1. Roy Riegels runs the wrong way in the '29 Rose Bowl: The center and captain of the Cal team was actually an outstanding player for the Golden Bears, but he's gone down in history as "Wrong Way" Riegels after he snagged a football fumbled by Georgia Tech back Stumpy Thomason. Riegels caught the fumble on first bounce, got bumped, spun around and found himself in the clear, sprinting toward the goal line 64 yards away. Legend has it that teammate Benny Lom, a speedy halfback, chased Riegels half the length of the field, shouting "Stop! Stop! Turn back, Roy … You're going the wrong way!"
According to this account on the Rose Bowl Legends site, Riegels thought Lom was pleading for the ball to out-race the pursuing Georgia Tech players, and yelled back, "Giddoutta here, Benny! This is my ball!" By the time Riegels realized what was actually happening and tried to reverse direction, it was too late. Georgia Tech gang-tackled him at the 1-yard line. Rather than attempt an offensive play from its own goal line (something that was apparently rare back then) Cal lined up to punt out of the end zone. Riegels snapped the ball, but the left side of California's line collapsed, and Tech's Vance Maree blocked the punt, which rolled out of bounds for a safety. Tech went on to 8-7 and also took the national championship.
