1956 Rose Bowl The 1956 Rose Bowl game , played on January 2 , 1956 was the 42nd Rose Bowl game . The Michigan State Spartans defeated the UCLA Bruins , 17 – 14 . Michigan State halfback Walt Kowalczyk was named the Rose Bowl Player Of The Game . The game was played on January 2 , because New Year ' s Day was a Sunday . It featured two of the most racially integrated college football teams of the day with six African American players for the Bruins and seven for the Spartans . This stood in stark contrast to the 1956 Sugar Bowl , where there was controversy over whether Bobby Grier from Pitt should be allowed to play and whether Georgia Tech should even play at all due to Georgia governor Marvin Griffin ' s opposition to integration . Only one month previous , Rosa Parks made her famous protest in the Montgomery Bus Boycott . The 1956 Rose Bowl has the highest TV rating of all college bowl games , watched by 41 . 1 % of all people in the US with TV sets . Teams . Michigan State College Spartans . The Ohio State Buckeyes were the undefeated Big Ten conference champions . However , Ohio State would not be invited to the Rose Bowl because of the no - repeat rule in the Big Ten conference . This left Michigan State to be accepted . Ohio State was ranked # 4 with a 7 – 2 record , and Michigan State was ranked # 2 with a 9 – 1 record . The teams did not play each other during the regular season . Michigan State opened with a 20 – 13 win at Indiana . Then they lost to in State rival Michigan 7 – 14 . This was their only loss . They won 38 – 14 over Stanford . They defeated rival Notre Dame 21 – 7 . The Spartans did not play Northwestern , Iowa , or Ohio State . Ohio State had lost at Duke , and also 0 – 6 to Stanford . UCLA Bruins . UCLA was the defending National Champion and had an undefeated season in 1954 . The Bruins began the 1955 season ranked number one . In a showdown at # 5 Maryland , the Bruins lost 0 – 7 to the Terrapins . A 38 – 0 win over Oregon State ultimately proved to be the game for the conference championship . The Bruins would win the rest of their regular season games , including a 21 – 13 win over Stanford . With the Pacific Coast conference championship already won , the Bruins won their third straight game in the UCLA - USC rivalry 17 – 7 . Game summary . This was the second meeting between the two schools , the first being a 28 – 20 victory for the Spartans over the Bruins in the 1954 Rose Bowl . In a " Sports Illustrated " article preceding the 1956 Rose Bowl , UCLA coach Red Sanders was quoted as saying " Sure , winning isn ' t every thing , It ' s the only thing . " The Spartans wore their green home jerseys and the Bruins wore their white road jerseys . Jim Decker of UCLA intercepted a pass from Michigan State quarterback Earl Morrall on the first play from scrimmage . Decker returned 4 yards to the MSU 16 yard line . Four plays later , Bob Davenport scored on a 2 - yard run over left guard to give the Bruins a 7 - 0 lead . Midway through the second quarter , Michigan State put together an 11 - play , 80 - yard drive to pull even at 7 . Walt Kowalczyk ' s 30 - yard run to the UCLA 17 set up Morrall ' s 13 - yard touchdown toss to Clarence Peaks . On the second play of the fourth quarter , the Spartans took their first lead at 14 – 7 on Peaks ’ 67 - yard TD pass to John Lewis , who caught the ball on the 50 and took it the distance . Five minutes later , The UCLA Bruin passing game produced a big play as UCLA quarterback Ronnie Knox connected with Jim Decker with a 47 - yard pass play to the Spartan 7 - yard line . Three plays later , Doug Peters scored on a 1 - yard plunge at center . Morrall directed an 11 - play , 59 - yard drive to the UCLA 24 , but Gerald Planutis missed a 41 - yard field - goal attempt . Five penalties were called in the closing minutes and field position shifted in Michigan State ' s favor when UCLA was whistled for three - straight penalties . UCLA was called for an intentional grounding infraction which pushed the ball back to its own one - yard line . The Bruins ' punt gave the Spartans the ball at the UCLA 40 - yard line . The Bruins were cited for interference with the kick returner on the punt play and the Spartans received the ball at the Bruin 19 - yard line . Replacing Gerald Planutis , Dave Kaiser of Michigan State converted his first career field - goal attempt , a 41 - yard kick , with seven seconds remaining in the game to give the Spartans a 17 – 14 win . Aftermath . Although it was UCLA penalties in the final minutes that gave field position to Michigan State , the Spartans ' 98 yards given up on 10 penalties are a Rose Bowl game record as of 2008 . The Spartans were named National Champions by the Boand System . Oklahoma would be named National champion by all the other organizations . In the 1956 Orange Bowl , the # 1 Oklahoma Sooners defeated the # 3 Maryland Terrapins 20 - 6 in a battle of undefeated teams . The Sugar Bowl was the last bowl game to be integrated . The Cotton Bowl , Orange Bowl , and Sugar Bowl were not integrated until 1948 , 1955 , and 1956 respectively .