Broken Jinx

An old football maxim has it that no team is any better than its defense. In the Rose Bowl game last week some 100,000 fans and millions of televiewers got a good look at some of the best defensive play of the year. The rugged Southern California line, rated one of the best in the nation, stopped the pile-driving running of Wisconsin's Alan ("The Horse") Ameche five times within its 30-yd. line. Running into the same kind of opposition (a total of 48 yds. through the hard-tackling Wisconsin line), Southern Cal turned to another football fundamental: the booming punting of Southern Cal's Desmond Koch, who broke a Rose Bowl record with one 72-yd. boot, averaged better than 50 yds. a kick.

After a scoreless first half, the payoff play sent four receivers downfield in the third quarter. From among them, Substitute Tailback Rudy Bukich found Halfback Al Carmichael all alone in the end zone, hit him with a 22-yd. touchdown pass. Then, outlasting a Rose Bowl jinx that twice saw California lose to the Big Ten in the final minutes, the hopped-up Trojan defense stopped two more Wisconsin drives inside the 30. Final score, for the West Coast's first victory in seven lean years against the Midwest's Big Ten: 7-0.

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