Sport: Rose Bowl Bound

The brief words echoed like a bomb in the strained silence of the dressing room. “Rose Bowl,” muttered Oregon Quarterback Jack Crabtree, as if the very syllables were sacred. His silver-haired coach, Len Casanova, cut him short: “It’s a silly thing to discuss.” But it was too late to button anybody’s lip. The desperately quiet Oregon Ducks had just beaten California, 24-6; they were still unbeaten in Pacific Coast Conference play, and their home town of Eugene was already planning a New Year’s Visit to Pasadena.

Stanford’s Indians are the biggest stumbling block left between Oregon and the Rose Bowl. And if the Ducks waddle by Stanford this week, Coach Casanova is determined that they will do it in his own quiet way—concentrating on defense and stubbornly waiting for the breaks. Against California, the plan worked to perfection. After a scoreless first quarter, tough little (5 ft. 6 in.) Guard Harry Mondale slithered through to grab a California fumble, and six plays later the Ducks were ahead. Later the Ducks blocked a California kick. Then they rushed a California passer so badly that they set up an interception, and Halfback Charlie Tourville carried the ball into position for a field goal. In the final quarter they organized a successful goal-line stand. After each burst of defensive brilliance, they bounced back to score.

To Coach Casanova it is all a matter of statistics. Last year, he likes to point out, “the nation’s top ten defensive teams won 77 games, lost only 17. The top ten passing teams won 33, lost 60.” To back up his personal part of the argument, though, he not only fields a fierce defensive unit, but also a quartet of backs who may well be the fastest in the nation. The combination was just too good for California. The Bears’ Coach Pete Elliott needed only one rueful sentence to sum up the game: “They had the ball all the time.”