1980 Rose Bowl

1980 Rose Bowl
66th Rose Bowl Game
USC Trojans Ohio State Buckeyes (10–0–1) (11–0) 17 16 Head coach:  John Robinson Head coach:  Earle Bruce AP Coaches 3 2 AP Coaches 1 3
1 2 3 4 Total USC 3 7 0 7 17 Ohio State 0 10 3 3 16
Date	January 1, 1980
Season	1979
Stadium	Rose Bowl Stadium
Location	Pasadena, California
MVP	Charles White (USC RB)
Attendance	105,526
United States TV coverage
Network	NBC
Announcers	Dick Enberg, Merlin Olsen, O. J. Simpson
Nielsen ratings	28.6

The 1980 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 1980. It was the 66th Rose Bowl Game. The USC Trojans, champions of the Pacific-10 Conference, defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes, champions of the Big Ten Conference, 17–16. USC's Heisman Trophy running back Charles White was named the Rose Bowl Player of the Game (for a second time, having shared the previous game's award with Rick Leach), rushing for a record 247 yards, including the game-winning touchdown with little more than a minute remaining in the contest. USC, having suffered a shocking 21–21 tie with Stanford (in a game in which they led 21–0) that cost them the #1 ranking, finished ranked #2 behind Alabama.

The game received a 28.6 Nielsen Rating, making it one of the highest-rated college football games of all time.

Scoring summary

1st Quarter scoring: USC – Eric Hipp 41-yard field goal

2nd Quarter scoring: USC – Kevin Williams 53-yard pass from Paul McDonald (Hipp kick); OSU – Vlade Janakievski 35-yard field goal; OSU – Calvin Murray 67-yard pass from Art Schlichter (Janakievski kick)

3rd Quarter scoring: OSU – Vlade Janakievski 37-yard field goal

4th Quarter scoring: OSU – Vlade Janakievski, 24-yard field goal; USC – Charles White 1-yard run (Hipp kick)