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The 1988 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 1988. It was the 74th Rose Bowl Game. The Michigan State Spartans defeated the USC Trojans 20-17. Michigan State Linebacker Percy Snow was named the Rose Bowl Player Of The Game.^[1] This was the last Rose Bowl game to air on NBC after a 37-year partnership. ABC Sports picked up rights to broadcast the game the following year.

Teams

The season opening game for both Michigan State and USC turned out to be a 27-13 victory by the Spartans over the Trojans. It was a nationally televised game and also the largest home crowd of the season for Michigan State.

Michigan State Spartans

Michigan State, led by former Pittsburgh Steelers assistant coach George Perles, had its best team in many years, and took advantage of off years by traditional Big 10 powers Michigan and Ohio State and won the Big 10 by 1 1/2 games over Indiana and Iowa, who tied for 2nd place. The Spartans followed up the USC win by a 31-8 loss at Notre Dame, and then a 31-3 home loss to Florida State. The season got back on track with a 19-14 win at Iowa. A dramatic 17-11 win over in state rival Michigan occurred on October 10. On October 31, the Spartans defeated Ohio State, making this the first season since the 1966 National championship when the Spartans defeated both Michigan and Ohio State. The Indiana Hoosiers also had beaten Michigan and Ohio State, and the meeting between Michigan State and Indiana on November 14 determined the Big Ten championship. Michigan State won 27-3 to clinch their first Rose Bowl appearance since the 1965 season.

USC Trojans

USC struggled early and was only 4-3 after 7 games, but won its next 3 to set up a showdown with rival UCLA (9-1-0) for the Pac-10 title and Rose Bowl berth. The UCLA Bruins, with Troy Aikman at quarterback and Gaston Green at running back were favored, and led 13-0 at halftime. It could have been worse, as on the last play of the first half, UCLA's Eric Turner intercepted a deflected pass at the UCLA goal line and had nothing but green grass ahead of him as he appeared primed to return it for a touchdown. But USC QB Rodney Peete ran down Turner and tackled him at the 10 yard line as time expired. USC then cut the lead to 13-10 midway through the 4th quarter when Peete hit Erik Afholter in the back of the end zone. Afholter juggled the ball atop his shoulder pad as he slid out the end zone; television replays indicated no possession but the referees ruled it a touchdown. USC then intercepted Aikman as he tried to lead UCLA back and ran out the clock.

Game summary

Rose Bowl records at the Hall of Champions

The game was a rematch of the season opener in East Lansing, MI that was won by Michigan State, 27-13. The game was dominated by defense; the story was Michigan State linebacker (and game MVP) Percy Snow, who had 17 unassisted takcles, and 4 USC turnovers. After USC tied the game early in the 4th quarter at 17, Michigan State marched to a game winning field goal by John Langeloh with 4 minutes to play. The key play of the drive was a 3rd down play in which Michigan State quarterback Bobby McAllister was nearly sacked, then scrambled and at the last instant found receiver Andre Rison at the sideline for a first down that kept the drive alive. USC had time to try to come back, and QB [[Peete] marched the Trojans to the Spartan 29 yard line with 2 minutes to play. But Peete then fumbled the snap, and Michigan State recovered and ran out the clock.

References

1. ^ 2008 Rose Bowl Program, 2008 Rose Bowl. Accessed January 26, 2008.

External links

• Summary at Rosebowlhistory.org