The legendary broadcast team of Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen are manning the mikes for this NBC Sports telecast of the 1986 Rose Bowl Classic….which featured Iowa Hawkeyes, the champs of the Big Ten with their All American QB Chuck Long pitted against the Pac 10 champs, UCLA Bruins….with their star running back Eric Ball….in a game that the Hawkeyes’ were a heavy favorite coming into the contest.
By the time the first half was over…..the Bruins had jumped out to a 24 – 10 lead due to two major factors….Iowa’s reliable running back Ronnie Harmon had fumbled the ball four times by half….after not losing a fumble the entire regular season….and secondly because of UCLA’s star freshman running back Eric Ball….who had scored three touchdowns by the time the 2nd quarter ended.
The weather was overcast and 71 degrees….as the Bruins wore white visitor jerseys and the Hawkeyes wore their black home jerseys….with both teams wearing Rose Bowl patches on their uniforms….and Iowa’s helmets bore a sticker with the letters “ANF” for “America Needs Farmers”….as Coach Hayden Fry had the players wear these stickers to bring attention the plight of American farmers….plus Hayden Fry was tied with Forest Evashevski for most all time wins at Iowa coming into this 1986 Rose Bowl.
Iowa recovered a fumble at the UCLA 5 from a bad snap of a UCLA punt on the first series of downs….and would have scored on the first play from scrimmage…..but Harmon fumbled the ball and UCLA recovered.Iowa…..which would be one of four fumbles Harmon had….along with a wide-open dropped pass in the end zone.
