tie as SMU lined up to punt in the fourth quarter. But the team called a fake, and quarterback Bobby Finley (who doubled as the punter) faked the kick before hitting Bobby Wilson with a frozen rope between two TCU defenders. Wilson’s touchdown proved the difference as both teams finished the year 12-1, though only TCU earned a share of the national title despite their loss at home.