USC VS. UCLA: REGAINED PRIDE, OR ADDED GLORY? : Oh, What a Fill-In! : In 1966, Dow Replaced Beban, Led UCLA to Win

Twenty-five years ago, a previously anonymous UCLA quarterback not only etched his name into the folklore of the USC-UCLA series but also transformed himself into a lasting symbol of courage and perseverance.

Norman (Avis) Dow, the No. 2 quarterback who tried harder, replaced Gary Beban and, in the only start of his collegiate career, led the underdog Bruins to a 14-7 victory over USC.

Beban, who would cap a brilliant career by winning the Heisman Trophy a year later, was injured a week before the game, creating the opportunity for his seldom-used backup, who directed two second-half scoring drives.

At the time, Dow described his heroics against USC as “the greatest 60 minutes of my life.”

Does he still feel that way?

“Oh, no question,” said Dow, who keeps the game ball in a den that also contains a picture of his third-quarter touchdown run against the Trojans. “When you’re an unknown quarterback and you help upset a very good football team in front of (81,980) people, it’s got to be the thrill of a lifetime.

“How many people do you know who’ve done that?”

Dow, 46, is now a successful football coach at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, Calif., where his teams have won four Central Coast Section championships and eight league titles in 11 1/2 seasons.

The former Air Force brat from North Torrance High lives in Gilroy with his wife, the former Loreen Legge, and their daughters, Danell, 6, and Deena, 5.

At UCLA, he is still fondly remembered, his name often mentioned with reverence.

Last month, after tailback Ricky Davis ran for 124 yards as a fill-in for regulars Kevin Williams and Shawn Wills in a 21-16 victory over Arizona State, UCLA Coach Terry Donahue said Davis had evoked memories of Dow.

But until Beban suffered a broken ankle in the second half of a 10-0 victory over Stanford on Nov. 12, 1966, Dow was virtually unknown. In fact, it was speculated that UCLA Coach Tommy Prothro might move running back Mel Farr to quarterback for the USC game.

Prothro, though, said he had planned all along to use the inexperienced Dow, who had attempted only 14 passes that season. The UCLA roster included only one other quarterback, according to the Bruins’ 1966 media guide. And Prothro apparently didn’t have much confidence in Larry Cox.

After a rare Sunday practice, Prothro told his staff: “The rest of the week, nobody will get under center except Dow. If we practice with anybody else, we’re just practicing losing.”

Said Prothro later: “We decided we’d go with Dow, and if he got hurt, we’d just punt.”

As it was, Prothro used a conservative game plan against a USC team that was favored by 7 1/2 points. Several times, the Bruins punted on third down.

“We played more like a team that was waiting for a break, where before (with Beban) we were an attacking team,” Prothro said.

To lessen the pressure, Dow cut class the rest of the week after a reporter met him at his geography class on Monday morning. Later, Dow walked into a hall outside his dormitory room and was greeted by a group of cheering students.

“It was all very well intended, but after a while, I just wanted to relax and get away from all that,” Dow said. To ease the tension, he said, “I kept telling myself that I was in one of those great situations where if you don’t do well, it’s expected, but if you do play well, you’re a hero.”

Dow spent most of the week looking at game films.

“I’ll never forget Prothro telling the team, ‘If the rest of you work as hard as Norman Dow has the last three years, we’ll win,’ ” Dow said.

On Nov. 19, 1966, they did.

“Our defense was just phenomenal,” Dow said of a unit that included Donahue, then a senior tackle. “Everybody else knew they’d have to play better than they ever had.”

UCLA broke a scoreless tie early in the third quarter, scoring on a five-yard run by Dow, who also made an 18-yard run during the 42-yard drive.

Of the touchdown run, Dow said: “(Fullback) Rick Purdy and the guard came out and knocked everybody down, and basically, I walked in untouched.”

During the game-winning drive in the fourth quarter, Dow made a 26-yard run, breaking several tackles, then passed 13 yards to Ray Armstrong to set up a 21-yard touchdown run by Cornell Champion, who scored on an inside reverse.

Prothro borrowed the play from the Syracuse playbook. UCLA had beaten the Orangemen, 31-12, earlier in the season.

When the game ended, Dow had rushed for a team-high 82 yards in 19 carries and had completed two of eight passes for 30 yards.

“He wasn’t outstanding or anything, but he made no mistakes and he gave the rest of the team a chance to win,” Prothro said.

Dow was ecstatic.

His mood changed two days later when a vote of conference athletic directors sent USC to the Rose Bowl as the representative of the Athletic Assn. of Western Universities to play Purdue.

UCLA was 9-1 overall and 3-1 in the AAWU. USC was 7-2 and 4-1, less than a week away from ending its regular season with a 51-0 defeat by Notre Dame. (The Trojans also lost in the Rose Bowl to Purdue, 14-13).

UCLA students were so outraged by the vote that they marched for several hours through Westwood, blocking traffic for a time on the San Diego Freeway, shouting obscenities and lighting bonfires. About 30 students were arrested.

Dow was upset, too, but at least his personal moment of glory was preserved.

Does he think about it much?

Only about every year at this time, he said.