Going To California: Indiana Football Adventures In The Golden State

Indiana heads to UCLA for a Saturday kickoff. When the Hoosiers have gone to California to play football before, happy outcomes have been a rarity.

Todd Golden | Sep 11, 2024

Indiana Lee Corso and some of the 1979 Hoosiers. including linebacker Terry Tallen (62), accept the Holiday Bowl trophy after the Hoosiers defeated Brigham Young 38-37. To this day, it's Indiana's only win inside the state of California. / Indiana University archives

In this story:

Indiana Hoosiers

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – With Southern California and USC added to the Big Ten, Indiana trips to California for all sports is the new reality. Indiana football will be the first to live out this brave new world as the Hoosiers travel to UCLA for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff on Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

Coast-to-coast conferences are something fans are going to have to wrap their minds around. Whether you like it or not, they’re the reality college athletics has created for itself.

However, coast-to-coast games are not new. Nonconference travel has long been part of the reality in basketball and has occasionally been part of the tapestry in college football, too.

UCLA is one of the few former Pac-12 schools Indiana has not played in football. In fact, of the 12 schools that comprised the Pac-12 before it broke up? The Hoosiers faced all but Arizona State, Stanford and UCLA at some point.

Indiana football has played a total of six games in California. Three were regular season games, three were bowl games – and Indiana is just 1-5 in those contests.

1953 – Indiana meets USC

Indiana’s first trip to California was a one-off game against the powerful Trojans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Oct. 2, 1953, in a Friday night contest. USC was ranked No. 7 going into the contest while the Hoosiers had come off a season-opening 36-12 loss at Ohio State.

From the start, the trip was troublesome. Indiana’s plane arrived late, which meant a scheduled practice at the Coliseum had to be shortened. Little was expected from the game anyway. According to the Associated Press, Indiana was as much as a 27-point underdog during the week prior to the game against the 2-0 Trojans. Neither of the major Indianapolis papers sent staff to the game.

However, Indiana made a decent account of itself. A crowd of 49,578 saw USC defeat Indiana 27-14. Indiana led early on the strength of quarterback Florian Helinski’s touchdown run. The Trojans would score the next 20 points, but Indiana pulled within one score in the fourth quarter via a 32-yard Nate Borden touchdown catch.

Trailing 20-14, Indiana had the ball to try to take the lead afterwards, but Helinski was injured. Back-up quarterback Don Dominic threw a pick-six that sealed the win for the Trojans late in the final period.

Indiana would finish 2-7 in 1953, but the Hoosiers exposed the weaknesses of the Trojans, who would win just three more times in a 6-3-1 season.

1968 – Rose Bowl glory for Indiana

A panoramic view of the 1968 Rose Bowl game. Indiana played Southern California in the contest. The Trojans won 14-3. / Indiana University archives

Indiana’s 1967 season is justly famous in Hoosier lore. The reward was Indiana’s only Rose Bowl appearance. Once again, the Hoosiers would face Southern Cal – this time, the No. 1 team in the nation.

The Trojans were led by Heisman Trophy winner O.J. Simpson, who rushed for 1,415 yards in 10 games in 1967. USC was a two-touchdown favorite in the game.

The David vs. Goliath angle was enticing even for non-Indiana fans. NBC, which broadcast the game, anticipated that it might be “the highest-rated sports event in television history.”

Indiana made a good account of itself in front of a crowd of 102,946 on Jan. 1, 1968. Simpson scored a 2-yard touchdown in the first quarter to put USC in front, but it was the only score for either team in the first half.

Dave Kornowa’s 27-yard field goal narrowed the Hoosiers’ deficit to 7-3, but an 8-yard Simpson touchdown run in the fourth quarter sealed USC’s 14-3 victory. USC out-gained Indiana 317-187, but the Hoosiers didn’t wilt as expected by the oddsmakers.

1970 – Forgettable trip to Berkeley

By 1970, the high of the Rose Bowl season had dissipated into a harsh reality for the Hoosiers. No one knew it yet, but 1970 would prove to be the beginning of the end for the John Pont coaching era at Indiana.

Indiana played California in the second game of the 1970 season. It was the return game of a home-and-home series. The Golden Bears defeated the Hoosiers 17-14 in 1969 at Memorial Stadium.

There was faint hope. Indiana lost its opener 16-9 to Colorado, but Cal was on the wrong end of a 56-15 drubbing at the hands of No. 2 Texas the weekend before.

All seemed OK after a scoreless first quarter, but then the Golden Bears exploded. The Indianapolis Star headline said it all, “Ugh! California 56, I.U. 14” – it was Indiana’s worst loss in 13 years.

Among the lowlights, Indiana was out-gained 270-18 in total yards at halftime and had just three first downs in the opening half. Cal led 34-0 before Indiana scored. Seven different Golden Bears scored touchdowns.

It was the first sign of very bad things to come for the 1970 Hoosiers – who finished 1-9.

1979 – Dramatic bowl success for Hoosiers

Indiana's Marty Young (94) and Kevin Speer celebrate after the Hoosiers' 38-37 victory over Brigham Young in the 1979 Holiday Bowl. / Indiana University Arbutus

The 1979 Hoosiers are another team much beloved by Indiana fans. The Hoosiers finished their regular season with a 7-4 mark and fourth in the Big Ten. That earned them a trip to the Holiday Bowl to play pass-happy Brigham Young in San Diego.

The high-scoring game, played on Dec. 21, 1979, at San Diego Stadium, is famous in Indiana lore. There were two ties and four lead changes.

The winning score for Indiana came with 6:53 left. A short punt by BYU hit the back of Indiana upman Craig Walls. What could have been a disaster became a blessing. The ball went straight to Tim Wilbur, who ran 62 yards for a punt return touchdown that put Indiana up 38-37.

BYU missed a field goal with 11 seconds left, and Indiana had its first bowl victory as well as its first, and to-date only, win on California soil.

Indiana won despite a 380-yard passing day from BYU quarterback Marc Wilson. Indiana running backs Lonnie Johnson (76 rushing yards) and Mike Harkrader (71 yards) sparked Indiana’s attack along with wide receiver Bob Stephenson, who had five catches for 91 yards.

“I just hope the people who questioned the Holiday Bowl people about inviting Indiana got their money’s worth. I’ve never been involved with or even seen a better football game in my whole life,” Indiana football coach Lee Corso crowed after the win.

1982 – Indiana tries again at USC

Corso scheduled a home-and-home series with USC for the 1981 and 1982 seasons. The second-ranked Trojans, led by eventual Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Allen, man-handled the Hoosiers 21-0 at Memorial Stadium in 1981.

The No. 19 Trojans weren’t as highly touted going into the 1982 contest at the L.A. Coliseum, but the Hoosiers were not near that standard themselves.

A 30-0 victory over Northwestern started the 1982 season right for Indiana, but those Wildcats – then in the midst of a 33-game losing streak – were hardly a barometer for what the Trojans would be able to throw at the Hoosiers.

USC quarterback Sean Salisbury – a future Indianapolis Colt – threw two first-half touchdowns and ran for another as the Trojans easily handed the Hoosiers in a 28-7 loss for Indiana. The Hoosiers only managed 10 first downs in the game.

Indiana would finish 5-6 in 1982, and Corso would be dismissed at season’s end.

2016 – Off-field turmoil prior to bowl game

Indiana Hoosiers running back Devine Redding (34) celebrates as he scores a touchdown against the Utah Utes during the fourth quarter at Levi's Stadium. The Utah Utes defeated the Indiana Hoosiers 26-24. / Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

Indiana’s most recent trip to California – its 2016 appearance in the Foster Farms Bowl in Santa Clara, Calif., – is arguably remembered less for the game than it is for the circumstances that occurred before it.

Indiana had become bowl eligible for the second straight season under head coach Kevin Wilson after a 26-24 victory over Purdue in the regular season finale on Nov. 26, 2016, pulled the Hoosiers up to 6-6.

Less than a week later, Indiana announced that Wilson had resigned. Athletic director Fred Glass cited “philosophical differences” on the day of the announcement as the reason for the change.

Immediately, reports surfaced of player mistreatment, particularly regarding attitude toward injuries and a hierarchy within the team that punished players for being “soft.” Those accusations would carry on into 2017, but the immediate mission was to name a head coach for the bowl game.

Glass had no wish to embark on a national search to replace Wilson. Glass felt he had his man-in-waiting on Wilson’s staff. Tom Allen was named as Wilson’s successor. He was not interim coach, Allen was the head coach going forward.

“It’s hard to believe. This day has been an absolute whirlwind,” said Allen, who was informed the night before Wilson resigned that he would ascend to the top job.

The game itself – Utah was the opponent – was exciting. Indiana chased the Utes for most of the contest, but pulled ahead 24-23 via a Devine Redding 3-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. However, Utah kicked a field goal with 1:24 left to earn a 26-24 victory.

Allen would coach Indiana to two more bowls before his tenure ended after the 2023 season.