The Spoilers

It was college football's "game of the year." U.C.L.A. against Southern Cal. The No. 1 team in the nation against No. 3 (or No. 4, depending on the poll). Passer Gary Beban against Runner O. J. Simpson. At stake: the Pacific Eight title, a Rose Bowl bid and the Heisman Trophy. "Whichever team wins this game should be the national champion," insisted Southern Cal Coach John McKay. After what happened last Saturday--U.C.L.A.'s Beban passing for two T.D.s, U.S.C.'s Simpson running for two, Southern Cal winning by the slim margin of a missed extra point, 21-20--few experts disagreed with McKay's judgment.

Except Demosthenes Konstandies Andros--and the entire population (30,000) of Corvallis, Ore. A former Oklahoma guard, beefy "Dee" Andros, 43, is head coach of the Oregon State Beavers--if not the best team around, then certainly the most underrated. Five weeks ago, the Beavers scored a 22-14 victory over heavily favored (by 19 points) Purdue, then the No. 2-ranked team in the U.S. Three weeks ago, they battled to a 16-16 tie with the U.C.L.A. Bruins, who at that time held the No. 2 spot. Two weeks ago, by a score of 3-0, they knocked Southern Cal's Trojans out of the unbeaten ranks and the No. 1 ranking. And how much recognition did those remarkable performances earn them? Not much. Last week, for the first time all season, Oregon State's "Spoilers" finally cracked the Top Ten in the wire-service polls--both of which rated them No. 8. Hardly Flukes. The three games may have been upsets as far as the oddsmakers are concerned, but they were hardly flukes. Against Purdue, the fired-up Beaver defense forced the Boilermakers to fumble three times--and recovered all three. Against U.C.L.A., Oregon State missed a victory by the margin of two inches, when Fullback Bill Enyart was tackled exactly that far from the Bruins' goal line on a fourth-down plunge. Against Southern Cal, the Beavers beat the Trojans at their own game: ball control. They scored on a 30-yd. field goal by Mike Haggard (U.S.C. missed a 36-yarder that would have tied the score), never allowed the Trojans to penetrate past the Oregon State 44 in the last half of the game.

Aggressiveness is the key to winning, according to Dee Andros--and he has no shortage of it himself. He wears orange and black shoes (O.S.U. colors, naturally), leads his team's banzai charge onto the playing field, and growls: "I don't think it hurts to smile on Fridays--but on Saturdays, my kids don't even open their mouths." By next year, those kids may even start smiling on Saturdays. Every member of Oregon State's starting backfield will still be in school, as will all but three of the defensive platoon that held Southern Cal scoreless.

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