1916 Rose Bowl Originally titled the " Tournament East - West football game , " the second of what is now known as the Rose Bowl Game was played on January 1 , 1916 . The Rose Bowl game has been played annually since this game . The first game , the 1902 Tournament East - West football game , was so lopsided that for the next 15 years , the Tournament of Roses officials ran chariot races , ostrich races , and other various events instead of football . But , on New Year ' s Day 1916 , football returned to stay as Washington State University defeated Brown University in this First annual Tournament of Roses football game . This remains the last , and to date , only Rose Bowl win ever for the Cougars . Tournament Park . Before the Rose Bowl stadium was built for the 1923 Rose Bowl Game , games were played in Pasadena ' s Tournament Park , approximately three miles southeast of the current stadium . It is best known for being the site of the first Rose Bowl Game in 1902 , and the second to eighth Rose Bowl Games from 1916 to 1922 before the Rose Bowl opened in 1923 . Its capacity at the time was 43 , 000 people . Teams . The Washington State Cougars had an undefeated season . They won 28 - 3 over Oregon , 29 - 0 at Oregon State , 41 - 0 at Idaho , 27 - 7 over Montana , 17 - 0 over Whitman and 48 - 0 at Gonzaga . The 1915 Brown University Bruins lost 7 - 0 to Amherst , 6 - 0 to Syracuse , and 16 - 7 to Harvard . They had a scoreless tie with Trinity . Brown outscored its opponents 167 - 32 that year , defeating Rhode Island 38 - 0 , Williams , 33 - 0 , Vermont , 46 - 0 , Yale , 3 - 0 and Carlisle , 39 - 3 . The Bruins were chosen as the Eastern representatives with a 5 - 3 - 1 record . The Tournament of Roses committee were responsible for selecting and inviting the teams . The Bruin victories over Yale and Carlisle were deciding factors for inviting Brown to participate . Game summary . Fritz Pollard became the first African - American to play in the Rose Bowl game . He was limited to 47 yards in 13 carries during the game . The game was played in a cold quagmire of mud from several days of rain . Brown University was stopped at the 4 - yard line by the Cougars . Scoring . 3rd quarter . WSU - Ralph Boone 3 run ( Arthur Durham kick ) 4th quarter . WSU - Carl Dietz 4 run ( Durham kick ) Aftermath . Coach William " Lone Star " Dietz and his Cougar squad served as extras in the football film " Tom Brown of Harvard " each morning and then practiced for the bowl game in the afternoon . They were paid $ 100 for the movie work . The Tournament of Roses organization continues to have a college football game to this day as part of the New Year ' s Day celebrations . The Western and Northern universities permitted minority players , a situation that would eventually lead to the Pacific Coast Conference - Big Nine conference agreement for the 1947 Rose Bowl . Most Southern universities were still segregated until the 1960s . None of the Southeastern Conference schools had an African American athlete until 1966 . The Cotton Bowl , Orange Bowl , and Sugar Bowl would not be integrated until 1948 , 1955 , and 1956 respectively . Carl Dietz , the Washington State fullback , was named the Most Valuable Player of the game when the award was created in 1953 and selections were made retroactively . Later , Pollard was the first black named to the Walter Camp All - America team and became the first black NFL head coach . The Official 2007 NCAA Division I football records book lists the attendance at 7 , 000 . Washington State listed at 10 , 000 in its Media Guide . The quarterback of the Washington State University team , Thomas Arthur Durham eventually had a successful Naval career rising to the rank of Commodore ( United States ) .