Here are USC players lined up for ABC-TV before playing No. 1-ranked Iowa at the Coliseum in 1961.
USC fell behind 21-0 and trailed 35-20 with less than five minutes remaining. USC trailed 35-28 when quarterback Bill Nelsen threw a 5-yard TD pass to wide receiver Hal Bedsole with 48 seconds remaining. The pair connected on a 71-yard TD pass and 2-point conversion to make it 35-28.
So with the score, 35-34, Nelsen and Bedsole tried to connect one more time on a 2-point conversion but Iowa’s Sammie Harris broke up the play.
A crowd of only 30,263 attended the game.
A newspaper article the next day said, “In going for broke, the Trojans lost the game but won the admiration of the TV millions and comparitive handful of diehards who had gone to the Coliseum expecting a massacre.”
InsideUSC with Scott Wolf 
Without a tiebreaker the game was meaningless if the score matches at the end of regulation. McKay used to say a tie was like kissing your sister.
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Oh, really? Is that why Sark reportedly said he wished games could still end in ties?
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Tell that to Notre Dame in 1966 when they played for a tie against Michigan State and they won the national championship.
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Parshegian not only prayed for it – he sat n the ball for 10 minutes refusing to risk that tie. After he justifiably was trashed nationally for his cowardice he came west and crushed USC 51 – 0 the following week.
Weird year – USC lost to Norman Dow the next week at bel-air. Then to square the circle MI St. lost to bel-air tech in the Rose Bowl.
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The sentence structure in paragraph two and other little things towards the end of the article is disappointing. C’mon blogger!
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I was at that game – west end – first one I ever attended.
McKay was even more pointed after the 1967 Rose Bowl losing to Purdue 13 – 14. When asked why he didn’t go for a tie he replied “You’re tied when you go out there (beginning of the game). I wanted to win!”
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That was the first USC game I ever attended. Still remember the disappointment when the 2 point try failed.
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Even though USC lost, McKay showed what he was made of, guts and glory. He was no panzy a$s coach like the ones across town wearing the handicap placard colors.
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Hey Pasadena Trojan, how do you like division two???
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Fast Fred,
How are you? As a Loyola High alumni and football players, I think it is rotten. I read the explanation on how they justified it. It sounded reasonable but it still sucks. They missed staying in Division 1 by a couple of points. They can get back into Division 1 with a better record this year. This is the first time ever in Loyola’s history that they have ever dropped instead of either ascending or staying. We will see. i
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