Rose Bowl Hall of Fame
1963 Rose Bowl Game
1996 Inductee
Sometimes less is more. Pete Beathard’s performance in the 1963 Rose Bowl Game against Ron Vander Kelen and the Wisconsin Badgers proved that notion. Beathard threw only 12 passes that day, but four of his eight completions went for touchdowns as the Trojans built a 42–14 lead. Touchdown strikes of 13, 57, 13, and 23 yards earned Beathard co-Player of the Game honors. Conversely, Wisconsin’s pass-happy Vander
Kelen completed 33 of 48 passes for 401 yards, but the Badgers’ furious comeback
ultimately came up short. USC won 42–37.
Beathard was the perfect quarterback for John McKay’s I-formation offense. He led the Trojans to a 21–5–1 record and passed for 2,374 yards, while gaining another 672 yards on the ground, for his career.
Beathard played professional football from 1964 to 1975 for various teams in the AFL, NFL and WFL.
