As the decade advanced, all eyes shifted to Los Angeles. Prothro returned to UCLA in 1965 and installed a sophomore quarterback named Gary Beban. Along with running back Mel Farr, Beban led the Bruins to the Rose Bowl and an upset victory over second- ranked Michigan State. UCLA remained strong for the next two seasons, but ran into stiff resistance from its old crosstown rival, USC. The Trojans had been relatively quiet for the previous two decades, but that started to change in 1960, when they hired John McKay as head coach. McKay’s philosophy was simple: Find a good runner and hand off to him as frequently as possible.
McKay found a worthy back in Mike Garrett, who led the AAWU in rushing three straight years. In the last of those seasons, 1965, Garrett ran for an NCAA-best 1,440 yards and became the fi rst player from his conference to win the Heisman Trophy. UCLA’s Beban would be the second, in 1967. The runner-up that year was Garrett’s successor at USC, the incomparable Simpson. That November, the two schools—the only major college football rivals to reside in the same city—faced off in what many consider the greatest game in the storied series. The top-ranked Bruins went up 20–14, but a missed extra point haunted them when Simpson cut back for a 64-yard touchdown run with
10:38
left. The PAT gave the Trojans a 21–20 victory and a Rose Bowl berth. O. J. Simpson won his own Heisman the fol- lowing season.
Before McKay left after the 1975 season, his teams went 127–40–8, col- lected four national cham- pionships, and played in eight Rose Bowls. And his conference would change names, dumping the unwieldy AAWU moniker in favor of the Pacifi c-8 in 1968. The USC squads from 1972 to 1974 were loaded with talent. They won three consecutive conference titles and went 31–3–2, facing Ohio State in three straight Rose Bowls and winning twice. In fact, McKay’s teams might have formed an unbroken Pac-8 dynasty were it not for two men up at Stanford: John Ralston and Jim Plunkett.
Gary Beban 24
Terry Baker
Stanford hired Ralston as head coach in 1963, and by 1970 he had the best quarterback in the nation in Plunkett. The poised QB directed a shocking 27–17 victory over No. 2 Ohio State—Stanford’s fi rst win in the Rose Bowl in 30 seasons—won the Heisman Tro- phy, and, backed by the fearsome “Thunderchickens” defense, pulled off another Rose Bowl upset, this time over Michigan. Across San Francisco Bay, Cal got things going in 1975 behind a star quarterback of its own, Joe Roth. The Gold- en Bears led the nation in offense, averaging 458.6 yards per game, and shared the Pac-8 title. Sadly, the immensely talented Roth was claimed by cancer in February of 1977. West Coast football came of age in 1978 when the Pac-8 added Arizona and Arizona State and became the Pac-10. Both schools came equipped with im- pressive football reputations. Under leg-
FOOTBALL FACT
Players in the College Football Hall of Fame
102
George Long/Getty Images
Oregon State University
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