1943: UCLA, 0 vs. Georgia, 9

In 1943, The Rose Bowl Game made its triumphant return back to Pasadena. After nearly 11 months of limbo, the Rose Bowl Game got the go-ahead Nov. 17, 1942, to not only be played, but to be played again in Pasadena. The country was still at war, transportation was highly reserved for military use and D-Day was still 18 months away, but on New Year’s Day in 1943, some semblance of normalcy was restored.

It would be Georgia vs. UCLA. The Westwood 11’s trek to Pasadena was one of the shortest of any school, but 1943 was their first appearance.

Georgia had two All-Americans and a Heisman Trophy winner, a senior group that had a “point-a-minute” reputation as freshmen, was 10-1, ranked No. 2 in the nation and had scored 367 points to its opponents’ 76 throughout the season.

UCLA was, well, from nearby.

The Bruins were merely 7-3 after losing to TCU and St. Mary’s Pre-Flight in their first two games.

Even the Dec. 31 announcement that Heisman Trophy-winner and AP “Athlete of the Year” Frankie Sinkwich wouldn’t start as a result of a badly sprained left ankle and torn tendons in his right ankle didn’t necessarily tip the betting odds in UCLA’s favor.

Wrote Braven Dyer in the Los Angeles Times the morning of the game: “Georgia camp followers are confident that the Bruins are in for the shock of their lives today if they’re going on the supposition that the Bulldogs are a one-man football team.”

Well, although Dyer was indeed correct, Sinkwich fought with the ferocity of his beloved Georgia’s mascot in helping his fellow Bulldogs to victory, 9-0. Sinkwich, with his ankles heavily wrapped, split time with sophomore Charley Trippi to hobble for just 20 yards on 10 carries, but he scored the game’s only touchdown. In the first half, after Trippi, who went for a total of 130 yards on 25 carries and threw for even more, had led his team downfield, Georgia Head Coach Wally Butts put in Sinkwich for the final push.

“Sinkwich was still in no condition to play,” wrote Pasadena Star-News reporter Rube Samuelson, “but all of his teammates and Butts felt that the first touchdown scored belonged to him, since his fighting spirit had symbolized the Bulldogs’ success.”

His ankles, however, were visibly impaired. In two tries in the first half – from 2 and 8 yards out – Sinkwich was stopped, the half ending at 0-0.

It was more of the same in the third quarter. Once more, Trippi led his team downfield, and Sinkwich fumbled into the Bruins’ possession.

Then, a safety: 2-0, Bulldogs.

Shortly thereafter, Clyde Ehrhardt intercepted a Bruin pass and brought it back to the UCLA 25-yard line. Trippi stayed in this time in addition to Sinkwich, and the sophomore brought his boys to the 2-yard line. Barely able to stand but refusing to leave the field, Sinkwich finally mustered the strength to get into the end zone. With the extra point, it ended 9-0. Sinkwich had scored the first and last touchdowns of the game.

Attendance
93,000

Weather
72 degrees

Scoring
Fourth Quarter
Geor – Boyd blocked Waterfield’s kick for a safety.
Geor – Sinkwich, 2-yard run (Costa kick good)

Coaches
UCLA: Edwin M. Horrell
Georgia: Wallace Butts

Fun Fact
UCLA starting left end Milt “Snuffy” Smith was later critically injured during World War II when his crew was struck by a missile. When the medical staff was about to declare him a hopeless case and abandon him, a medic noticed Smith’s wrist watch engraved with “Rose Bowl, 1943” and shouted, “This is one guy we’ve got to save.” Smith recovered after 18 months of hospitalization.

Individual Stats
Rushing
Geor: Trippi 25-130; Sinkwich 10-20
UCLA: V. Smith 6-28