USD Football 1993

USCguard Jolmuy Bake,; with On, Moh/er holding, booted the field goal that beat the Fighting frish.

teams played in four Junior Rose Bowl games. Today, he leads a seden- tary life, the result of infirmities, but his spirit is good. He watches football on te levisio n and admi ts "today's game is rough." Johnny Baker coached March Air Force Base during WWII and was a University of Washington assistant. He played in two Rose Bowl games. In 1949, he was voted into the National Collegiate Football Hall of Fame. He died in 1979. Gus Shaver served as USC freshman coach in 1939 and '40. During WWII he was a Navy fit ness instructor. Afterwards, he coached the USC varsi- ty backfield under Coach Jeff Cravath. Illustrated Football Annual (pub!. 1932 ) described Shaver as an all- around back, "probably the finest America produced in 1931." Today Shaver lives with his wife,

hoof," one reporter wrote. "The hundred or so 'SC fans who came with us on the train went crazy," said Shaver. "So did we." With less than a minute remain- ing, Southern Cal held on and won 16-14. The usually sedate Howard Jones kissed one of his players and said it was his most satisfying win in 23 years of coaching. Later, in a serious moment, Jones directed the team bus to Highland cemetery where Knute Rock ne was buried. Shaver and Brown recalled, "We stood in silence and reverence." The final scene of a dizzying week- end occurred when the team train arrived home the next Thursday. The L.A. Times staffer Bob Ray described what happened: "Under a screen of serpentine, confetti. and enthusiasm showered on them by 300,000 hero-worshipping football fans, USC's victorious Trojans came home today. No conquering army of

ancient Rome ever received a more tumultuous welcome." "It was a huge parade," Brown rec- ollected, "bigger than any parade L.A. had ever seen ." It stretched three miles from City Hall to the campus, he said, and "it was a thrill riding in it." Game films were shown at movie houses for a week. At season's end, Southern Cal defeat- ed Tu lane 21-12 in the Rose Bowl, thereby winning the mythical nation- al title. In 1932 they repeated, beating Pittsburgh 35-0 in the Rose Bowl. All-America honors went to Shaver, Baker, Pinckert, Smith and center Stan Williamson. Ku rth, Schwartz and Krause made the All-America for the Irish. Tay Brown captained the 1932 Trojans. He made All-American that year. He coached Compton Junior College (L.A.) in the '40s and '50s and developed many outstanding athletes, inc luding Hugh Mcllhenney. His

Stella, on their citrus and avo- cado ranch in Fallbrook, CA. At present he's sidelined with a heart ailme nt, but he still enjoys talking football. A few of his former

Later, iu a seriom moment, Jones directed the team bw to H ighla11d cemetery ivhere Knute Rockne was buried. Sha11er and Broivn recalled, «-we stood in silence and reverence. »

USC teammates still remain- Brown, Gordon Clark, Bob McNeish, Bob Erskine among others. In earlier days, during reunions, they savored moments of old grid wars-in particu lar the donnybrook in South Bend won by one of the most celebrated field goals ever kicked. Morris Schulatskg is a free-lance writer who specializes in historic sports pieces and whose work has appeared in The Los Angeles Times.