Running back Ed Tunnicliff makes the play late in the fourth-quarter that secured Northwestern’s 20-14 win in the 1949 Rose Bowl. Courtesy of University Archives.
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Trips to the Rose Bowl
Throughout the historical chapters of Northwestern football, two seasons share remarkably similar stories. The 1949 and 1996 teams achieved thrilling triumphs on the field that ended with New Year's trips to Pasadena.
Exceeding Expectations in 1949
After finishing eighth in the Big Ten the previous year, hopes were low for Northwestern in 1949. Head Coach Bob Voights was in just his second season at the helm of a group that included several World War II veterans.
But after a strong start, Northwestern took a 6-2 record into its final game with Illinois. A win meant sole possession of second place in the conference and a berth in the Rose Bowl since first-place Michigan - the previous year's representative - was prohibited from going two years in a row.
Three first-half touchdowns sealed the 20-7 victory over Illinois and a campus celebration unlike any seen before. When classes were canceled, more than 3,000 students paraded through Evanston with the school band. Five hundred more took the El to downtown Chicago and danced through Marshall Fields.
A Dramatic Win
The Rose Bowl versus California started out with halfback Frank Aschenbrenner sprinting 73 yards for a touchdown in the first minute of play. Cal responded within two plays with an equalizing score. The game remained tight, and Northwestern trailed 14-13 with only minutes to play.
With the ball on Cal's 43-yard line, Northwestern called a trick play. Center and team captain Alex Sarkisian snapped the ball past the quarterback into the hands of Ed Tunnicliff, a junior halfback. Tunnicliff saw the confusion and took off for the end zone, scoring the winning touchdown.
"The play was borrowed, stolen, maybe leased from the Chicago Bears," Sarkisan laughed. "We practiced it all year." Tunnicliff added, "From a ball carrier's standpoint, it was a great play and great trickery."
Upsets and Momentum in 1996
Northwestern football was the feel-good sports story of 1996. Coach Gary Barnett, who had instilled in his team expectations of victory, watched with the whole country as the Wildcats kicked off the season with a 17-15 win over Notre Dame in South Bend, which the Chicago Sun-Times called "the upset of the century."
The team built momentum with eight consecutive conference wins, the biggest against Michigan. Michigan then helped further the cause by upsetting Ohio State on the last weekend of the season, sending Northwestern back into the Rose Bowl 47 years after its first visit to play Southern California.
A Tight Game turns to Defeat
The second time around, an estimated 50,000 Northwestern fans, including many members of the 1949 team, flocked to California for the New Year's Day game.
Southern Cal got the upper hand early and took a 24-10 lead to half-time. But the Wildcats came back in the third quarter and scored the first four times they had the ball. Two minutes into the fourth quarter, they held a slim 32-31 lead. In a wild finish that included two Northwestern turnovers, Southern Cal prevailed for a final 41-32.
Afterward, halfback and offensive star, Darnell Autry said, "I have never been so happy, so proud, to be a part of a team like that. We played not just for ourselves but for all the guys who played before us and who never made it to the Rose Bowl, who never won."