1973 UCLA vs USC

This is The 11/24/1973 UCLA vs USC game. UCLA was crushed in Tom Osborne's 1'st game at Nebraska but after that they destroyed all competition in their wake. USC was tied early in the season by Oklahoma and then lost a tough game at ND. Although neither team started great by the end of the year they were in that familiar position with a conference title and Rose Bowl bid on the line. This was a year I thought UCLA had a good chance to win the game but it wasn't to be. Mark Harmon and John Sciarra were excellent QB's but the coach Pepper Rodgers disdained the pass and against USC it was nearly impossible to win without a solid passing attack. I claim no rights.

[@ProjectBadass360]

Does anyone else feel like we really screwed up college football? The pageantry, the excitement for your conference teams and the rivalries, your team was good based on your states high school players with a few neighboring state recruits. Players were honored to play for their universities, no player transfers. Most kids stayed all the way through their senior year. Nowadays it’s all about money money money. Zero loyalty.

[@jamesthomas7405]

@@ProjectBadass360 Yes corporate media and flat out greed from lots of major universities have turned college football into something I'm not interested in following anymore. The final straw with me was the breakup of the Pac 12.

[@Tsip89]

As the son of a late former Div 1 player I could not agree more. CF was a big deal in our household in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Media saturation has created a homogenized, frankly boring, version of the game we once knew. I can't stand to watch it anymore. I'm approaching 20 years now of ignoring it completely. Just one example: does EVERY home team have to take the field in a cloud of dry ice for the TV camera? The very act of taking the field is dramatic w/o the stage props. And just look at this video: The ABC guys are SURPRISED when the teams take the field. Except for the pre-game introductions (which are understatedly presented), the TV camera was there as an OBSERVER back then, not as an active participant the festivities, unlike nowadays. There was also something very special about local traditions and neighborhood rivalries that the ESPN-ization of the game has killed over the past 35 years or so. Notice also how practically every school has some sort of "hand sign" nowadays? Before media saturation began in the late 80s, there was the "Hook 'em Horns" and no others, or very few others, as I recall. Homogenization driven by The Network Suits s*cks.

[@amazingmazur6752]

Money is truly the root of all evil. I have done well for myself and need for nothing. However, "more" money has never appealed to me. I just can't imagine being 70 years old with more money than I can spend and yet wanting more.

[@robertcooper5441]

Yes it's terrible. I used to love it and eagerly await the next season and now I really don't care anymore. I've no interest or personal connection to the players nor them to me, there's no connection...I might as well be watching a video game

[@Rick-29]

The transfer portal is a joke...

[@muffs55mercury61]

The great Keith Jackson calling the game. I miss those days of watching a great college game on Saturday afternoons and great callers in the broadcast booth. A little more than a year later, Lynn Swann would be playing in the Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Hey thanks for including the original commercials. !

[@pittsburghwill]

THE legendary voice of college football Keith Jackson 2nd to none

[@jeffcummins1408]

You can say that again. College football is NOT the same without him!

[@muffs55mercury61]

He was tops.

[@dallasbrubaker6054]

Whoa Nellie

[@ericwilliam1280]

Rest In Peace Keith Jackson

[@A1Pro77]

I remember spending all day watching those great Michigan-Ohio State and USC-UCLA games. Back when the game was pure and unfettered by media and a school’s utter greed. We are embarking on a totally new era now. I hardly recognize it.

[@TheRedDevil_NC]

Keith Jackson kept me glued to the TV during these games as a little kid growing up in So Cal. I saw so many sporting events at the Coliseum. Blessed beyond belief. College sports are a joke now.

[@ProjectBadass360]

Even the commercials seem so simple and relaxing. Now I am just sad….

[@jacksonj3082]

Both UCLA & USC - O Lines, RBs, & QBs - look so fast and quick.

[@alexlarams]

As a die-hard UCLA fan living in the upper Midwest, I grieve over this damn game to this very day. Bad enough that we lost this game but the fact that this great 1973 UCLA team didn't get to play in any bowl game is an utter travesty. Thought for sure it'd be UCLA and Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

[@jamesthomas7405]

Pac 8 and Big 10 had that stupid rule where only the conference champ plays in a bowl. UCLA was definitely deserving of a bowl game in 72-74.

[@alexlarams]

@@jamesthomas7405 Yep. Sadly, Michigan was caught in that dilemma too and nothing changed until 1975.

[@chevyguy6961]

Back then all the major bowl games were played on New Years Day, I think there were 5-6 games. That's why only the conference champ went to a bowl game.

[@viachicago]

@@chevyguy6961No, only the PAC 10 and Big Ten only allowed one team to play in a bowl, due to an agreement they made in 1946 with the Rose Bowl when that bowl switched to the PAC 10-Big Ten matchup.

[@JohnSmith-op1tc]

Glad to see "The Cupper," Lee Grosscup, who was the first round pick of the NY Giants the year after they lost the "Sudden Death" OT NFL championship to Baltimore. He didn't do very much as a passer in the pros but got into TV in the Big Apple and was a solid color commentator. I remember thinking as a teenager that Mark Harmon's passing numbers weren't much. He's still had quite a life!

[@34bg13]

College football was my favorite watching like this- none crazy pregame, straight football,

[@Bigeazy87]

USC receiver Lynn Swann would finish 4 of the next 6 seasons with the Super Bowl trophy. In the 4th, 14 miles to the Northeast, his Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowl XIV over the Los Angeles Rams. Swann's college QB, Pat Haden, was injured as his backup Vince Ferragamo led a Cinderella run by the Rams to a near upset of Pittsburgh.

[@peterwhite507]

UCLA center Randy Cross would move on to San Fran and get 3 Super Bowls himself.

[@Bigeazy87]

@@peterwhite507 Absolutely!

[@dennisproulx3215]

So weird to see ucla in a wishbone. The qb Harmon is a TV star.

[@starguy2718]

He wasn't nearly as good a player as his dad was, who won the Heisman Trophy at Michigan.

[@shawnflanagan4995]

ya' think?

[@yeildo1492]

Norm Anderson...UCLA #89.... the most 70s looking guy ever! Nice wink, buddy!

[@jamesfields2916]

I was smitten and I'm a dude. Lol.

[@yeildo1492]

@@jamesfields2916 No kidding! I imagine ol' Norm did pretty well with the coeds.....

[@jamesfields2916]

@@yeildo1492 Just pulled up his biography. Pretty solid guy. One year on the Bears and then a college coach at UCLA,Iowa State(OC) and Arizona. HC and athletic director at Fillmore HS for 24 years.

[@yeildo1492]

@@jamesfields2916 Nice to hear. Thanks for the info.

[@reubenblanco3021]

Norm Anderson finally got to let his hair grow after playing for Anaheim High.

[@dallasbrubaker6054]

Both teams wore the home uniforms

[@kaleidoscopex7213]

7:48 Mark Harmon the actor!?!?! I never knew he was a division 1 starting QB let alone for ucla

[@aztrojanfan]

His Dad was a good player too …Harmon

[@shawnflanagan4995]

ya' think dinozzo?

[@green_guardian5]

Yep, that's him. His dad won the Heisman. Tom Harmon

[@christophersims3319]

My Dad and grandpa were there, and probably my mom too but she doesn’t remember. My mom is still with us but my Dad and Grandpa are long gone. When the camera passes over where I know they are I feel oddly close to them. They had the same seats until the earthquake renovation in the 90’s. Tunnel 9 row 63 some of the best memories of my childhood right there.

[@svetcovladich9996]

Wow...Outstanding picture quality!

[@dstreck9]

That loss to Nebraska was Tom Osborne’s first as the Husker head coach.

[@Tsip89]

Good Lord I miss this era of college football. Fewer televised games; MUCH less media-created hype; any one televised game was a big deal. One wasn't flooded with "Directional State U. vs. BFE Tech"-type games on TV back in those days.

[@muffs55mercury61]

And very limited bowl games. The teams had to be top dog and not be allowed to play a bowl game with a 6-5 record.

[@Tsip89]

@@muffs55mercury61 Yep. When being 'bowl bound' meant something.

[@Hemlock54]

Man, those old horse collars… Brings back memories.

[@8avexp]

You can clearly see the field was shifted to the east for this game. Keith Jackson even commented on that at one point. Two days earlier, Jackson was in South Bend to call the Notre Dame-Air Force game.

[@dcaa62817]

I did notice that. Do you know why this was done?

[@8avexp]

@@dcaa62817 In the 60s and 70s, they would shift the field all the way to the closed end and install end zone bleachers in front of the peristyle in an effort to reduce seating capacity. They would remove the bleachers for the annual USC-UCLA game and leave them out every two years when Notre Dame came to town the following week. They were also removed for Super Bowl I. But it wasn't until the early 70s that the field would be shifted over when the bleachers were taken out. In the 60s, the field was left in place at the closed end.

[@tommyparkerparker]

Thanksgiving weekend.

[@8avexp]

@@tommyparkerparker ABC tried something radically new that weekend. They called it a Thanksgiving weekend football jubilee, or something close to it. At least two games apiece on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It's the norm today, but back then, it was football overload for many.

[@DNSKansas]

Referee Charles Moffett would officiate a much more famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) game nine years later and 378 miles to the north

[@starguy2718]

The one where the Stanford trombone player made the highlight reel?

[@LawrenceRoss1906]

Famous! Go Bears!

[@TOMCAT5.5149]

The best of college football!!

[@armybeef68]

3:43 That children is a VHS VCR tape, and we had to deal with that on a regular basis.

[@bradtaylor4765]

The stands were full back then. It seems like nobody cares out there anymore. This was a classic rivalry which seems to have lost it's luster of late. I went to one of these games back in the 80s from way across the country.

[@nathaniellathy6559]

This USC team wasn't up to the level of 72 and 74 teams. Still they were good.

[@davidgoldin2577]

So hard to keep the drive the year after winning a championship. Still a lot of stars in 1973, but loses included Charles Young, Pete Adams, and John Grant. They did tie Oklahoma 7-7 in Norman, and that's no small feat.

[@69FOSTER]

@@davidgoldin2577 That 7-7 tie with Oklahoma was at the L.A. Coliseum in 1973.

[@davidgoldin2577]

@69FOSTER yup, I stand corrected.

[@chrismcdonald4819]

Try and find anyone today that can match Keith Jackson in the booth!

[@patschiltz-nq5yi]

Great days ... USC was loaded in those days

[@mikeyposs3132]

@@patschiltz-nq5yi loaded? Jimmy Jones?😊😊

[@rickturner9346]

Liked the player intros...

[@GVike]

Did anyone then think Harmon would end up a Hollywood/TV actor?

[@wiedep]

Holiday Inn ad with Kiel Martin in light jacket and possibly Ayn Ruymen in turtleneck.

[@TomSmith-io9uk]

Future All American Ricky Bell 4th or 5th team tailback made a tackle on special teams.

[@williamdunphy352]

Commentators: Keith Jackson & Lee Grosscup.

[@crgray1979]

@ 7:46 Mr Schoop playing QB for the bruins

[@stephaniegormley9982]

Good eye. And isn't that Eric Bana siting next to Keith Jackson.

[@bryankolen7265]

No that was Lee Grosscup former quarterback.

[@wildforthecats661]

James McAlister, went on to play for the Eagles and the Pats.

[@davidgoldin2577]

​@@wildforthecats661 isn't the Baltimore Ravens Chris McAllister his son?

[@wildforthecats661]

@@davidgoldin2577 Correct.

[@JeffreyWilliams-dr7qe]

Townie from Breaking Away?

[@jamessimms415]

Just got through reading an article on Mark Harmon, then this pops up in my YT feed.

[@mylittlepitbull3143]

My friend Ron played in that 1965 game

[@TOMCAT5.5149]

Best commercials ever!!!

[@sydIRISH]

Why did dudes look so much older back then? These guys look 32.

[@jeanrobert7071]

Yah 💯 I'm tellin Ya & a few of em were like goin Bald as well, like it was their last year in the NFL & gonna retire at the end of the season.

[@thenorthstars2210]

Most of them were in their early 30's. Back then, it was difficult to make it into the NFL. So guys stayed in college for 20 years.

[@mathaddict59]

Efren Herrera, great placekicker, future Dallas Cowboy.

[@procopiojrpalacios9702]

...Seattle Seahawk, Buffalo Bill and Oklahoma Outlaw of USFL. My college roommate and buddy for over 50 years...

[@KenCostlow]

Is this the game where some of the UCLA players wore rose 🌹 buttons on their shoes?

[@BMG19FUNNYDIE]

At quarterback from Los Angeles number 7 Freddy Shoop!

[@mikeyposs3132]

UCLA was better but out coached! McKay knew the Bruins couldn't pass and played exclusively the run!

[@richarddean6735]

Apparently they werent better, they lost and didnt even go to a bowl.

[@mikeyposs3132]

@@richarddean6735 there were no bowls for pac 8 schools besides the Rose Bowl in 1973!

[@richarddean6735]

@@mikeyposs3132 lol, of which the Bruins did not make it to.

[@Loydstardeli2017]

❤️ usc& ucla fight song

[@jeanrobert7071]

Ahhhh Yah 💯 as a Bruin Grad, '84-'88 & round II '97-'01(After the Army) I of course a Die Hard Alum Bruin 4 Life Fan, this was a tough loss for the Bruins, even though I was in 3rd Grade, I remember my dad & uncle were watching this game with my cousins that were older,(Mark & Diane, who are Trojan Alums) The Ohio St. Buckeyes went on to beat the Trojans in the 60th Rose Bowl 42-21🏈🏈👏👏

[@frankcivitak8248]

Hall of fame sports

[@kevinkerstiens5856]

Agreed, it all seemed.simpler,

[@pittsburghwill]

efferon herrera west covina high school sparten

[@Mark-sj3xb]

Jethro Gibbs at QB

[@dwaynecoy1871]

What kind of nonsense was going on with USC's "starting lineup"? They introduced some offense, some defense, and even a punter. Ridiculous.

[@richarddean6735]

That was a seniors introduction, not starting line up, Jackson mentions shortly after.

[@dwaynecoy1871]

@@richarddean6735 - ya, I missed Keith's part. That does make sense since this was the last game of the year.

[@AlexVanHalen_tribute]

OH NEEELLLY!!!!!!

[@damrgee8279]

Awesome

[@Lfg117]

🔥

[@stevenfarley4738]

Gibbs!!

[@paulmicheldenverco1]

Coaches shouldn't give scholarships to their own children because of suspicion of favoritism.

[@ickyray3481]

fUCLA