Giant Killers -- Bouncing Back

Oregon State University Athletics is proudly celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the famed "Giant Killers" football team. Led by the late head coach Dee Andros, Oregon State posted a 7-2-1 record that included victories over No. 1 ranked USC, No. 2 Purdue and then a tie with the new No. 2 team in the land UCLA.

Historian Kip Carlson is in the midst of writing a six-part series on the team that originally prints in the gameday program that is available at Reser Stadium.

The Giant Killers will be honored at this Saturday's game vs. Colorado that kicks at 1:07 p.m. Tickets are available for the early afternoon contest at BeaverTickets.com

PART 3 – BOUNCING BACK

As October, 1967 crossed its halfway mark, newspaper headlines gave a glimpse of a tumultuous world.

The musical "Hair" debuted at the Astor Library theater in New York City; the production sold out each performance of its six-week trial run – perhaps assisted by the fact it included moments of full frontal nudity by its cast.

"Stop the Draft Week" began in front of 30 United States Army induction centers across the country, protesting the war in Vietnam. In Vietnam, the Battle of Ong Thanh saw the U.S. 2^nd Battalion, 28^th Infantry – known as the Black Lions - ambushed by a larger Viet Cong force; 64 Americans were killed in action, 75 were wounded and two were missing in action. Thirteen U.S. soldiers would be awarded the Silver Star for their actions in the battle.

In Neshoba County, Mississippi, an all-white jury returned guilty verdicts against a deputy sheriff and seven other defendants for violating federal civil rights laws in connection with the 1965 murder of three civil rights workers in Philadelphia, Miss.
And on a lesser scale, in Corvallis, Oregon State's once-promising football season seemed to be slipping toward an unhappy ending. Starting the season with just five seniors, the Beavers had beaten Stanford, Arizona State and Iowa to stretch their winning streak to nine games over two seasons – the longest in the country. But after fumbling away a tough game at highly regarded Washington 13-6, OSU had come home and been routed by a mediocre Brigham Young team, 31-13.

Now, in the next four weeks, the Beavers would face the top three teams in the Associated Press national poll, visiting No. 2 Purdue and No. 3 UCLA before hosting No. 1 Southern California.
"I haven't gone into a game yet I didn't think I could win," third-year OSU head coach Dee Andros told the Corvallis Gazette-Times a few days before the trip to Purdue. But, as G-T sports editor Jack Rickard pointed out, "No Beaver team has faced such long odds on a trip to the Midwest."

Purdue was on a nine-game winning streak to earn its lofty national ranking. Boilermaker sophomore quarterback Mike Phipps was drawing rave reviews, having passed for 952 yards and seven touchdowns in the season's first four games, while running back Leroy Keyes gained big yards both rushing and receiving.

Fresh off a 41-6 whipping of Ohio State, Purdue was a 21-point favorite and before kickoff its fans were already counting Oregon State as the team's fifth victim of the year. Homecoming signs around campus were proclaiming a hopeful "We're No. 1!" in anticipation of a Boilermaker victory.

However, as The Oregonian's Don Fair wrote after the game, "Nobody expected this, particularly those 60,147 partisans at Ross Ade Stadium. Even the most staunch Beaver supporter was going on 100-1 hope, and the longshot came in."

In the final quarter, fullback Bill Enyart scored on a four-yard run and Mike Haggard added a 38-yard field goal to hand the Beavers a 22-14 upset. Enyart rushed for 91 yards, quarterback Steve Preece for 75 more and Billy Main another 67.

The defense intercepted Phipps three times and linemen Jess Lewis, Ron Boley, Jon Sandstrom and Bill Nelson pressured him throughout the afternoon. OSU assistant coach Rich Brooks had noticed while watching game films that Phipps stepped slightly forward just before taking the ball from center on pass plays. Said defensive tackle Jess Lewis, who had a pair of fumble recoveries: "I watched that foot, and as soon as it moved I charged hard, knowing it would be a pass."

Andros was carried to the locker room on the shoulders of his players, then told reporters, "This has to be the greatest victory of my career, and the credit should go to the kids and other members of the coaching staff who got them ready for the game … when they came out on the field, they thought they could beat the best, and they did."

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A crowd estimated at more than 2,000 met the Beavers at the Corvallis Airport in the early hours of Sunday morning. When the OSU Daily Barometer published its recap of the game, it's headline gave the team a new nickname: "Giant Killer" Beavers thunder past Boilermakers

Next up was Washington State – winless in six games thus far – in Corvallis.

"We had better not be looking back enjoying Purdue or looking forward to UCLA," said Andros, who had earned national Coach of the Week honors after the victory over the Boilermakers. "We had better be ready or we'll have another BYU."

Oregon State made sure there was no repeat, running over WSU 35-7. Capping a rainy week, a crowd of just 18,115 was on hand to see OSU rush for 235 yards, with Enyart getting 80 and two touchdowns and Main adding 77 yards plus catching two passes for another 73 yards. Preece passed for 109 yards and a score for Oregon State.

"The kids did a great job," Andros said afterward. "Bring on UCLA."

The Bruins were now the nation's second-ranked team, thanks to the Beavers having beaten Purdue. UCLA was 6-0 and top-ranked Southern California 7-0, and the nation looked forward to their November 18 showdown and its national championship implications.

Oregon State could now proclaim itself a ranked team as well, checking in at No. 15 in the United Press International coaches poll; the Associated Press poll of writers and broadcasters only ranked a top 10 at the time.

"I'm sure our kids welcome the opportunity of playing the No. 2 team twice in one year," Andros told George Pasero of the Oregon Journal. "Gosh, not many teams have that chance. And I've told our boys that if we beat the No. 2 team again, we'll be up where we belong ourselves."

The Bruins, led by Heisman Trophy hopeful in quarterback Gary Beban, were 13-point favorites; UCLA also had a scoring threat from long distance in the foot of placekicker Zenon Andrusyshyn. UCLA was coached by Tommy Prothro, who preceded Andros at Oregon State and coached the Beavers into a pair of Rose Bowls, including in his final season in Corvallis.

The excitement over the impending game at historic Memorial Coliseum was tempered in Corvallis that week, though, by word that Morrell Crary, a star catcher on the Beaver baseball team from 1963-65, had been killed in action in Vietnam. Crary, a U.S. Marine lieutenant from Salem, was hit by enemy artillery fire; he left behind a wife and a daughter who had been born the previous week.

The Beavers practiced behind locked gates all week, prompting speculation OSU was adding wrinkles to its offensive and defensive plans for the Bruins. All Andros would offer was, "If we're as mentally set for UCLA as we were for Purdue, we can win."

When the long Saturday afternoon was finally over in Los Angeles and 50,172 fans headed home wrung out from a back-and-forth game, Pasero wrote, "It was a most satisfactory tie – for a tie." The Beavers and Bruins had deadlocked at 16-16, with each team having a chance to win late in the game.

UCLA took a 16-13 lead on Andrusyshyn's fourth-quarter field goal, and that was still the score when Beaver safety Mark Waletich intercepted a Beban pass in the OSU end zone in the closing minutes. As precious seconds ticked off the clock, Preece guided the Beavers to the Bruin 11 where OSU faced a fourth-and-five. Andros opted for the field goal try rather than going for a winning touchdown, and Mike Haggard's 28-yarder evened the game with just over a minute to play.
The thrills weren't through; Beban took the Bruins to the Beaver 23 in the waning seconds and Andrusyshyn had a chance to boot a game-winner, but OSU's Ron Boley bolted through a hole in the line and blocked the kick.

Of his decision to go for the tie rather than a touchdown against UCLA's tough defense, Andros said, "There wasn't time left for another chance if we missed and, besides, the yardage was too much." The Beaver boss was left with somewhat mixed feelings. "No, we're not satisfied with a tie," Andros said. "We only believe in winning, but we're not dissatisfied, either … they're No. 2, so we're just that much better than the other teams they have beaten."

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The Beavers felt they'd been shortchanged on a pair of key calls. Early in the second quarter with OSU already up 7-0, Enyart had been stopped on a fourth-and-goal from the Bruin 1-yard line; said Beaver halfback Jerry Belcher, who had been blocking for Enyart: "There's no question that Bill scored. The ref got the ball from Bill in the end zone." Later in the period, Nelson jarred the ball from Bruin halfback Rick Purdy and Lewis pounced on the fumble; however, an official said the play had been blown dead and that kept alive UCLA's drive for its only touchdown. Said Lewis: "I had the ball before the whistle."

Preece earned "back of the game" honors in a vote of reporters covering the game, and Beaver defensive end Harry Gunner – who returned to action after missing the past three games – was "lineman of the game." Total yardage was nearly even, but OSU outrushed UCLA 262-130 with a balanced attack: Billy Main going for 69 yards, Preece 65 yards, Don Summers 64 and Enyart 63.

Don McLeod, writing in The Oregonian, summarized: "It was a stirring performance by Coach Dee Andros' warriors and proved beyond question that they are usually at their best when they're facing the best."

Oregon State would test that evaluation in one week's time. The next Saturday, November 11, would bring unbeaten, No. 1-ranked Southern California to Corvallis.

            NEXT: Bring On Number One

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