1947 Rose Bowl Stories
ILLINI ROUT UCLA, 45-14
Thursday, January 02, 1947
SCORE ALMOST
AT WILL, DRUB
WEST'S BEST
Entire Squad Used In
One Of Rose Bowl's
Most Decisive
Triumphs
Illini Football Team Defends Big 9 Fame
Thursday, January 02, 1947
Illinois football followers the world over couldn't have dreamed a happier New Year's day happening in the Rose bowl. The Illini delivered their best football of the season when it was most desired.
The Illinois football team was progressively better as the season advanced. However there was grave doubt that they could do the job on the Pacific coast against a UCLA team which had not been beaten. The Illini carried the weight of the prestige of the Big Nine and the middle west. The coast sports writers chimed in with derision directed at an Illinois team representing a school which voted against the Rose bowl contract, a team which lost two games during the season. The coast writers unanimously 'rode' the Illini because they wanted the Army as a Rose bowl entrant and thought the Big Nine and Illinois should set the 5-year contract aside and let Army come west for the 1947 contest.
It's UCLA By Six Over Illini Now
Friday, December 27, 1946
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 21 -- (UP) -- Rose Bowl odds shifted Saturday to make the UCLA Bruins six point favorites over Illinois, largely because of Halfback Cal Rossi's sensational scrimmage play.
Bruin hopes rose Friday when Halfback Orv Hatcher had recovered from injuries, then fell when it was learned that Tackle Wes Mathes was reinjured.
Illinois Turns Down Bid To Ride To Coast With USC
Sunday, December 22, 1946
LAFAYETTE, LA., Dec. 21 -- Illinois football forces arrived here at 3:15 p.m. Saturday aboard the Southern Pacific's Sunset Limited bound for Pasadena, Cal., with stops scheduled for Lake Charles, La., Beaumont and Houston, Tex., preceding a night-time ride through the nation's largest state.
In New Orleans, the Illinois party toured the city's famous French quarter beginning at Carrollton avenue, down past an exclusive residential section on St. Charles street, thence to historic spots including the French restaurants Arnauds and Antoines, and the French Market, Pointabla, Cablido, Jackson Square, and St. Louis cathedral.
Illini Rated Second For Comeback
Saturday, December 21, 1946
NEW YORK, Dec. 21 -- (AP) -- The University of Illinois football team's feat of taking a shellacking from Notre Dame and an unexpected jolt at Indiana and then getting off the floor to win the Big Nine conference and the Rose bowl bid ranked second only to Navy's showing against Army's powerful football team in the Associated Press poll for the outstanding sports comeback of the year.
Navy received 14 first place votes and a total point score of 39 based on a 3-2-1 basis. Illinois received eight votes for first place and a total of 37 points.
Illini Embark for Coast And Date with UCLA
Saturday, December 21, 1946
More than 1,500 townspeople and students bade the Rose bowl-bound Illini football team "Good luck!" Friday night as the Big Nine champions began a three-day trip to Pasadena and the Tournament of Roses.
The Illini, 43 strong, left the Illinois Central station on the Panama Limited in three special coaches at 6:48 p.m. Friday, sent off by a crowd largely composed of townspeople.
ILLINI RESOLVE TO BEGIN YEAR WITH VICTORY
Friday, December 20, 1946
The University of Illinois' Rose bowl-bound football team at a student pep rally Thursday afternoon vowed to start the new year right by thumping the University of California at Los Angeles team at Pasadena, Cal., on New Years day.
The New Year resolution calling for a triumph over the unbeaten and untied Bruins was made by Captain Mac Wenskunas, Georgetown. The Illini leader gained solid backing from other members of the Western conference champions who appeared briefly at the speakers' stand.
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