Michigan completely routed the Cal Bears in coach Jello's first Rose Bowl. The #4 vs. #12 matchup promised to be a competitive game, but this isn't how things played out at all. Michigan's offense was unstoppable as their starters scored a TD on every single possession. As if that weren't bad enough, Michigan's starters on defense held the bears scoreless as well. In fact, the only points Cal would muster was in the 4th quarter when Michigan's subs were getting some experience and backup HB Fitzgerald Toussaint fumbled the ball deep in Michigan territory and Michigan's 2nd string defense couldn't stop the Bears starting offense on such a short field.

Things got off to a bad start for the bears. After going 3 and out on their first drive, Michigan marched down the field for a TD. On the ensuing kickoff, the bears would return the kick 97 yards for a TD. Or so it would appear. During the run back, coach Jello pointed to the ground on which a yellow hankie sat. This momentum changing 97 yard TD was called back due to a clipping penalty. The bears never recovered from that moment and never got anything going on offense or defense.

Michigan's running game was firing on all cylinders as they racked up 265 yards on the ground including 81 yards and 2 TDs by QB Tate Forcier. In addition to pounding the ball on the ground, Forcier was perfect through the air, connecting on all 14 of his passes for 162 yards and 2 TDs. Michigan would convert on 7 of 9 3rd downs while holding the bears to 1 of 6. All of these factors contributed to Michigan holding the ball for over 20 minutes while the bears' offense was only on the filed for 7 and a half. This totaled to 67 offensive plays run by Michigan to only 32 for the bears.