1919: Great Lakes-US Navy, 17 vs. Mare Island, 0

With the ink barely dry on the World War I Armistice, the 1919 Rose Bowl Game was again the service championship, this time pitting an undefeated Great Lakes (Illinois) Naval Training Station against a weaker, but still undefeated Mare Island Marine team that won in 1918.

“The prowess of both the Great Lakes and Marine elevens this year and the fact that neither had been defeated, excited more interest in this season’s athletic joust at the Tournament than have any of the contests of recent years,” read the Pasadena Star-News.

Instead, what the 27,000 in attendance – a large portion of which was servicemen who received reserved complimentary spots – saw was Paddy Driscoll, described by Rose Bowl historian Maxwell Stiles as “a little wasp of a man, of half-pint stature but in all-around ability one of the immortal giants of American football,” almost single-handedly carry his Navy men to victory.

In the 17-0 Great Lakes win, Driscoll returned nine punts a total of 115 yards (12.8 yards on average); he rushed 13 times for 34 yards, including one run of 25 yards; punted six times to average 43.3 yards, including one punt of 60 yards; completed four of eight passes for 77 yards, including one 32-yard touchdown strike to future NFL Hall of Fame coach George “Papa Bear” Halas; he drop-kicked one field goal from the 30-yard line; and received a pass on the Mare Island 3-yard line that set up a score.

“Driscoll is the greatest backfield star we have ever seen in Southern California and had at his command as fine a team of football players as any player could ask,” stated the Los Angeles Times.

Great Lakes first struck in the opening quarter on Driscoll’s 30-yard drop-kick field goal. Then, in the second quarter, after halting a Marine drive that had come to the Navy 8-yard line, Great Lakes was again being threatened by Mare Island.
However, Ecklund, the big Navy left tackle, intercepted a Mare Island pass – one of five interceptions on the day – and took it back 65 yards to the Marine 15-yard line. A few downs later, 215-pound Blondy Reeves plunged across the goal line from 3 yards out.

In the third quarter, after having driven to the Marine 32-yard line, Driscoll hit Halas at the Marine 10-yard line; Halas took it the rest of the way for the score.
Halas, who was unexpectedly named Player of the Game instead of Driscoll, nearly made the score 24-0 in the fourth quarter. He intercepted a pass at the Marine 20-yard line and went 77 yards before being pulled down from behind at the 3-yard line.

“I should have scored a touchdown with that interception,” Halas later said. “And that play taught me something: From then on, any time I’d get within the 5 (yard line), I’d dive for the end zone. You can’t take touchdowns for granted, no sir.”
With the war over, regular college football resumed, and the next year Harvard traveled west for its first – and last – Rose Bowl Game.

Attendance
25,000

Weather
Freezing (25 degrees)

Scoring
First Quarter
Great Lakes: Driscoll 30-yard drop-kick field goal

Second Quarter
GL – Reeves, 3-yard run (Blacklock drop kick good)
Third Quarter 
GL – Halas, 32-yard pass from Driscoll (pass was 22 yards, and he ran for 10) (Blacklock drop kick good)

Coaches
Great Lakes: Clarence J. McReavy
Mare Island: William H. “Lone Star” Dietz

Fun Fact
Future NFL Hall of Fame coach George “Papa Bear” Halas, who was named the MVP of the 1919 Rose Bowl Game, holds the game record for the longest non-scoring pass interception return of 77 yards.

Individual Stats
Rushing
GL: Driscoll 13-34
MI: Gillis 12-21; Glover 8-39