The Pacific Coast championship wasn't decided until Christmas - too late for these posters - when the Mare Island Marines (1918 Rose Bowl champions, but with a totally revamped roster) beat the San Diego Naval Training Station on a 4th quarter, come-from-behind TD for a 12-7 win.
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Great Lakes entered the Rose Bowl with a 6-0-2 record, its defining moment coming in a 7-6 win over previously undefeated Naval Academy. The Mare Island Marines were 10-0, and even with the narrow win over San Diego, had outscored opponents by an average of 45-3.
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Great Lakes was extremely deep, featuring several former
@B1Gfootball and Notre Dame stars and three future@ProFootballHOF players. Teamwork was sometimes an issue - the team's offense struggled in two early-season ties - but Great Lakes seemed to be peaking at the right time.Show this thread -
Mare Island wasn't as deep as Great Lakes, but its incredible teamwork stemmed from familiarity. Nine of its players, led by star QB Dick Hanley, played together for Washington State in its 1916 Rose Bowl win. They lured their old WSU coach, Lone Star Dietz, to coach the Marines.
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Military football had proven superior to college football in that 1918 season - the best college team that year, Pitt, had already lost (closely, and controversially) to the Cleveland Navy. The Great Lakes-Mare Island Rose Bowl promised to be a de facto national championship.
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You can read more about the military Rose Bowls; Navy Athletic Director Walter Camp; 12th Division Coach Dwight Eisenhower; Camp Dodge tackle Omar Bradley; and many others in War Football: World War I and the Birth of the NFL. http://bit.ly/Warfootball
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