ROSE BOWL SHOWDOWN / UCLA vs USC : Historians Uncover a Big-Game Pattern

USC playing UCLA in football is the kind of rivalry that spawns cliches. Throwing out the record book, playing for pride, classic rivalry

the phrases that make broadcasting what it is--really are applicable in this series.

But this year we don’t have to throw out the record book. And they are playing for more than pride.

You see, this season UCLA is playing USC for the Rose Bowl. Plain and simple.

An unusual happening?

Not really. This is the 22nd time that the schools have faced each other with the winner going to the Rose Bowl.

And if history is any indication, it’s see-you-later Bruins. It seems that the Trojans have, more often than not, turned UCLA into the gutted little Bruins.

When the Rose Bowl is on the line for both teams, USC leads 15-5-1. UCLA hasn’t won one of these games since 1966, before any of the current players were born.

So, if you’re a nostalgia buff, a gloating Trojan or simply have a bad memory, you might find a review of those 20 games interesting.

1939--USC 0, UCLA 0: Talk about a big game, how about 103,303 filling the Coliseum for this one, a record that still stands. UCLA, which had never beaten USC, entered the game 5-0-2, while the Trojans were 5-0-1. The Bruins needed a victory, USC only a tie to win the Pacific Coast Conference title. UCLA had a chance to win it in the fourth quarter when it drove to the USC three-yard line. On first down, the Bruins were stopped for no gain. Second down, fullback Leo Cantor gets to the two. Third down, Cantor loses two yards.

A field goal seemed to be the call but a vote was taken in the huddle. Five voted for the kick, five for the touchdown. Quarterback Ned Matthews was the deciding vote. He called a pass play, but it was batted down. “The only thing I would second-guess on is that we didn’t take time out,” Matthews said later. USC went to the Rose Bowl because of fewer ties.

1942--UCLA 14, USC 7: The Bruins had some guy at quarterback named Waterfield, believe his first name was Bob. He only threw six passes, completing two. But one was for 42 yards and a touchdown to Burr Baldwin. It was the first time UCLA had beaten USC.

1944--USC 40, UCLA 13: Because of World War II, the teams were playing each other twice a year from 1943 through 1945. The first game this year ended 13-13 after Waterfield’s extra-point attempt hit the crossbar and tumbled over the bar for the point. But it was the second game that decided the Rose Bowl and USC quarterback Jim Hardy was the difference. The Trojans outgained the Bruins, 403-148, and led in first downs, 21-6. At one point, the score was 40-0.

1945--USC 26, UCLA 15: It was the last year the teams played each other twice. In the opener, UCLA scored first but USC scored twice. The Trojans won, 13-6. In the game for the Rose Bowl, 103,000 showed up to see USC running back Ted Tannehill run for 107 yards and two touchdowns.

1946--UCLA 13, USC 6: The end of the war brought the soldiers home and suddenly UCLA was getting a lot of people in school on the G.I. Bill. When game day came, the field was under water after the wettest winter in nearly 50 years. UCLA took a defensive posture by using a lot of quick kicks--four times on first down, four on second and eight on third--hoping for USC mistakes. The strategy worked.

1947--USC 6, UCLA 0: Both UCLA Coach Bert LaBrucherie and USC’s Jeff Cravath had trouble relating to players that had come back from the war. Don Clark, a Trojan lineman who later became coach, said Cravath resented players that had left for war. USC was 6-0-1, UCLA 5-3. A second-quarter touchdown pass from Jim Powers to Jack Kirby was the difference.

1952--USC 14, UCLA 12: USC and UCLA were both undefeated and untied. It was a strange game to say the least. USC got its first touchdown when wingback Al Carmichael was about to be stopped on a reverse. But he lateraled to halfback Jim Sears, who went 65 yards for a touchdown. The Trojans’ second touchdown was set up when UCLA tailback Paul Cameron was intercepted by defensive guard Elmer Willhoite, who ran 72 yards to the UCLA eight.

1961--UCLA 10, USC 7: Neither UCLA (6-3) nor USC (4-4-1) had the kind of record going into the game to make you think the Rose Bowl was at stake. But it was. It rained on game day, turning the field to mud. Bobby Smith’s six-yard touchdown run in the third quarter was the winner. “They didn’t do anything we didn’t anticipate except beat us,” USC Coach John McKay said.

1964--USC 34, UCLA 13: The Trojans had won two in a row over the Bruins. Going into the game, UCLA was 4-5 and USC was 6-3. Mike Garrett had 181 yards rushing and Trojan quarterback Craig Fertig threw for three touchdowns.

1965--UCLA 20, USC 16: USC dominated for the first 56 minutes, but led only 16-6. Then Gary Beban kicked into gear. The UCLA quarterback threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Dick Witcher and then threw for a two-point conversion. UCLA Coach Tommy Prothro called for an on-side kick and the Bruins had the ball on the 49-yard line. After a few plays, Beban found Kurt Altenberg in the USC secondary for a 48-yard touchdown. Garrett had gained 210 yards and afterward went to the UCLA locker room to congratulate the winners. A class move.

1966--UCLA 14, USC 7: UCLA entered the game 8-1 and USC was 7-1, yet the Trojans were favored by a touchdown. Beban was injured and Norm Dow, who had played only 58 minutes in three seasons, was to quarterback the team. The game came down to a 21-yard reverse for a touchdown by Cornell Champion. Dow was a hero, finishing with 82 yards in 19 carries. He called it “the greatest 60 minutes of my life.” But this showdown for the Rose Bowl deserves an asterisk. Despite UCLA’s victory, the AAWU voted send to USC (4-1 in conference) to the Rose Bowl instead of UCLA (3-1). The outrage was such the UCLA students blocked traffic on the San Diego Freeway and 30 people were arrested.

1967--USC 21, UCLA 20: This was The Game. No. 1 UCLA (7-0-1) vs. No. 2 USC (8-1). Gary Beban vs. O.J. Simpson. Heisman Trophy at stake. Rose Bowl to the winner. National championship in the balance. UCLA had a 20-14 lead in the fourth quarter. USC had the ball third and eight at its 36-yard line. Quarterback Toby Page called an audible, “23 blast.” It was at that point that Simpson made the run for which he will always be remembered. Touchdown, USC. “A good back might have made the eight yards for a first down,” McKay wrote in his autobiography. “O.J. made it to the Rose Bowl. It was the damnedest run I’ve ever seen.” Charles Aldridge added the extra point. Beban ended up with the Heisman Trophy and USC got the national championship.

1969--USC 14, UCLA 12: Both teams entered the game 8-0-1 with USC ranked fifth and UCLA sixth. Prothro considered this his best team and UCLA had something to prove. UCLA quarterback Dennis Dummit threw a short touchdown pass to Gwen Cooper to give the Bruins the lead, 12-7, with three minutes to play. USC was struggling and Jimmy Jones’ pass on fourth down was incomplete. And then came the flag. Defensive back Danny Graham was called for pass interference on Sam Dickerson. First down for USC. Jones then found Dickerson for a 32-yard touchdown pass. “Tommy (Prothro) was never the same after that game,” a former UCLA assistant said.

1972--USC 24, UCLA 7: It was a memorable season for both teams, USC was 6-0 in conference and UCLA was 5-1. But USC had its eye on the national championship. The game turned out to be less memorable than the season. Anthony Davis ran for 178 yards. The Trojans finished the season beating Notre Dame and then Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. The national championship was once again theirs.

1973--USC 23, UCLA 13: UCLA came into the game with a new quarterback, John Sciarra, and the Bruins started a war of words. But with Pat Haden, Davis and Lynn Swann on the other side, it didn’t really matter. A month later, Bruin Coach Pepper Rodgers left for Georgia Tech, never beating USC in his three years at Westwood.

1974--USC 34, UCLA 9: Davis was the offensive star again, gaining 195 yards in 31 carries. Haden threw only eight passes. USC was on its way to its seventh Rose Bowl in nine years with its fifth consecutive victory over UCLA.

1976--USC 24, UCLA 14: It didn’t take but two years before UCLA Coach Dick Vermeil chose to go the Leonard Tose route, joining the Philadelphia Eagle owner as the team’s coach. Terry Donahue, 31, became the new Bruin coach. Across town, John Robinson had taken over for John McKay, who also left for the pros as coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Both new coaches seized the opportunity. UCLA entered the game 9-0-1 and ranked second, while USC was 8-1 and third. But when it came game time, things hadn’t changed all that much. USC, behind quarterback Vince Evans, took a 24-0 lead on its way to its sixth consecutive victory over UCLA.

1978--USC 17, UCLA 10: It was a lot like 1976, with USC jumping to a 17-0 lead and hanging on. The names had changed, though, with Paul McDonald at quarterback and Charles White at running back. The Trojans went on to beat Notre Dame--remember when that used to happen?--and Michigan in the Rose Bowl on White’s “phantom touchdown.” For the Trojans, another national championship.

1981--USC 22, UCLA 21: The Bruins were 7-2-1 and the Trojans 8-2. However, USC needed Washington and Washington State to tie to go to the Rose Bowl, while the Bruins only needed a win. It all came down to one play. The Bruins had the ball on the Trojan 29 with four seconds left. Norm Johnson came out to kick what would have been the winning field goal, but George Achica blocked the kick. Washington beat Washington State, 23-10, to go to the Rose Bowl, where it beat Iowa, 28-0.

1987--USC 17, UCLA 13: Almost a decade had passed before this game was once again for the Rose Bowl. UCLA looked like it couldn’t miss with a 9-1 record. The Bruins had a 10-0 lead with 14 seconds left in the first half when Trojan quarterback Rodney Peete was intercepted by Eric Turner, who had a seemingly clear path to the end zone. But Peete ran Turner out of bounds at the 11-yard line. USC rallied in the second half, but it was a controversial touchdown catch by Eric Affholter that gave the Trojans the game. Did Affholter have possession of the ball when he went out of bounds? Replays were inconclusive.

1988--USC 31, UCLA 22: USC was 9-0 and UCLA was 9-1. Additionally, the game was billed as Troy Aikman vs. Rodney Peete. The game is remembered more for Peete than Aikman, despite his 317 passing yards. Days before the game, Peete was sick and went into the hospital. The diagnosis: measles. Two days later he was back at practice. During the game, he was so exhausted he would take oxygen between series. At the end, it was the Bruins who were gasping for air.

Research for this story from “60 Years of USC-UCLA Football” by Times staff writers Steve Springer and Michael Arkush.