1966: UCLA, 14 vs. Michigan State, 12

Conventional wisdom said UCLA had no business anywhere near a New Year’s Day bowl game, much less the Rose Bowl. The same chapter of conventional wisdom said the Bruins had no business taking the same field as the mighty Michigan State Spartans, who entered the 53rd Rose Bowl Game ranked No. 1 in the country.

As has been the case in so many instances through the years, conventional wisdom was stopped cold – much as Michigan State’s Bob Apisa was stopped cold by UCLA defensive back Bob Stiles on his two-point conversion try with 31 seconds remaining.

The stop not only knocked Stiles cold, but preserved the Bruins’ 14-12 victory over Michigan State, spoiling the Spartans’ bid for an unbeaten season, giving UCLA its first Rose Bowl Game victory in six tries, as well as a nickname that has recycled itself over the years: the “Gutty Little Bruins.”

“I’ve said right along a bowl game is like a season in itself,” Michigan State Coach Duffy Daugherty said. “UCLA has improved greatly and that’s to their credit.”

When you get down to it, it certainly was here, because that crucial late stop was emblematic of what this game was about. Apisa was one of the most powerful backs in the country, a 225-pound sledgehammer who pounded would-be tacklers as casually as he took his next step.

Stiles? He weighed a lofty 150 pounds. But just when it looked like Apisa would get the corner and fall into the end zone, Stiles threw himself at the shoulders of the Samoan back, spinning him around and knocking Apisa down at the half-yard line.

The game’s MVP, Stiles never heard the cheers from most of the 100,087 filling the Rose Bowl, because when he stopped Apisa cold, he was knocked cold.

Stiles wasn’t the only one knocked senseless by the outcome.

“Yes, I was brainwashed into thinking we could win,” UCLA Coach Tommy Prothro said.

The first coach to take two different schools to Rose Bowl Games – he piloted Oregon State to the 1965 game – Prothro and his players were probably the only ones. Michigan State opened as a 14-point favorite, with one of its 10 victories being a tough, 13-3 beating of UCLA in the 1965 season opener.

Three months and exponentially raised stakes later, UCLA romped out to a 14-0 halftime lead, recovering a muffed punt inside the Spartans’ 5-yard line that Bruins’ quarterback Gary Beban turned into a 1-yard touchdown. UCLA’s second score came after Dallas Grider recovered a surprise onside kick on the Michigan State 42.

Beban parlayed that into another score, hitting Kurt Altenbeg between three defenders on a 27-yard pass that took the Bruins to the Michigan State 1. Beban crashed in on the next play.

Michigan State held the ball for nearly the entire fourth quarter, scoring its first touchdown on Apisa’s 38-yard run and its second on a 1-yard run by quarterback Steve Juday.

With that play, cue Stiles and Apisa. And while you’re at it, leave out the conventional wisdom.

Attendance
100,087

Weather
Clear and sunny; 65 degrees

Scoring
Second Quarter
UCLA – Beban, 1-yard run (Zimmerman kick good)
UCLA – Beban, 1-yard run (Zimmerman kick good)

Fourth Quarter
MSU – Apisa, 38-yard run (Juday’s pass for 2-point conversion failed)
MSU – Juday, 1-yard run (Apisa’s run for a 2-point conversion failed)

Coaches
UCLA: Tommy Prothro
Michigan State: Duffy Daugherty

Fun Fact
UCLA coach Tommy Prothro became the first coach to take two different schools to the Rose Bowl Game, and he did it in successive seasons. Prothro guided Oregon State to the 1965 Rose Bowl Game. It was also Prothro’s last Rose Bowl Game appearance.

Individual Stats
Rushing
MSU: C. Jones 20-113; Apisa 4-49; Lee 15-41
UCLA: Beban 25-14; Farr 10-36; Horgan 5-12

Passing
MSU: Juday 6-18-80; Raye 2-4-30
UCLA: Beban 8-20-147

Receiving
MSU: C. Jones 1-6; Lee 3-23; Washington 4-81
UCLA: Altenberg 3-55; Slagle 1-35; Nelson 2-29; Farr 1-22; Witcher1-6

Punting
MSU: Kenney 5-212
UCLA: Cox 9-374; Dow 2-65