1974 Rose Bowl

The 1974 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 1974. It was the 60th Rose Bowl Game. The Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the USC Trojans 42–21.

Ohio State Buckeyes
During the ’73 regular season, the Buckeyes went undefeated, led by tailback Archie Griffin on offense and a defense that held its opponents to less than 100 yards per game of total offense. The only blemish on the Buckeyes’ record was a season-ending 10-10 tie against #4 ranked archrival Michigan, who also went undefeated; with the teams tying for the Big Ten Conference championship, the league’s athletic directors were forced to hold an unprecedented vote to determine which school would represent the league in the Rose Bowl. Michigan's quarterback, Dennis Franklin, had broken his collarbone during the game. Perhaps influenced by the injury, the athletic directors voted 6-4 to send Ohio State to the Rose Bowl.

USC Trojans
Coming into the game, USC had wins over Arkansas, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football, Oregon State, Washington State, Oregon, Cal, Stanford, Washington, and UCLA. The Trojans tied Oklahoma 7-7 and lost to Notre Dame 23-14. USC scored 301 while allowed 160 points.

First Quarter

 * USC – Chris Limahelu, 47-yard field goal
 * OSU - Johnson, 1-yard run (Blair Conway kick good)

Second Quarter

 * USC - Limahelu, 42 yard field goal
 * USC - Mckay, 10 yard pass from Davis (Haden pass to Mckay 2 point conversion)
 * OSU – Johnson, 1-yard run (Blair Conway kick good)

Third Quarter

 * USC - Davis, 1 yard run (Limahelu kick good)
 * OSU - Johnson 4 yard run (kick blocked)
 * OSU - Greene, 1 yard run (Blair Conway kick good)

Fourth Quarter

 * OSU - Elia, 2 yard run, (Greene 2 point conversion)
 * OSU - Griffin, 47 yard run (Blair Conway kick good)

Game notes
Kicker Chris Limahelu's 47-yard field goal was the longest ever by a Trojan, breaking a 64-year-old record. Limahelu, 59, died of prostate cancer on April 7, 2010.