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1949 ROSE BOWL | BY: SKIP MYSLENSKI
n o r t h w e s t e r n f o o t b a l l • D I G I T A L P R O G R A M • N O R T H W E S T E R N v s . U N L V
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Of course, it was Sarkasian who led the 'Cats through
the '48 season, which they opened with three straight
wins before getting shut out and losing to Michigan by
28. The group showed resiliency and responded with
three straight wins, a five-point loss to Notre Dame and
a season-ending, 20-7 victory over Illinois. That left the
'Cats at 7-2 overall, 5-1 in the then-nine-team Western
Conference, and a game behind undefeated Michigan
in the standings. But the Wolverines had appeared in
the previous Rose Bowl, and under the rules still in
effect, couldn't return.
The Western Conference's invite, then, would go to
Northwestern. Parades filled the streets of Evanston,
the students struck classes and a Rose Bowl dance
was held. At the celebration, Northwestern University
President Franklyn B. Snyder called up Sarkisian,
introduced him to the crowd and then said, "Sarkie has
an announcement that may be of interest to all of you."
He did, announcing to the students that classes would
be suspended for a week.
For Voigts, it was not yet time to celebrate. His team
would enter the Rose Bowl as heavy underdogs to Cal,
which had outscored its opponents 277-80 in the midst
of a 10-game winning streak. He would also be matching
wits with the legendary Lynn "Pappy" Waldorf, his
former coach who had left Evanston just two seasons
earlier to set up shop in Berkeley.
Thus, the 'Cats faced a daunting task, which Voigts
knew well, and prepared for the game as such. He
often reached into the coach's bag of tricks in hopes of
catalyzing upon it.
"You are no longer Northwestern's team," he told his
players at their first Rose Bowl practice. "You now
represent the conference."
"Take a look around," Voigts said at the walk-through
on New Year's Eve. "Take a good look at it now because
I don't want you looking at it tomorrow."
"Then," Ed Tunnicliff reflects on even all these years
later, "he also reminded us that, if we lose, it's a long
ride home."
