Something perhaps a bit unusual for Past Daily, even though I’ve had a lot of requests for Sports broadcasts over the years, but since this is New Years (or New Years Eve where you are) we’re definitely keeping with the holiday spirit. The Rose Bowl game for New Years Day 1955 where USC met Ohio State during one of the rare soggy New Years days in Southern California history.
For a rundown on what happened, best to consult those who were actually there and who reported it at the time.
Paul Zimmerman’s eye-witness account of the game for January 2, 1955 for the L.A. Times:
“Sure-footed Ohio State found the quagmire of the Rose Bowl to its extreme liking yesterday as the Buckeyes splashed their way to an impressive 20-to-7 victory over Southern California before 89,191 rain-drenched spectators. A steady downpour that started two hours before the opening kickoff presented probably the worst playing conditions in the 41-game history of the classic.
Coach Woody Hayes’ Big Ten champions didn’t seem to mind it at all as they knocked off huge chunks of yardage and kept the Trojan attack well throttled except for Aramis Dandoy’s sparkling 86-yard punt return for a touchdown that put Southern California back in the game briefly in the second quarter.
The Buckeyes held a 14-to-7 halftime lead and while they could score only once more in the second half the facts are that Ohio State fell only slightly short, on a variety of other occasions.
Where Coach Jess Hill’s lads found the football as slippery as a watermelon seed, the invaders were able to cling to it like it had handles, and in the final analysis this was the greatest victory factor. It was a workmanlike job turned in by skilled football artisans and there was little doubt from the opening kick-Turn off that the Pacific Coast Conference representative was in ior a lacing.
Drives of 77, 68 and 35 yards resulted in Ohio State’s three touchdowns with Dave Legett, the Buckeye quarter-back playing the feature role.
He scored the first touch-down on a 3-yard plunge on the second play of the second quarter: threw a 21-yard pass to Bob Watkins for the second only a half dozen plays later ana flipped a pitchout to Jerry Harkrader for a 9-yard scoring run in the final period.
Leggett, ably assisted by a fine line and a handful of great backs Howard Cassady and WatKins to name perhaps the best – quickly served notice as to Ohio State’s intention.
The statistics told the cruel story of Ohio dominance. The Buckeyes gathered 305 yards running and 65 more on six completed passes in 11 attempts. Southern California had a net of 177 yards running 29 more on three passes out of eight thrown. The figures on fumbles were the most revealing of the statistics. The Trojans bobbled the ball seven times, lost it on three of these occasions and Ohio State was guilty of only one fumble through the entire rain-swept game.”
The game was broadcast over NBC Radio and carried in Los Angeles by KFI. Here’s the complete broadcast as announced by Al Helfer for that New Years Day in 1955 as it happened, warts and all (the tape get a little buggy in places, but it’s 68 years old . . .so cut it some slack).
Enjoy:
