Coach Cool To Idea Of Must-Win
It was hot at the Rose Bowl, and Northwestern gave John Robinson even more reason to sweat.
In the end, though, his 17th-ranked Southern California Trojans delivered a 41-32 victory over the surprising Wildcats on Monday, making Robinson 4-0 in college football’s oldest bowl game.
More importantly, the win spared Robinson some heat from demanding alumni who would have roasted him with a loss.
During any other season, USC beating Northwestern would not have meant much. But in a year when the third-ranked Wildcats finally found respect after decades as a Big Ten doormat, Robinson came out ahead in the eyes of his critics with the win.
But he rejected the idea that winning the Rose Bowl was his salvation.
“It doesn’t save our season,” he said. “We had a season. We were the Pac-10 champions. No other opinion makes a difference.”
Despite being the home team, the Trojans found themselves relegated to the part of understudy in Northwestern’s drama.
“Most of our players had injuries with you people stepping on our toes, shoving us out of the way to get to the other guys,” Robinson told reporters. “It’s OK with us. We had a great time. We had a lot of fun. We have fun when we go to the Rose Bowl.”
Take your Longhorn and …
Oregon had an impressive following at the Cotton Bowl, but the fans weren’t having much fun. With 7 minutes left in the game, Mike and Jenny Taylor of Portland gave up and headed back to the hotel. This was their first trip to Texas.
“Our offense was bad and the weather was worse, but boy, isn’t chicken-fried steak a wonderful thing, just a fine delicacy to travel to Texas for,” Mike Taylor said. “I told my wife we should have saved our money and bought a big-screen television.”
Said Mary Taylor: “At least last year at the Rose Bowl we got to go to Disneyland. By the way, wasn’t there supposed to be a parade?”
Big bucks for big game
Scalping, which is legal in Arizona, is happening in a big way as tonight’s Fiesta Bowl approaches.
Good seats near the 50-yard line on the lower level of the stadium are going for as much as $500, with standing-room only tickets costing $100.
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It’s a festival-type atmosphere in Tempe, Ariz., with red-clad Nebraska fans and orange-clad Florida fans exchanging good-natured barbs on the streets.
Commercialism is omnipresent, with souvenir salesmen everywhere. One stand had 24 styles of Nebraska hats.
The largest single corporate presence is Tostitos, the game’s name sponsor. The official Tostitos Fiesta Bowl logo even appears on the doors of portable toilets.
“It’s like the town has become one giant bag of Tostitos,” a Fiesta Bowl official said.