Simpson could hack it

In the heat of passion during his 1968 Heisman year, USC running back slashes through UCLA

By TRACY BLOOM
Contributing Writer
Nearly every accolade and prestigious honor was on the line 33 years ago when the No. 4 USC Trojans took on their crosstown rivals, the No. 1 UCLA Bruins in the Coliseum.

The game was a showcase of two of the top players in the country, as UCLA quarterback Gary Beban would go on to win the Heisman Trophy a month after the game, while USC tailback O.J. Simpson would win the prestigious award in 1968.

Yet in 1967, it was Simpson's Trojans who would out duel Beban's Bruins in what is often referred to as the best game ever in the crosstown rivalry.

Aside from the Heisman Trophy, the Pacific 8 Conference title, a Rose Bowl appearance and a National Championship were also at stake.

A relatively pedestrian game until the final quarter, UCLA took the lead when Beban threw a touchdown pass to put the Bruins up, 20-14, with about 11 minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

Shortly thereafter, USC would break off its own play that would go down in Trojan football lore as "the run," but little did people know that the play was never supposed to happen.

USC quarterback Toby Page had actually called for a pass play on that down and was set over center when he realized that his intended target, Ron Drake, had drawn double coverage.

Page audibled to a "23-blast" a run play that called for Simpson to get the ball.

"I almost went into motion," Simpson would say later, "because I wanted to say, ŚNot only am I tired, but that's a horrible call.'"

From the USC 36-yard line, Simpson would make Page's call look ingenious, as he weaved, spun and danced his way in, around and through would-be-tacklers, running elusively over the Coliseum grass and into the endzone.

The 64-yard touchdown with 10:38 left in the fourth quarter set up the winning extra point by Rikki Aldridge, as the Trojans would take a lead they would never relinquish.

However, the Bruins still had one more shot to defeat the Trojans. Down 21-20, UCLA kicker Zenon Andrusyshyn was set to kick the winning field goal, a 42-yarder that was easily within range.

But the kick never even had a chance, as Bill Hayhoe, a 6-foot-8 defensive end, easily blocked the low kick as USC would hold on to shock the Bruins in a close 21-20 victory.

The win catapulted the Trojans to a national championship, as they defeated Indiana in the 1968 Rose Bowl, 14-3.

The Bruins, meanwhile, never fully recovered from the stunning defeat; they dropped their next game to Syracuse, 32-14, and finished the season ranked 10th in the polls.

Copyright 2000 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 141, No. 56 (Thursday, November 16, 2000), on page 19.