1943 Rose Bowl

The 1943 Rose Bowl game, played on January 1, 1943 was the 29th Rose Bowl game. The University of Georgia Bulldogs defeated the UCLA Bruins 9-0. The game returned to the Rose Bowl stadium after being played at Duke Stadium the year before. Charley Trippi of Georgia was named the Rose Bowl Player Of The Game when the award was created in 1953 and selections were made retroactively.

After the 1942 Allied victory in the Battle of Midway and the end of the Japanese offensives in the Pacific Theater during 1942, it was deemed that the West Coast was no longer vulnerable to attack, and the Rose Bowl game continued on in the Rose Bowl Stadium. The Tournament of Roses parade itself still was not held due to the war.

UCLA Bruins
UCLA won the Pacific Coast Conference title for the first time in school history. The Bruins also won their first victory in the UCLA-USC rivalry. This Rose Bowl game was the first appearance for the Bruins in any post season matchup. The previous season saw UCLA and USC tie 7-7 in a matchup of lower tier teams. They played on the eve of World War II on December 6, 1941. In 1942, the Bruins and Trojans met with the Rose Bowl on the line for both teams. On December 12, 1942 UCLA defeated USC for the first time 14-7.

Georgia Bulldogs
The Tournament of Roses committee were responsible for selecting and inviting the opposing team. Georgia was the number two team in the nation behind number 1 Ohio State. The Western Conference, forerunner of the Big Ten Conference, did not permit their teams to play in bowl games until the 1946 agreement between the Big Ten and Pacific Coast Conference. The Bulldogs featured 1942 Heisman Trophy winner Frank Sinkwich and Maxwell Award winner Charley Trippi. The Bulldogs had been named national champions by the Berryman, DeVold, Houlgate, Litkenhous, Poling, and Williamson polls. Georgia had played their first bowl game the previous year, the 1942 Orange bowl.

Scoring summary
Both teams went scoreless until the fourth quarter.

First quarter

 * No score

Second quarter

 * No score

Third quarter

 * No score

Fourth quarter

 * Georgia — Red Boyd blocks Bob Waterfield’s punt for an automatic safety.
 * Georgia — Frank Sinkwich, one-yard run. Leo Costa converts.

Aftermath
Charley Trippi of Georgia was named the Rose Bowl Player Of The Game when the award was created in 1953 and selections were made retroactively. Lynn "Buck" Compton, who played for UCLA, later earned a Silver Star for his meritorious action at Brécourt Manor. The action was later dramatized in episode two of the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. This was Georgia's one and only appearance in the Rose Bowl game. With the advent of the Bowl Championship Series, the possibility exists that Georgia could be invited to play in the Rose Bowl game. For the 2008 Rose Bowl, a hopeful matchup was examined that Georgia might play USC, but the Sugar Bowl would not give up the Bulldogs.

Myth
A myth about the game is circulating the web as a piece of incorrect trivia. ''"In 1943, Percy Clark of UCLA made the mistake of being tackled behind the goal line while attempting to return a punt against Georgia [in the Rose Bowl]," wrote Arizona Republic columnist David Casstevens in 1996. "UCLA lost the game, 2-0. One newspaper carried the headline: Clark 2, UCLA 0. Clark was ostracized by classmates and quit college a week later. He moved to the woods in Oregon, where he spent many years as a recluse."'' The winning score was 9-0, not 2-0. The safety was scored by Red Boyd by blocking a punt. The UCLA media guide does not list any Percy Clark as a letterman, nor any "Percy" nor "Clark" who lettered in the 1940s.

Game facts
According to Lynn "Buck" Compton(See "Call of Duty" by Lt. Lynn Buck Compton, Life, before, during, and after the "Band of Brothers), shortly after the game, the entire Senior Class of those players, who were also in ROTC, were taken into the military, prior to graduation and sent to Officer Candidate School.  Buck went on to Ft. Benning Georgia.