 Simpson had a phenomenal run and finished with two touchdowns, 177 yards and 30 carries.Commenting on Beban's heroic effort playing through injury, famed "Los Angeles Times" columnist Jim Murray wrote among other things that he was "glad he didn't go to the opera after all", and if "Gary Beban wins the Heisman Trophy, they ought to fill it with aspirin"

Keith Jackson, who was in his second year of ABC football broadcasting, narrating the taped highlights of the game, declared it many years later to be the greatest game he has ever seen.So did Giles Pellerin, a USC graduate who attended every game USC played from 1926 until his death at the 1998 USC-UCLA game at the Rose Bowl (797 straight games over 72 years).