No. 19 Iowa 36, Michigan State 7: It’s the Rose Bowl!

IOWA CITY — Start packing!

California, here they come! Pasadena or bust! Rose Bowl, how sweet it is! How do we get tickets?

Or, as coach Hayden Fry said, 'How 'bout those Hawks? Yaaahooo!'

Who would have guessed it three months ago? Or two months ago after the Hawkeyes were upset at Iowa State? Or a month ago when Iowa lost two straight, to Minnesota and Illinois?

Or even a few hours ago when an incredible two-game Big Ten parlay had to come home Saturday? But Iowa's 36-7 triumph coupled with Ohio State's 14-9 upset of Michigan turned the Rose Bowl key.

It's true, no matter what the odds were, and Jan. 1 the Hawkeyes will be playing Washington's Huskies before 103,000 people in Pasadena's Rose Bowl with most of the world watching on television.

Yes, Iowa's Cinderella team that was picked by nobody to win the Big Ten, Saturday finished in a title tie with Ohio State, which ironically earned little but the right to play Navy in the Liberty Bowl at Memphis.

The Hawks will play a Washington team that earned its third Rose Bowl berth in the last five seasons. The Huskies, coached by Don James, beat Michigan 27-20 Jan. 1, 1978, and last New Year's Day lost a 23-6 decision to Michigan.

'I think Iowa will be a great team to represent the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl,' said Muddy Waters, the Michigan State coach who was a gallant and generous loser.'

'I don't care who we play in the Rose Bowl,' said an ecstatic Fry, who came into the interview room carrying a long-stemmed rose and wearing a Rose Bowl patch stuck on his forehead. 'Shoot a monkey, I'd go out to Pasadena tomorrow if they'd let me, but I guess our team will probably go out Dec. 22 or 23.

'Yes, we finally came of age, and I'm ready to admit this is a pretty good football team.

'About all our team has accomplished since the game ended — besides hug each other — was to give thanks to the good Lord, who certainly smiled on us today. We're the chosen people. I'm no preacher, but I want to thank the Lord for giving me the privilege of being associated with this group of fine young men.'

Fry was asked if he really expected Ohio State to upend Michigan.

'Hey, apparently there were a lot of folks listening to that game on their radios in the stands,' the coach replied. 'We could hear our crowd roar every once in a while, but I didn't know if all the drunks had got together or what.

'I finally got hold of a man with a radio. He said the score was 14-9, but he was so uptight he couldn't even tell me who was ahead. So I asked him how much time was left, and he said about a minute. I asked who had the ball, and he said, 'The team that's ahead.'

'Well, I believed that Art Schlichter (Ohio State QB) when he said they were going to beat Michigan, and heard on that last touchdown he wasn't to be denied. But Schlichter also said Ohio State was going to the Rose Bowl, and I didn't believe that.

'I guess you can tell Mr. (Bo) Schembechler (Michigan coach) that there was another game in the Big Ten today. I read my team what he said about it coming down to the same old story of Michigan and Ohio State being the Big Two and fighting for the Rose Bowl again.'

Fry passed out praise to his team, his staff, the long-suffering Iowa fans, even the news media. As soon as all the Hawks were dressed, he broke his three-year policy by letting reporters invade the Hawkeye dressing room to interview everyone at will.

The press never saw so many roses. The dressing room looked like a gangster's funeral. Almost every Hawkeye had at least one long-stemmed rose. Somebody bought 'em by the gross.

'Yes, I got the game ball,' smiled Phil Blatcher, the explosive tailback who gained a whopping 247 yards in 27 carries as the Hawks piled up almost 400 yards net on the ground.

'That's the game ball over there in my locker, along with the roses,' said the shy senior from New Orleans. 'Eddie Phillips gave the ball to me. He presented it, and everybody said it was mine.

'I had no idea of how many yards I had. Hmm, 247. No, I never gained that many in a game before, not even in high school. All I knew was I was awful cold and my feet were freezing.

'Yes. I took myself out in the first half. I got hit and I didn't feel it, so I figured it was time to get out of there.'

The Iowa fans didn't seem to mind the cold. After Iowa had assembled its 36-7 lead with 2:49 to play, rambunctious celebrants began gathering in both end zones.

It's the custom of the cheerleaders to do as many pushups as the Hawkeyes have points after each score. So literally hundreds of fans got into the prone position and did pushups right with 'em. Greatest thing for mass physical education in years!

The scamps couldn't wait until the game ended, even though booed by more mature fans. With two minutes left, a few put a serious list to the south goal post by grabbing the crossbar.

As the final minute ticked away, first the south goal post was bent asunder, and then the north one. With 12 seconds left, a horde of loyalists charged out onto the field, engulfing the players. The officials looked nervously at the final seconds on the clock, then wisely tucked their caps under the arms and hustled to their dressing room.

It was a scene that hadn't taken place in Iowa's Kinnick Stadium since coach Forest Evashevski's Hawks did it in both the 1956 and '58 seasons.

The players finally escaped from the clutches of their admirers and reached the locker room. Still the fans milled around, replaying the game, reliving the thrill of experiencing a 'doubleheader' — watching Iowa in person and listening to Michigan's downfall on radio.

A few fans admitted they were crying with happiness. At the northeast corner of the stadium, a man had fallen and his friends used their bodies as shields to keep him from being trampled. The air carried strong whiffs of alcohol. Outside the stadium a young man threw up with great, heaving sobs.

The sober ones talked of 'Hayden's Heroes,' and there were many.

One had to be Tracy Crocker, the tough senior cornerback from Cedar Rapids Kennedy. It was his interception that turned the tide when Michigan State, trailing 16-7, was striking toward another touchdown early in the third quarter.

Bryan Clark, Michigan State's quarterback, had led the Spartans to Iowa's 6-yard line. Although Fry claimed his confidence in his team never wavered, many felt something slipping when the Rose Bowl was so close at hand.

Clark hurled a pass into the end zone, intended for Daryl Turner, but Crocker snatched the ball and ran it out to the Iowa 16. The Hawks immediately marched down and got a field goal — the first of two by freshman Tom Nichol — and suddenly the gates were open to California.

'Michigan State had been hurting us with timing patterns all along,' Crocker explained. 'Clark would throw when his receivers weren't even turned around because they were counting on knowing when the pass would be there.

'I read this one right, and the ball came right to me. When an interception happens, the credit should go to 10 other guys, because that's the end result of good defense. We're not the type of team that big-plays an opponent to death, so we have to keep doing our jobs until we get a break.'

Crocker admitted he was feeling like wearing a goat's horns instead of a halo a few minutes earlier. He was charged with hitting MSU's Ted Jones after a line plunge was over, and Iowa was penalized 15 yards.

'Yes, that was stupid of me,' he admitted. 'But No. 21 (Jones) had been hitting us all along, and later he got kicked out for it. But I shouldn't have hit back.

'Then, a couple of plays later Clark completed that 30-yard pass on us. You can put the blame on whichever one of us you want to, but Bobby Stoops and I messed up on our coverage, and he (receiver Otis Grant) got behind us. Yes, I was feeling like a goat when that interception came along.'

That was Crocker's first pass theft of the year. The Hawks stole two others — both by Lou King, who tied immortal Nile Kinnick's school record for a season with eight.

The Hawks made their first big break of the game on another theft, but it was ruled a fumble recovery and runback instead of an interception. Doesn't matter, they count, too.

Michigan State, playing without its two leading rushers — halfbacks Aaron Roberts and Lance Hawkins stayed home because of injuries — coughed up the ball on its very first play.

Clark threw a pass to tight end Al Kimichik in right flat. Strong safety Bobby Stoops popped Kimichik so hard the ball zipped away like a melon seed. End Andre Tippett came up with it and was credited with an 8-yard return.

The Hawks scored on two 9-yard bolts by Blatcher, and only 1:01 had ticked away.

The defense treated the offense to another score midway in the first quarter. Wellman's James Erb knifed through and blocked Ralf Mojsiejenko's punt, and the ball bounced clear through the end zone for a safety.

Now it was the offense's turn. Glenn 'Lightning' Buggs returned the kickoff after the safety 29 yards, and the Hawks went the 54 yards in 12 plays. Biggest gains were Eddie Phillips' 9-yard run and his 12-yard gain on a pass from Gordy Bohannon. Phillips plowed over for the final yards, 16-0 after Nichol's kick.

The second quarter was scoreless until the Spartans got their only points with 1:20 to go. Reggie Roby, who averaged 'only' 40.5 yards on two punts, kicked 44 yards, but Iowa was penalized to its own 44 for a personal foul. Showing respect for Iowa's rushing defense, Clark passed one yard to James Hodo for the touchdown. Denmark's Morten Andersen kicked the point, giving him a perfect 28 for his senior season.

This happened after the Hawks and their fans knew about Ohio State's victory.

'I told our guys at the half to forget all the stuff about bowls and start playing just as if our score was 0-0,' said Fry.

The Hawks didn't get the hang of it again, though, until after Crocker's theft stymied the Spartans. Then Nichol kicked his 26-yard field goal. Later he got a 23-yarder.

Blatcher's devastating runs — his longest was 46 yards — behind merciless blocking blew the game open. When Blatcher tired, Phillips came in. He got 76 yards with 16 his longest. Blatcher got two TDs, Phillips one.

Bohannon, who picked up 39 yards mostly on the shotgun draw, completed 8 of 16 passes before turning the quarterback job over to Pete Gales. The latter completed the scoring by hurling a 9-yard pass to Vince Campbell.

The statistics credited Mark Bortz and Bobby Stoops with tackle highs: Bortz with 10 and Stoops with seven solos.