The 1972 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on Saturday, January 1, 1972, in Pasadena, California. It was the 58th Rose Bowl Game, and the Stanford Indians defeated the Michigan Wolverines, 13–12. The MVP was Stanford quarterback Don Bunce.

Michigan started their season with a 21-6 win over #20 Northwestern in Evanston, Illinois. They rose to #3 by winning their next 8 games by a combined score of 358-40, including three straight shutouts over Virginia, UCLA, and Navy. But the Wolverines were almost caught looking ahead to their showdown with Ohio State, and escaped with a 20-17 win at Purdue. They then beat the Buckeyes 10-7 to finish as undefeated Big 10 champions. It was the Wolverines' first undefeated regular season since 1948, and they were making their second appearance in the Rose Bowl under third-year coach Bo Schembechler.

The Indians had won the previous year's Rose Bowl behind the heroics of Heisman Trophy winner Jim Plunkett, who had graduated. Plunkett's backup Don Bunce, running back Jackie Brown, and the "Thunderchickens" defense, led Indians to an 8–3 record and a return appearance in the Rose Bowl. Stanford's key wins came against Dan Fouts and Oregon (38–17), at USC (33–18), and at 11th-ranked Washington (17–6). However, they were caught looking ahead to the Rose Bowl decider vs. rival California, and were upset by San Jose State 13–12, in a game that saw their kicker Rod Garcia miss all five kicks; four field goal attempts and an extra point try. They rebounded and ended the regular season with a 14–0 shutout over archrival California. This was also the last football game that Stanford would play as the "Indians." The following season, Stanford changed their nickname from "Indians" to "Cardinals" (later the "Cardinal" in 1981), referring to the school's primary color.

...
Wikipedia