The 1929 college football season saw a number of unbeaten and untied teams. Purdue, Tulane, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh all finished the regular season with wins over all their opponents; Notre Dame was recognized as national champion under the Dickinson system. Pitt and USC met in the Rose Bowl, at that time the only postseason college football game and an unofficial title game between the best teams of east and west, but Pitt's claims for a national title were demolished by the Trojans, 47–14. A major change in the rules for 1929 was that a fumbled ball was dead as soon as it struck the ground. Previously, a defending player could run with a recovered fumble, as in the case of Roy Riegels in the 1929 Rose Bowl.