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1940 - USC 14 Tennessee 0
Another southern team, Tennessee (10-0), comes to the Rose Bowl with no points allowed the opposition during the regular season. But Howard Jones' USC (7-0-2) gives the great Trojan coach a 14-0 victory, his fifth straight Rose Bowl conquest. Major Bob Neyland has two All-American guards, Ed Molinsky and Bob Suffridge, but they can't handle the men across from them -- USC guards Harry Smith and Ben Sohn -- as Trojan backs Granny Lansdell and Ambrose Schindler scamper 51 and 81 yards respectively. Schindler scores one touchdown and passes to Al Krueger -- the hero the year before -- for another. Unsung Trojan hero is blocking back Joe Shell, who makes the ground attack work.
1941 - Stanford 21 Nebraska 13
The Rose Bowl Game made football history by making the country conscious of the new "T" formation. Coach Clark Shaughnessy introduced it at Stanford with quarterback Frankie Albert at the controls. With Albert at the helm and Pete Kmetovic running for 141 yards and returning a punt for a touchdown, Stanford defeated Nebraska, 21-13.
1942 - Oregon State 20 Duke 16
The Rose Bowl Game is moved to Duke University campus in a wartime precaution. Lon Stiner's Oregon State (7-2) is 20-16 winner over Duke (9-0) before 56,000 fans. Bob Dethman throws winning pass to Gene Gray. Steve Lach gains 129 yards on 11 carries for Duke and averages 47.3 yards with eight punts, but Oregon State's southpaw Don Durdan gets most of the cheers for his skillful performance, despite the fact he gains 54 yards and averages "only" 44.4 yards with eight punts.
1943 - Georgia 9 UCLA 0
Georgia (10-1) defeats Babe Horrell's UCLA (7-3) by 9-0 as football returns to the Rose Bowl. Georgia's great running back "Fireball Frankie" Sinkwich comes to Pasadena with injured ankles. His replacement, Charley Trippi, carries 25 times for 130 yards in leading a 9-0 Georgia victory. Georgia's points come when Willard Boyd blocks a Bob Waterfield punt in the end zone for a safety and Sinkwich later gamely scores on a short blast. George Poschner stars at end for Wally Butt's Georgians, but Sinkwich is the hero while courageously entering the fray six times in an attempt to contribute despite his injuries.
1944 - USC 29 Washington 0
With wartime travel restrictions, West Coast teams provide the Rose Bowl matchup. USC (7-2) defeats Washington (4-0) by a 29-0 margin. Jeff Cravath's Trojans feature the passing of Jim Hardy (three touchdown tosses) and line play of guard Norm Verry. By switching from man-to-man coverage to a zone, Cravath's defensive strategy stops the Washington passing attack (only five completions in 19 attempts, three interceptions). George Callanan and Gordon Gray each catch two Trojan touchdown passes, with Hardy's sub Ainslee Bell tossing one of them.
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