You Have to Be Hardy to Keep Up This Streak

USC will be seeking its 35th consecutive victory in Wednesday’s Rose Bowl game. And former Trojan quarterback Jim Hardy has a streak of his own going.

Hardy, who will attend the game against Texas, has been at every Rose Bowl game except one since 1930. He missed the 1942 game, played in Durham, N.C., because of World War II.

Hardy’s streak includes two games he played in. He threw three touchdown passes in USC’s 29-0 victory over Washington in 1943, and passed for two scores and ran for one in USC’s 25-0 victory over Tennessee in 1944.

Hardy, 82, a former general manager of the Coliseum who lives in La Quinta, has fond memories from his childhood. He even knows the jersey numbers of USC stars in the Trojans’ 35-0 victory over Pittsburgh in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 1933.

“Cotton Warburton wore No. 13 and Orv Mohler No. 24,” Hardy says without hesitation.

Trivia time: Who is the only player to win a Rose Bowl most-valuable-player award and a Super Bowl MVP award?

Another long memory: Former USC end Paul Salata, who caught one of Hardy’s touchdown passes in the 1945 Rose Bowl game, claims he should have had two touchdown receptions in that game.

A newspaper photograph shows that referee Jim Tunney Sr. erred when he ruled Salata out of bounds on what should have been a touchdown reception.

To this day, Salata carries a copy of that photograph in his wallet.

Another old-timer: Lee Alexander, who turned 51 on Dec. 21, may be the oldest person ever to play in a college football game.

Alexander, who handles calls and works as an engineer for radio station KPCC-FM, on the Pasadena City College campus, is also a student at the junior college and a member of the Lancer football team.

At 50, he got into three home games as a linebacker this season. Before that, he hadn’t played competitive football since his senior year at Northside High in Memphis, Tenn., in 1971.

It is believed the oldest college football player at a four-year school was Tim Frisby, who was 39 when he was a receiver for South Carolina in 2004.

Frisby was called “Pops” by his teammates. Alexander said his teammates at PCC called him “Uncle Lee” or “Old School.”

Looking back: On this day in 2003, the Miami Hurricanes’ winning streak was stopped at 34 by Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. With a 31-24 double-overtime victory, the Buckeyes won their first national championship in 34 years.

Trivia answer: Jim Plunkett with Stanford in 1971 and the Oakland Raiders in 1981.

And finally: The field goal by Jamie Christensen that gave Alabama a 13-10 victory over Texas Tech in Monday’s Cotton Bowl was a low, spinning line drive that barely cleared the crossbar.

Said Terry Donahue, the commentator on the Fox telecast: “It doesn’t have to be pretty, it only has to be good.”

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.