USC and Wisconsin played one of the most memorable football games ever
When a new era begins in the world of Big Ten football next year, the classic Rose Bowl matchup between the Big Ten and Pac-12 will be consigned to history. We won’t have moments such as the 1963 Rose Bowl, when No. 1 USC defeated No. 2 Wisconsin and secured John McKay’s first national championship as the Trojans’ head coach.
When we consider the short list of the greatest Rose Bowls of all time, the 1963 Granddaddy has to be there. Yes, the 2006 Rose Bowl loss to Texas has to be there as well, but this game in 1963 was a memorable game USC won.
We wrote about the moment a few years ago:
“The magic began for John McKay at USC in 1962. The Trojans rolled to an unbeaten season. Their crowning moment came in the 1963 Rose Bowl in a 1-versus-2 victory over Wisconsin. The game could have been remembered as a dominant USC conquest. The Trojans led 42-14 early in the fourth quarter. However, Wisconsin quarterback Ron Vander Kelen led a furious 23-point rally, helped by future Badger athletic director Pat Richter, the man who hired a coach named Barry Alvarez at the end of the 1980s.
“Wisconsin won respect, but USC survived, 42-37, in one of the more memorable Rose Bowls of all time.”
McKay later said that USC gave up 23 straight points because “The kids were congratulating each other on the sidelines.” McKay added, “We’re still No. 1 and they’re still No. 2. They’re a good team, but they’d finish about sixth in our league.”
What mattered was that USC was in a league of its own in the 1962 season, bringing national championship glory back to Troy.
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