1957: Iowa, 35 vs. Oregon State, 19

Of all the ways to get to Pasadena, this may have been one of the strangest. Not that Oregon State was going to turn it down or anything.

At least Oregon State had a choice in going to the Rose Bowl Game. Four of their Pacific Coast Conference brethren: Washington, UCLA, USC and California, did not enjoy such a luxury. All four teams were barred from playing in the Rose Bowl Game due to various rules infractions, so that sent the Beavers to Pasadena for the first time in school history.

Joining them would be an Iowa team not only making its first trip to Pasadena, but making its first bowl appearance in school history. When it came to delivering what had become an annual Big Ten ritual of punishment, the Hawkeyes, however, didn’t miss a beat.

They rode Rose Bowl Game MVP Kenny Ploen’s two touchdowns and a fearsome defense into an easy 35-19 victory over Oregon State. In so doing, Iowa treated the estimated 15,000 Iowans who came west for the game to the 10th victory in 11 Rose Bowls for the Big Ten.

“I have never been associated with a team that won a bowl game,” lamented Oregon State Coach Tommy Prothro.

As if the stars weren’t aligned against Prothro and the Beavers, they had already faced Iowa in Iowa City earlier in the season, winding up on the wrong end of a 14-13 game that may have led the Beavers to think they could play with an Iowa team that was just becoming a national power.

“The difference between this game and the first game was the fact that Ploen didn’t play against Oregon State in the first game and we got a lot more breaks today,” said Iowa Coach Forest Evashevski.

Well… several of those breaks were induced by three lost Oregon State fumbles, two of which came on the Beavers’ first two possessions. Both of those led to Iowa touchdowns: Ploen’s 49-yard sweep down the right sideline and Mike Hagler’s 9-yard run. Not eight minutes into the game, and the Hawkeyes led 14-0.

“Anyone is liable to fumble. We just did it too much,” Prothro said.

One thing the Beavers did do was score three touchdowns against one of the premier defenses in the country, a defense anchored by All-American tackle and future star of stage, screen and “Monday Night Football” Alex Karras. That defense did allow touchdowns to Tom Berry, Nub Beamer and a pass from Joe Francis to Sterling Hammack.

But the black-shirted Beavers needed more than that, especially after the Hawkeyes got touchdowns from Billy Happel (5 yards), Hagler (66 on a double-reverse) and a 16-yard pass from Ploen to Jim Gibbons that gave Iowa a 35-12 lead early in the fourth quarter.

The 35 points were the fourth-largest total scored in Rose Bowl Game history, and Ploen’s field work paced the Hawkeyes to 408 yards of offense.

“Iowa was tremendously improved offensively from when we met them earlier,” Prothro said. “They did some things a lot better. They ran harder and trickier than before.”

Attendance
97,126

Weather
Clear and warm (75)

Scoring
First Quarter
Iowa – Ploen, 49-yard run (Prescott kick good)
Iowa – Hagler, 9-yard run (Prescott kick good)

Second Quarter
OSU – Berry, 3-yard run (Clarke kick blocked)
Iowa – Happel, 5-yard run (Prescott kick good)

Third Quarter
Iowa – Hagler, 66-yard run (Prescott kick good)
OSU – Beamer, 1-yard run (Clarke kick blocked)

Fourth Quarter
Iowa – Gibbons, 16-yard pass from Ploen (Prescott kick good)
OSU – Hammack, 35-yard pass from Francis (Beamer conversion good)

Coaches
Iowa: Forest Evashevski
Oregon State: Thompson Protaro

Fun Fact
In 1957, Oregon State made the first of its only two Rose Bowl Game appearances.

Individual Stats
Rushing
Iowa: Hagler 10-85; Dobrino 4-64; Ploen 8-59; Happel 10-27; Gravel 8-27; Nocera 3-24
OSU: Francis 15-73; Beamer 7-31; Durden 3-25; Berry 4-20; Lowe 11-20

Passing
Iowa: Ploen 9-10-83; Duncan 2-4-24
OSU: Francis 10-12-130

Receiving
Iowa: Gibbons 5-61; Harris 2-21; Nocera 2-19; Gilliam 1-15
OSU: Hammack 4-65; Beamer 2-31; Degrant 1-14; Berry 1-11

Punting
Iowa: Veit 1-29; Nocera 1-43
OSU: Francis 2-66; Searle 1-39