PERFECT 10

We made a list, checked it twice, but that doesn’t mean it’s your list or that it’s right.

Whittling a list of most memorable college football moments in L.A. to 10 is like judging a beauty contest.

So, before you fire off that letter to the editor, allow us to help you get a few things off your chest.

Dear leather head: How can any list not include UCLA’s shocking win over Michigan State in the 1966 Rose Bowl? Teed off in Westwood.

Dear (Baby) Boomer: You are obviously too young or dumb to remember that the 1932 USC team coached by Howard Jones finished 10-0 and allowed 13 points all season. Regards, the Thunderin’ Herd.

Hey, homer: just because the game didn’t involve UCLA or USC doesn’t mean the 1997 Rose Bowl between Arizona State and Ohio State shouldn’t rank in your top 10: Jake, the Snake.

Where were you when John Barnes beat USC in 1992?

What were you smoking when Norm Dow beat USC in 1966?

What about USC’s 18-17 win over Ohio State in the 1975 Rose Bowl?

Dir Sir: Writing to inform you that Notre Dame’s famed “Four Horsemen” last rode against Stanford in the 1925 Rose Bowl--Regards. Mr. Ed.

Northwestern’s Cinderella return to the 1996 Rose Bowl absolutely should have made your lede! (-30-) “Assn. of NW sportswriters of America.”

There.

Feel better?

Now, the list:

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10. THE BENCH WARMER

1939 Rose Bowl

USC 7, Duke 3

Duke was unbeaten, untied, and leading USC, 3-0, late in the game when Trojan coach Howard Jones screamed, “Nave!”

Nave was junior Doyle Nave, a fourth-string quarterback who had logged 28 minutes all season before being called upon to save the Rose Bowl.

Jones put Nave in the game on a hunch and told him, “Get the ball to Krueger.”

Nice hunch.

Nave completed four consecutive passes to end “Antelope” Al Krueger, the last a 19-yard scoring pass in the final minute that wrecked Duke’s undefeated season.

A few years later, while serving in the Navy during World War II, Nave ran into Dan Hill, captain and star center on Duke’s Rose Bowl team.

“When I came into the game, did you have any idea I was going to pass?” Nave asked Hill.

“Hell no,” Hill replied. “We didn’t even know who you were!”

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9. THE OVERTIME(S)

Nov. 23, 1996

UCLA 48, USC 41

There was nothing to indicate this matchup of mediocre teams would produce such high drama.

But a new wrinkle in NCAA rules, overtime, allowed for one of the greatest finishes in the history of the rivalry.

Holding a 17-point lead with five minutes left, the Trojans were on the verge of breaking a five-game losing streak against the Bruins before a finish then-USC Coach John Robinson could only describe as “nightmarish.”

Even after UCLA tailback Skip Hicks’ 11-yard run with 39 seconds left had tied the score, 38-38, USC had a chance to win in regulation, but Travis Kirscke blocked Adam Abram’s field-goal attempt.

After the teams exchanged field goals in the first overtime, UCLA took first possession in the second and Hicks scored on a brilliant 25-yard run. USC had a chance to send the game to a third overtime, but UCLA’s Anthony Cobbs intercepted backup quarterback Matt Koffler’s fourth-down pass in the end zone.

Wrote Times’ columnist Mike Downey, “It was about as good as a game of college football can get. . . . When it was over, UCLA’s Hicks stood with USC’s Daylon McCutcheon on the field, shaking hands, talking about what had just happened.

“Thousands of people will do the same, for many years to come.’

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8. THE SHOOTOUT

Nov. 17, 1990

USC 45, UCLA 42

It must have been fate that pitted USC’s Todd Marinovich against UCLA’s Tommy Maddox in the Rose Bowl, since neither quarterback in this fable began the season as the starter.

Pat O’Hara was set to be Rodney Peete’s successor at USC but broke his leg in training camp at UC Irvine, ushering in the era of Marinovich, a red-headed, redshirt freshman.

In Westwood, quarterback Bret Johnson quit the team and transferred to Michigan State after learning that Jim Bond had been named the starter. But Bond couldn’t hold off another redshirt freshman, Maddox.

So Marinovich vs. Maddox it became--bombs bursting in air.

The 87 points were the most scored in the series to that point, the teams combining for 42 in an unforgettable last quarter.

UCLA thought it had ended things with 1:19 left when Kevin Smith’s one-yard run put the Bruins up, 42-38.

But UCLA left too much clock for Marinovich who, with a couple of flicks of his left wrist, moved the Trojans from their 23 to the Bruin 23, with 26 ticks left.

Marinovich strode to the line with eyes locked on receiver Johnnie Morton. Bruin cornerback Dion Lambert shook his head at Marinovich, a don’t-you-dare stare.

UCLA had Morton double covered, but Lambert fell on the play, leaving Morton one on one with safety Michael Williams. Marinovich lofted a pass to the left corner of the end zone that only Morton could catch.

Marinovich, knocked flat on his back, never saw the play end, but the crowd reaction told the story.

Maddox threw for a school-record 409 yards and three touchdowns; Marinovich was a tidier 16 for 25 for 215 yards and two scores.

UCLA finished the year 5-6. USC advanced to the John Hancock Bowl.

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7. THAT PERFECT SEASON

UCLA, 1954

It opened with a 67-0 rout of San Diego Navy and ended with a 34-0 rout of USC. The 1954 UCLA Bruins, coached by Henry R. “Red” Sanders, finished 9-0 and claimed the school’s only football national championship.

UCLA actually shared the title, winning it according to the United Press International coaches’ poll, finishing second to Ohio State in the Associated Press writers’ poll.

Sanders’ best team, led by All- Americans Jack Ellena, Jim Salsbury, Bob Davenport and Primo Villaneuva, has held up well over time.

The 1954 Bruins still rank first in school history in rushing defense, 659 yards; total defense, 1,708 yards, and scoring defense, 40 points. The team’s 40.8-point average ranks second.

The ’54 Bruins led the nation in scoring offense and scoring defense, allowing only 4.4 points a game.

The only “scare” that year occurred at Washington on Oct. 9, when UCLA nearly lost a 21-0 lead, holding on for a 21-20 victory after the Husky kicker had missed the extra point that would have tied the score.

Because of the “no repeat” rule, however, the Bruins were not allowed to play in the 1955 Rose Bowl.

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6. THE COMEBACK (ALMOST)

Jan. 1, 1963

USC 42, Wisconsin 37

John McKay made his Rose Bowl coaching debut, USC won the game and the national title, but Wisconsin stole the memories, rallying from a 42-14 deficit to nearly pull off the impossible.

“We probably got more notoriety for losing than Southern Cal did for winning,” said Badger Athletic Director Pat Richter, who played in the game.

With Pete Beathard throwing four touchdown passes, USC had a 28-point fourth-quarter lead when Wisconsin quarterback Ron VanderKelen got hot. The Badgers scored 23 fourth-quarter points and had the ball on their 40-yard line when time ran out.

VanderKelen set Rose Bowl records with 33 completions, 48 passes and 401 yards passing. Richter caught 11 passes for 163 yards.

Because of the 66 passes thrown, the game extended into semi-darkness under Rose Bowl lights that were not state of the art.

Wrote columnist Jim Murray of the game: “It was only slightly less long than the War of 1812 (which didn’t end until 1815). If it had lasted one more quarter, they would have run into next year’s Rose Bowl traffic.”

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5. THE CORONATION

Jan. 1, 1973

USC 42, Ohio State 17

The 1973 Rose Bowl was about posterity, not points. USC’s wipeout win over Woody Hayes & Co. was merely an exclamation point for perhaps history’s most dominant college football team.

The 1972 USC Trojans finished 12-0 and became the first team ever to receive unanimous first-place votes in both the AP and UPI polls.

The ’72 Trojans scored 40 or more points in seven of the victories and allowed one touchdown or fewer in seven games.

USC’s closest game was a 30-21 squeaker against Stanford.

The Trojans were stocked with a garrison of stars--Sam Cunningham, Charles Young, Anthony Davis, Mike Rae, Pat Haden, Lynn Swann, Richard Wood.

The ’73 Rose Bowl was tied at the half, 7-7, but USC scored on its first five second-half possessions, turning the game into a rout.

At one point in the wipeout, an irate Hayes threw his glasses on the ground and stomped on them, only to have a trainer immediately hand him another pair.

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4. VEER-MEIL

Jan. 1, 1976

UCLA 23, Ohio State 10

There was nothing more enjoyable for a California kid than watching Woody Hayes get his comeuppance.

In 1955, Hayes’ first Rose Bowl trip, he ripped West Coast football as inferior and complained about the USC band tearing up the stadium turf.

In 1973, Hayes sent L.A. Times’ photographer Art Rogers to the hospital before the game when he jammed Rogers’ camera into his face.

That’s what made 1976 so sweet. ..TE: UCLA had no business winning. Ohio State was 11-0, ranked No. 1, had crushed the Bruins earlier in the season, 41-20, and was led by two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin.

Trailing at the half, 3-0, UCLA coach Dick Vermeil scrapped the game plan and went for broke, unleashing quarterback John Sciarra, receiver Wally Henry and tailback Wendell Tyler on the Buckeyes. The Bruins blitzed the Buckeyes, 16-0, in the third quarter and Tyler clinched the game with a 54-yard, fourth-quarter run.

Sciarra and Henry teamed on scoring plays of 16 and 67 yards and Sciarra was named the game’s most valuable player.

The game cost Ohio State the national title and ranked as one of Hayes’ most bitter defeats.

Pity.

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3. WRONG WAY ROY

Jan. 1, 1929

Georgia Tech 8, California 7

What a way to go through life.

On New Year’s day, 1929, 10 months before the stock market crashed, California center Roy Riegels had a Bear of a day in the Rose Bowl.

The setup: Georgia Tech had the ball on its own 20 early in the second quarter when Stumpy Thomason circled left end and was nailed by Bear defensive back Benny Lom. The ball bounced loose and Riegels, an All-Coast center, picked it up at the 35, took one step toward the Tech goal line and inexplicably whirled around and raced toward his own end zone.

Lom chased Riegels down and tackled him at the Cal one, and the play became historic only when Lom’s ensuing punt was blocked for a safety, the difference in an 8-7 Georgia Tech victory.

“I just bounced out with the ball, saw a pair of goal posts and headed for them,” Riegels said after the game.

Riegels rebounded to play a sensational game, and was named captain on Cal’s 1929 team that finished 7-1-1, but the “Wrong Way Roy” tag haunted him for years.

“Dad used to get quite upset when people would come up to him and say, ‘Hello, Wrong Way,”’ Riegels’ son, David, told The Times in 1991.

Riegels coached high school ball before joining the Army Air Corps in World War II. After the war, he became sales manager for a Sacramento cannery and later went into the fertilizer business.

In 1991, at 83, Riegels was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame. He was wheelchair-bound and afflicted with Parkinson’s disease, but received a thunderous ovation when his name was announced.

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2. THE COMEBACK

Nov. 30, 1974

USC 55, Notre Dame 24

Fifty-five points in 17 minutes?

Michael Jordan never scored 55 points in 17 minutes.

But in arguably the greatest comeback in sports history, USC turned the scoreboard upside down and beat Notre Dame, 55-24.

USC trailed at one point, 24-0, against the nation’s top-ranked defense and was down 24-6 at the half. Then tailback Anthony Davis, two yards deep in his own zone, returned the second-half kickoff 102 yards for a touchdown, igniting Davis’ famous post-touchdown knee dance and the Coliseum crowd.

USC scored 35 points in the third quarter and 14 more in the fourth to finish off the Irish. Davis scored twice on short runs while quarterback Pat Haden threw to receiver Johnny McKay on touchdown passes of 18, 45 and 45 yards.

It was a game in which the winners were as dumbfounded as the losers.

“I can’t understand it,” McKay, son of Coach John McKay, said. “I’m gonna sit down tonight and have a beer and think about it. Against Notre Dame? Maybe against Kent State. But Notre Dame?”

Sport magazine ranked the comeback the No. 6 college football moment of the 20th century.

USC went on to beat Ohio State in the 1975 Rose Bowl, 18-17, and earned a share of the national title.

In August of 1997, in an mock trial for charity, members of the Notre Dame Club of Los Angeles convicted Anthony Davis of “high crimes and misdemeanors” against the Irish.

Davis scored 10 touchdowns in victories over Notre Dame in 1972 and ’74.

State Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren, a Notre Dame grad, prosecuted the case.

As “punishment” Davis was sentenced to watch replays of Notre Dame-USC football games from 1983 to ‘95, a stretch of 14 games in which USC went winless against the Irish.

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1. THE GAME

Nov. 18, 1967

USC 21, UCLA 20

The message on the USC chalk board said it all: “Let’s vow to make this a game that will forever be etched in the memories of those who will be fortunate enough to view it.”

Etched, it was.

Fortunate, we were.

The game at the Coliseum will live as the centerpiece of this fabled cross-town series.

At stake that day were the city championship, the Pac-8 title, a Rose Bowl berth, the Heisman Trophy, the national title and one run for the ages, “23 Blast.”

UCLA (7-0-1) was No. 1 in the country, USC (8-1) was No. 3 in the UPI poll, No. 4 in AP after a 3-0 loss at mud-sloshed Oregon State the previous week.

UCLA quarterback Gary Beban put the Bruins on top with a second-half scoring pass, but kicker Zenon Andrusyshyn’s missed extra point left it a 20-14 game.

Then, with a little less than 11 minutes remaining, USC had third and seven from its 36. It happened.

USC quarterback Toby Page hunched over center, set to throw a pass to Ron Drake. But when Page saw double coverage on Drake, he changed the play to a run.

The run.

O.J. Simpson, exhausted after having just returned a kickoff, muttered to himself, “That’s a horrible call” before bursting between tackle Mike Taylor and guard Steve Lehmer. Fullback Dan Scott threw the clearing block, on UCLA linebacker Don Manning, and Simpson was gone, hop-stepping to his left at the 40 and out-racing the Bruins on a 64-yard romp for a touchdown.

The Bruins had chances to take back the lead, but USC blocked two field goal tries by Andrusyshyn to preserve the 21-20 win.

USC then beat Indiana in the Rose Bowl to clinch the national title.

Beban, despite the loss, edged Simpson for the Heisman Trophy, 1,968 points to 1,722.

Times’ columnist Jim Murray wrote of the game:

“It was more fun than watching Sophia Loren getting ready for bed with the shades up.”