Just hours after the Michigan State Spartans football team celebrated on the field, employees at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., jumped right back into action at the 95,000-capacity venue.
Four days after the end of the 100th playing of the Rose Bowl game – a part of the NCAA's Bowl Championship Series – the stadium hosted its biggest BCS game: The National Championship.
By the time the largest crowd to ever see a Rose Bowl game (95,173) exited the parking lots, workers were already preparing the field for Game 2 of their bowl season.
“There were a lot of things that went into the changeover like the changing of graphics and cleanup, but the most significant thing was the field,” Rose Bowl General Manager Darryl Dunn said.
The 91-year-old stadium had just put in new sod for the Rose Bowl several weeks before but felt an “overlay” technique would be efficient to make the switchover in a tiny window.
All the work and cost were worth providing a better look for TV and playing surface for the players. The game, played between Auburn and Florida State, was broadcast by ESPN and viewed on TV by about 27 million people.
The process of changing the field over, led by Will Schnell, the field’s turf superintendent, involved 60-man crews alternating around the clock over four days – two of which were spent tearing up the old grass and laying new 3-inch sod, and the other two painting the turf.
“We were really fortunate because of the dedication of our team,” Dunn said. “We went through it in 2010, so everybody knew what to prepare for. But you can't even count the number of hours they worked.”
More than 700 tons of sod, comprised of bermuda grass and cold-tolerant winter rye, were shipped in by a semitruck from Palm Springs, Calif. Once the sod was placed, crews used over 600 gallons of paint on sidelines, end zones and logos.
The crews pulled off their reconstruction of the playing surface with plenty of time before kickoff. Dunn said there was a little bit of luck involved in getting perfect weather for the days in between the Jan. 1 Rose Bowl and the Jan. 6 National Championship Game.
“Both games were sunny and 79 degrees,” he said. “If we would have had bad weather, we would have had to do things differently. We may not have been able to replace the field, we would have only been able to take out the colorization of the end zone.”
Another major part of the preparation for both bowls was holding two sets of large alumni parties. Dunn estimated that 10,000 people attended the Rose Bowl alumni events and several thousand more were on hand between Florida State and Auburn alums. ESPN also held a fan festival with live music that brought in an additional 25,000 people.
“It was almost akin to a Super Bowl with the atmosphere,” Dunn said.
Only hours after Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston threw a touchdown in the last seconds to win the National Championship game, the Rose Bowl opened its doors to tours. More than 300 people stopped by to see the locker rooms and even step on the field and grab a chunk of the special sod.
Whether the Rose Bowl will ever host bowl games this close together again is somewhat unclear with the changing BCS system.
There is concern that the playoff system will reduce the popularity of bowl games like the Rose Bowl and puts the future of the Rose Bowl hosting the championship in jeopardy. The Rose Bowl has been one of four venues that was in a rotation to host the BCS national championship game every four years.
Next season the structure is changing to include a playoff, and the famous stadium will hold the semifinal game on Jan. 1, with the winner going on to play in the National Championship game.
“We'll see what happens,” Dunn said. “The whole college football postseason continues to evolve. We know that if we continue to take care of our stadium then things will turn out for us. A huge part of why we invested so much into our facility is so that we could continue to host events like the Rose Bowl and National Championship game.”
Interviewed for this story: Darryl Dunn, (626) 577-3100