1967 USC vs. UCLA football game
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November 18, 1967: The University of California at Los Angeles, 7-0-1 and ranked Number 1, with senior quarterback Gary Beban as a Heisman Trophy candidate, played the University of Southern California, 8-1 and ranked Number 4, with junior running back O.J. Simpson as a Heisman candidate. This game is widely regarded as the signature game in the UCLA-USC rivalry as well as one of the 20th century Games of the Century.
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[edit] Introduction
[edit] 1965-66
In the previous meetings in 1965 and 1966 with the Rose Bowl on the line, UCLA had prevailed both times behind quarterback Gary Beban. UCLA won the 1966 Rose Bowl over Michigan State. The 1967 Rose Bowl featured Purdue defeating USC. Michigan State and UCLA could not meet again because of the Rose Bowl "no repeat" rule, and USC had also been voted in because of playing more conference games.
[edit] 1967 season
USC had been ranked #1 for six weeks since beating #5 Texas and later Michigan State. USC notched 24-7 victory over #5 Notre Dame on October 14, 1967. UCLA also had been ranked in the top ten, reaching #2 before tying Oregon State on November 4th.
UCLA's tie and USC's loss were both inflicted by Oregon State University and their famed Giant Killers team. This same Oregon State team had defeated #2 ranked Purdue. A 3-0 loss in a muddy field at Oregon State on November 11th dropped the Trojans to #4, and UCLA vaulted into the #1 spot in the polls following a 48-0 Bruin victory over Washington that day.
[edit] What was at stake
This game was for the Championship of the Pacific Eight Conference (now the Pacific Ten), a berth in the Rose Bowl game, and for the right to play for the National Championship. As an added bonus, the top Heisman vote getter from the previous season, Beban, would meet Simpson, one of the most explosive running backs of that season. And as with all USC-UCLA games, the "championship" of Los Angeles and bragging rights within the city were also at stake.
[edit] "Home" game
Both teams played their home games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum until 1982, when UCLA first went outside the city of Los Angeles to play at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The 1967 game would be a USC "home" game, which meant that USC fans sat on the North side of the Coliseum, while the UCLA fans sat on the South (press box) side of the Coliseum.
The game would be the ABC-TV game of the week and would be presented in color and feature the ABC sports "Slo Mo replay".
[edit] Scoring
Greg Jones scored first for UCLA with a 12 yard run. Pat Cashman would take an interception return 55 yards for USC to tie the score.
In the second quarter, Earl McCullouch would run 52 yards to set up O. J. Simpson for a 13 yard touchdown run.
In the third quarter Gary Beban hit George Farmar for a touchdown pass for 53 yards to tie the score.
With the game tied 14-14 early in the fourth quarter, an injured Beban gamely threw a touchdown pass to Dave Nuttall. The extra point attempt by Zenon Andrusyshun was blocked Bill Hayhoe, resulting in a 20-14 UCLA lead. Hayhoe at 6' 8" had also blocked one field goal attempt by Andrusyshun.
[edit] The big play
At 10:38 in Trojan quarterback Toby Page called a pass play, then saw the Bruin linebackers drop back into pass coverage. He changed the signals before the snap, calling an audible ("23 blast"), and handed off to Simpson. Simpson veered to the left sideline, got a key block from fullback Dan Scott, and then cut back to the middle to run 64 yards for a touchdown. Rikki Aldridge kicked the extra point, and the Trojans held on to win, 21-20.
[edit] Aftermath
Playing with badly bruised ribs, Beban passed for 301 yards. Simpson had a phenomenal run and finished with two touchdowns, 177 yards and 30 carries.
Both Beban and Simpson were featured on the cover of the November 20 issue of Sports Illustrated magazine [1].
UCLA would lose the next week to Syracuse 14-32 and would not be invited to any bowl games due to the exclusive Big Ten/Pac 8 Rose Bowl agreement.
[edit] Heisman trophy
Despite the loss, Gary Beban would win the Heisman Trophy. O. J. Simpson would win the Heisman trophy the next season. The most common reason given is that Simpson was a junior, and would have a chance the next year. At the time, the Heisman trophy was rarely given to an underclassman.
[edit] Rose Bowl
USC would go on to the 1968 Rose Bowl ranked #1 and defeat the #4 ranked Big Ten champion Indiana Hoosiers 14-3. That year, AP would award the #1 ranking after the bowl games were completed, and USC would finish ranked #1 and win the National Championship for 1967.
[edit] Simpson and Beban in the NFL
Simpson would go on to have one of the greatest professional careers any running back has ever had, rushing for over 11,000 yards, mostly for the Buffalo Bills, at a time when an NFL season was still 14 games. But Beban was a bust as a pro; he was drafted by the Washington Redskins, who already had a future Hall of Fame quarterback in Sonny Jurgensen. The 'Skins moved Beban to wide receiver, and he lasted only two seasons.
