The Michigan State Spartans had joined the Big Ten in 1950, but did not play a full schedule until 1953. They only lost one game, 0–6 at Purdue, which broke a 28-game winning streak, with two national championships. The Spartans were co-champions with Illinois, and the two did not meet this season. However, Illinois had last appeared in the 1952 Rose Bowl. Head coach Clarence "Biggie" Munn announced his retirement before the game.
UCLA Bruins
In the 1952 season, the Bruins lost only once, to rival USC 12-14. Both teams had been undefeated and the Trojans took the Rose Bowl berth. In 1953, the Bruins again lost only one regular season game, 20-21 at Stanford on October 17; Stanford was later defeated by USC on November 7. With the Rose Bowl again on the line for both teams, UCLA defeated USC 13-0 to win the Pacific Coast Conference outright and gain the New Year's Day berth in Pasadena.
Game summary
This was the first meeting between the two schools. It was the first Rose Bowl appearance for the Spartans; they had previously only played in the 1938 Orange Bowl. It was the third bowl appearance for the Bruins, all in the Rose. The weather was sunny; the Spartans wore their green home jerseys and the Bruins wore their white road jerseys. Michigan State fumbled twice in the first half, which allowed the Bruins the first two scores. The Spartans had only one completed pass and 56 yards in the first half; they scored a touchdown with 4:45 remaining in the first half. Victor Postula knocked down four Bruin passes; head coach Biggie Munn instituted a "split-line offense" against the Bruins. The Spartans assembled two long drives in the third quarter to pull ahead 21–14. The Bruins recovered another Spartan fumble and scored to pull within a point at 21–20, but the extra point kick failed. Billy Wells of Michigan State returned a punt 62 yards for a touchdown with 4:51 left in the game.
Scoring
First quarter
UCLA — Bill Stits 13-yard pass from Paul Cameron. John Hermann converts.
UCLA — Rommie Loudd, 28-yard pass from Cameron. Kick failed.
MSU — Wells, 62-yard punt return. Slonac converts.
Statistics
Aftermath
In the next season, UCLA went undefeated and shared the national championship. It was the first "split" championship in college football, when the writers selected Ohio State and the coaches chose UCLA. The Bruins didn't play in the Rose Bowl because of the PCC's no-repeat rule.
In their first official season in the Big Ten, the Spartans led the league in the number of black players. Michigan State's eight black athletes represented nearly a quarter of all African Americans in the entire conference.
