History lesson: Northwestern's 1949 Rose Bowl champs

Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said during his press conference on Monday that he wouldn’t even bother trying to teach his players about Ed Tunnicliff, the hero of the 1949 Rose Bowl for the Wildcats who will serve as the honorary captain for Saturday’s matchup with UNLV at Ryan Field.

To him, it’s a waste of time.

“They don’t know who Walter Payton is, all right?” he said.

He added that his players wouldn’t know Joe Montana or Jim McMahon, either – even though the veteran Wildcats who spoke to the media a little bit later in the session refuted that notion.

Regardless of who knows what, we thought we’d teach a little Northwestern football history. Here are 10 interesting facts about the 1948 Wildcats, who are still the only team in school history to win the Rose Bowl, on Jan. 1, 1949.

1. They didn’t win the Big Ten: The Wildcats finished in second place in the Big Ten (then the Big Nine) in 1948, with a record of 8-2 (5-1 conference). Michigan went 9-0 (6-0) to win the conference crown and, ironically, the national championship – despite not playing in a bowl game.

Conference rules prevented conference champions from playing in consecutive Rose Bowl games back in those days. Michigan went to Pasadena the year before, so this time, the Wildcats took the trip West instead.

2. They finished the season ranked 7th in the nation: Northwestern spent most of the season in the AP Top 10 in 1948 and were ranked as high as third in the country.

The Wildcats opened the season with back-to-back shutouts over UCLA and Purdue to earn a No. 3 ranking. They then rallied from a 16-point deficit to defeat No. 8 Minnesota, 19–16, at Dyche Stadium and set up a showdown with No. 4 Michigan in Ann Arbor.

The Wolverines held just a 7-0 lead until late in the third quarter, but then scored three touchdowns on the next seven plays to claim a 28-0 win. The loss dropped Northwestern to 10th in the polls, but the Wildcats rebounded to win their next three games, over Syracuse, Ohio State and Wisconsin, to get back to eighth. They lost to No. 2 Notre Dame on the road, 12-7, and actually moved up a spot, to No. 7. They closed the regular season with a 20-7 win over Illinois.

3. Murakowski won the Silver Football: Northwestern star fullback Art Murakowski won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football Award as the MVP of the conference in ‘48. He ran for 622 yards on 119 carries that season – paltry numbers today, but impressive for that era – and averaged 5.2 yards per carry. He was Northwestern’s leading rusher and scorer.

In a post-season AP poll, Murakowski’s 91-yard interception return for a touchdown against Notre Dame tied with a 103-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Army’s Bobby Stuart as the most spectacular play of the season. Murakowski also excelled as a defensive back and is credited for making game-saving tackles against Wisconsin and Ohio State.

Murakowski is one of just five Wildcats in history to win the Silver Football, along with Tim Lowry (1925), Otto Graham (1943), Mike Adamle (1970) and Lee Gissandaner (1992).

4. They had two All-Americans: The Wildcats had two players who were named both All-Big Ten and All-America that season: Murakowski (see above) and center Alex Sarkisian.

Sarkisian is the lone member of the 1949 team in the College Football Hall of Fame, having been elected in 1998. He and Murakowski are both enshrined in Northwestern’s Hall of Fame.

Both men were also NFL draft picks: Sarkisian was an 11th-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1947 (he opted to stay in school), while Murakowski was chosen in the third round in both 1950 and 1951 by the Detroit Lions.

5. Their coach was just 32 years old… NU coach Bob Voigts was in just his second year at Northwestern when he took the Wildcats to the Rose Bowl. He got the job the year before at age 31 – the same age as current coach Pat Fitzgerald was when he ascended to the big chair in 2006. Voigts didn’t follow up on his successful 1948 campaign, however, posting a 33-39-1 record from 1947-54.

6. …And facing his mentor in the Rose Bowl: Voigts would be facing his former coach on the other sideline in Pasadena. He took over the head coaching job at NU from Glenn “Pappy” Waldorf, who had left for Cal just two years before. Waldorf – who was Northwestern’s all-time wins leader (with 49) until Fitzgerald (96 and counting) surpassed him – had coached Voigts at NU just 10 years previously.

As it turned out, the student got the better of the teacher on New Year’s Day.

7. They were underdogs in the Rose Bowl: Northwestern came into the game ranked seventh, with only losses to No. 1 Michigan and No. 2 Notre Dame as blemishes on their record.

Still, the Wildcats were underdogs to Pacific Coast Conference-champion Cal, who was ranked No. 4 after finishing the season undefeated. Only twice was a team within one score of the Bears, who averaged 28 points per game.

8. They caught a big break with a controversial call: Northwestern and Cal were tied 7-7 in the middle of the second quarter when Murakowski fumbled near the goal line on a one-yard run. Field judge Jay Berwanger (the 1935 Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Chicago) ruled that the ball crossed the goal line before the fumble and awarded Northwestern the controversial touchdown. However, photographs in the Los Angeles Times (below) the following day showed that Murakowski lost the ball before crossing the goal line. So it appears that the Wildcats got a gift. Northwestern missed the extra point but took a 13-7 lead. Both teams scored one more touchdown, so the final margin held in Northwestern 20-14 victory.

9. They completed just one pass in the Rose Bowl: But it was a big one, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. The Bears led 14-13 and had NU pinned back at its own 12-yard line, when, early in the drive, the Wildcats came up with their only pass completion of the game – a 17-yarder from Frank Aschenbrenner to Donald Stonesifer – to the Cal 45-yard line. It not only was Aschenbrenner’s only completion; it was also his only attempt, as the Wildcats gained 263 of their 280 total yards on the ground.

10. Tunnicliff got the game-winner: Tunnicliff, who is 93 years old, got to play the hero role as he scored the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter of the Rose Bowl.

Two plays after Aschenbrenner’s completion, Tunnicliff took a direct snap from center and raced 43 yards down the sideline to score and give the Wildcats the 20-14 lead with 2:59 left. That would prove to be the final score, as Loran “Pee Wee” Day intercepted a Cal pass in the final minute to clinch the victory.