Jimmy-on-the-Spot

The football game of the week was a grudge game, and the stakes were high: a chance for the Rose Bowl jackpot. California, ranked fourth in the nation and trained in an offense that had not been shut out in 60 games, was meeting an old enemy: seventh-ranked University of Southern California (U.S.C.), owner of a bone-rattling defense that had yielded only 19 points in five games. California, a six-point favorite, had the three top-ranked running backs of the Pacific Coast, including All-America Candidate Johnny Olszewski; U.S.C., a conservative single-wing team, had a middleweight (5 ft. 9 in., 164 Ibs.) tailback named Jimmy Sears.

Early in the first quarter, Jimmy Sears stood on his own 31-yard line, waiting for a spiraling punt. Charging downfield toward him, California's big tacklers seemed to have him hemmed in. At the catch, Sears was already running, sidestepping, putting on a burst of speed that got him back to midfield and a pair of welcome blockers who cleared his way to the California 30-yard line. From there Jimmy Sears, far out in front, romped to the touchdown.

As it turned out, it was the key play of the game, and the sun-drenched crowd of 94,677 in the Los Angeles Coliseum roared in appreciation. But as the game went on (U.S.C. added a field goal to make it 10-0), Tailback Sears showed that he had other talents. Twice, on passes of 34 and 40 yards to End Tom Nickoloff, Sears drove the unheralded Trojan offense down inside California's lo-yard line, controlling the ball and keeping the pressure on. And in this two-platoon age of specialists, the senior physical education major, 21, did double duty as a defensive back. He was Jimmy-on-the-spot as a secondary defender when a last-ditch tackle was needed or a pass had to be knocked down.

Sears & Co. did the job so well that California never got inside the 3O-yard line. The first-quarter score was the final score, io-o, and happy Coach Jess Hill, with his hard-working star from nearby Inglewood, summed it up: "We did pretty well offensively for a defensive team, didn't we?" Hill and Sears were already looking forward to the next Rose Bowl hurdle, undefeated U.C.L.A., which last week upended the Big Ten's Wisconsin, 20-7.

Other football winners:

Top-ranked Michigan State, after a first-quarter scare, an easy 34-7 victory over Penn State behind Quarterback Tom Yewcic's three touchdown passes; secondranked Maryland over undermanned Louisiana State, 34-6; fifth-ranked Georgia Tech over Vanderbilt, 30-0; Purdue, the Big Ten's probable Rose Bowl entry, over Illinois, 40-12; Michigan over Minnesota, 21-0, for the Little Brown Jug; Iowa, scoring its first Big Ten victory in two years, an upset of Ohio State, 8-0; unbeaten Duke, one of the South's best, over unbeaten Virginia, 21-7.

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