Heisman Trophy winner O. J. Simpson rushed for 171 yards and an 80-yard touchdown run, but USC had five turnovers, including an interception and a fumble by Simpson. It was only the second #1 vs. #2 matchup in the Rose Bowl, the first was six years earlier. It was the first time in the history of the Big 9(Ten) – PCC/Big Ten – AAWU agreements that two unbeaten teams met in the Rose Bowl.
It was the first of four Rose Bowl matchups between the head coaches; Woody Hayes of Ohio State and USC's John McKay. It was the first of three with the national championship on the line for both schools.
This was only the second time in the Rose Bowl where the #1 and #2 teams in the AP Poll played and only the third time in a bowl game: the 1963 Rose Bowl was the first and the 1964 Cotton Bowl Classic was the second. It was the 12th time overall that the #1 and #2 team faced each other since the inception of the AP Poll in 1936.[8] The Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, BCS, and College Football Playoff were created later to make at least one matchup of the top two teams in the nation.
The defending national champion Trojans finished undefeated with one tie, which occurred at the end of the regular season against ninth-ranked Notre Dame.[11][12] They had been ranked first since October 14, but dropped to second after Ohio State routed #4 Michigan;[9][10] USC stayed in that runner-up position even after the 21–21 tie on November 30.[13] They were captained by Heisman Trophy winner O. J. Simpson; it was the third of four consecutive Rose Bowl appearances for USC.
Game summary
This Rose Bowl was also the beginning of a celebration of a century of college football. Later during the 1969 season, many teams wore uniform patches or helmet stickers with "100" to signify the centennial.
The Nixons and Reagans at the Rose Bowl
A number of celebrities were present, including President-electRichard Nixon, Bob Hope, California Governor and future United States President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy Reagan, and former Oklahoma head coach and then-ABC analyst Bud Wilkinson.[14] First Lady Pat Nixon was a graduate of USC, but President Nixon spent time on both sidelines.[14] Richard Nixon called the Rose Bowl Game, "the prize game of all bowl games."[14]
After O. J. Simpson scored on an 80-yard run to give USC a 10–0 lead, a Trojans fumble at their 21-yard line set up a Rex Kern pass to Leo Hayden for the final four yards. A fumbled reception cost Southern Cal the ball again at its own 16. USC had five turnovers, including two by Simpson. Simpson, besides having a fumble and interception, also underestimated the speed of Jack Tatum, the Ohio State cornerback. This happened on a swing pass that should have been a touchdown, and then on the same series when Simpson overthrew a touchdown pass to Ted DeKraai. Ohio State had one fumble, but managed to keep possession.[3][4][5][6]
After losing this Rose Bowl, the Pac-8/10 dominated the series for the next two decades, winning the next four Rose Bowls, ten of the next eleven, and sixteen of the next eighteen.
