PASADENA, CALIF. - Before Monday's Rose Bowl game, Michigan coach Bo Schembechler told his players to expect the unexpected, to be prepared for anything.

Sure thing, coach. The Wolverines had already encountered their share of surprises during the regular season: the then-unknown Reggie Ho and his automatic toe out-kicking Mike Gillette in the season opener; Miami (Fla.) rallying from laps behind; and starting quarterback Michael Taylor breaking his right collarbone against Minnesota.

Michigan learned to deal with the unexpected. And the Wolverines taught m any skeptics that lesson with their come-from-behind 22-14 victory over Southern Cal. Sports Illustrated's Nov. 14 issue said Southern Cal would not lose to "a pretender from the feeble Big Ten. A defeat would be unthinkable."

Think again.

"Down 14-3, knowing what's happened to us in the past, this team has great resolve," said Schembechler, now 2-7 in Rose Bowls. "When they came back and played like they did and won the game, I think it was a great tribute to them."

Southern Cal coach and former Schembechler assistant Larry Smith said: "I'm not disappointed, I'm just damn angry."

Michigan dominated Southern Cal (10-2) in the second half, outscoring the Trojans 19-0. The player of the game, Leroy Hoard, scored two touchdowns and rushed for 142 yards - 113 in the second half - on 19 carries.

With the win, the Wolverines (9-2-1) climbed from No. 11 to No. 4 in both polls - the Trojans sank from fifth to seventh. It marks Michigan's second top-five finish in the last four years. The Wolverines have won three of their last four bowl games, including two straight. Bowl jinx? What bowl jinx?

"It's a tremendous feeling," senior defensive tackle Mark Messner said. "It's a feeling that personally I think we should have felt all year. We're this close away (holding his thumb and his index finger narrowly apart) from being the No. 1 team in the country."

The state of Michigan has cornered the Rose Bowl, dominated in recent years by the Pac-10. With Michigan State's triumph last year over the Trojans and Michigan's win this year, the Big ten has won back-to-back Rose Bowls for the first time since 1964-65.

Hoard provided the play of the game this year with 5:28 left in the fourth quarter and the Wolverines leading, 15-14. The bruising back grabbed a handoff from quarterback Demetrius Brown, left would-be Trojan tacklers grasping at the air, and rambled 61 yards to Southern Cal's nine-yard line before Chris Hale finally yanked him down.

"I mean, he just ran possessed," Schembechler said. "That was a great, great run."

Said Hoard, only a sophomore, "It seemed like I was running backwards because everyone was catching up."

Hoard played an instrumental role in Michigan's march towards its Rose Bowl crown. He gained 565 of his 752 rushing yards in his last five games. He led the team in rushing in four of those contests.

"I like Leroy," Schembechler said. "He's a dangerous guy with the football. When you want tough yardage, I don't think there's a better man around. Just hand him the football, and something good is going to happen."

Everyone wanted to know after the game what Schembechler said at halftime that sparked Hoard and the rest of the Michigan team. But Schembechler used no magic potions, no fiery speeches.

"We came in at halftime, no real pep talk, no real big adjustments," senior flanker John Kolesar said. "It's just execution in the second half that won the game."

Trojan quarterback Rodney Peete said: "Everyone was fired up at halftime and ready to get out for the second half. I don't know why we didn't come to play."

Peete, a senior and Heisman Trophy runner-up, failed to win a bowl game in his four years at Southern Cal.

Expect the unexpected.

As part of the Daily's coverage of the 2007 Rose Bowl, here is the cover of the 1989 game between Michigan and Southern Cal. The Wolverines entered the game as heavy underdogs and found themselves trailing 14-3 at the half. But behind sophomore running back Leon Hoard - who rushed for two touchdowns and 142 yards - Michigan came storming back, outscoring the Trojans 19-0 in the second half. Hoard's 61-yard run with 5:28 remaining set up the Wolverines' final score. Michigan went on to win the game, 22-14, giving coach Bo Schembechler his second win in Pasadena.