As we close in on Purdue's matchup with Western Michigan in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl on Dec. 27, we count down the top bowl games in Purdue football history.

Here's No. 2:

For the Boilermakers to claim their first bowl victory in school history, it took a game-saving interception by defensive back George Catavolos on a USC two-point conversion attempt with 2:28 left in the game.

The 14-13 victory capped a memorable experience for the Boilermaker football team and entire traveling party that took the Los Angeles area by storm over 35 years ago.

Purdue's appearance in the 1967 Rose Bowl was the pinnacle of the Boilermaker football program that has competed since 1887. And the Boilermaker faithful enjoyed every minute of the experience.

"We were just ecstatic to go to the Rose Bowl," recalled 1966 All-American end Jim Beirne. "The greatest thing was we won. A one-point victory might as well have been 50 points."

The Los Angeles media took a liking to the first-time visitors to Pasadena. Jack Mollenkopf's Midwestern outlook proved to be a breath of fresh air by seemingly enjoying all the time he spent with reporters. The only thing that irritated Mollenkopf was the constant reminder by the media that opponent USC, a 13-½ point underdog, was no match for his team.

It might have been a little case of "country comes to city" but the Purdue fans were excited to be there and it showed in all the pre-game festivities leading up to the game. Nearly 13,000 fans made their way West on planes, trains and buses. At the time, no one thought it would be 34 years until Purdue made a return trip to the Rose Bowl so it was a good thing that Boilermaker faithful acted like they would not be returning soon by soaking up every possible activity during the visit.

The game itself was expected to be a high-scoring affair. On a picture-perfect day, the 101,455 fans in attendance watched Purdue win the opening toss and march down the field. Senior quarterback and Heisman Trophy runner-up Bob Griese came out smokin' as the Boilermakers drove to the USC 5. The drive stalled as Purdue tried to convert on fourth down only to have a Griese pass to Beirne broken up on a great play by the Trojan secondary.

On Purdue's next possession, however, the Big Ten representative reverted to the conservative style that would dominate the rest of the game. A 17-play, 57-yard drive ended with a Perry Williams one-yard scoring plunge which gave the Boilers a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter.

SC answered scoring later in the period on a short run by Don McCall. The Trojans, who controlled the line of scrimmage in the second quarter, missed a 52-yard field goal just before intermission sending the teams into the locker rooms tied at 7.

Purdue got an early break in the third quarter when defensive end Bob Holmes recovered a Trojan fumble, but then quickly returned the favor to the Men of Troy. Griese, who completed 10-of-18 passes for 139 yards on the day, connected with Beirne on the longest gain of the day - a 39-yarder at the goal line that Beirne fumbled and the Trojan's Adrian Young recovered.

The stingy Purdue defense, which had only yielded six points in its previous three games, held USC at its own 20. Following a short punt, Purdue took over at the Trojan 37. Griese capitalized on the mistake hitting running back Bob Hurst for 13- and 14-yard gains before Williams crashed over from the 1-yard line giving Purdue a 14-7 lead.

Trojan coach John McKay (who was a Purdue halfback in the mid-1940s and later coached the NFL's Tampa Bay Bucs) finally got his offense going in the fourth quarter.

Quarterback Troy Winslow hit end Rod Sherman on a long pass play after sophomore defensive back Leroy Keyes tripped on Sherman's foot. Catavolos, made his initial heroic play of the game by streaking across the field to knock Sherman out-of-bounds at the 4, after a 52-yard gain.

The Boilermaker defense proved to be the difference. First round NFL pick and 1966 All-American defensive back John Charles was named game MVP. That is impressive since he was seeing his first action since a shoulder separation during an Oct. 22 loss at Michigan State.

USC could not punch it in from the 4 and linebacker Frank Burke, a 27-year old father of two, blocked a 29-yard Tim Rossovich field goal attempt. As you have read in earlier installents of GBI's Top 50 in 50, (No. 15 and No. 13), Burke practically single-handedly delivered Purdue to Pasadena with blocked punts in road wins at Michigan and Minnesota earlier in the season.

Not to be denied, USC stopped Purdue cold on its next possession. Helped by an off-sides call against the Boilermakers on a fourth-down punting situation, the Winslow-Sherman duo hooked up for a 19-yard scoring play with 2:28 left to cut the Trojan deficit to one.

Playing for a tie had become a hot topic in the last few weeks of the '66 season. Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian took a national title away from Michigan State by doing just that in the famous 10-10 deadlock just six weeks earlier.

McKay, to his credit, would have none of that. USC called its last time-out to map its strategy, giving Mollenkopf time to pull something out of his bag of tricks. Convinced the Trojans were going to pass, Purdue dropped seven men into coverage. Equally important, however, was the fact that the Boilers front four were able to put enough pressure on Winslow forcing him to hesitate for a split second. That slight hitch gave Catavolos time to jump into the right flat and make the most memorable interception in school history.

Purdue fell 21 seconds short of running out the clock following a Jack Calcaterra downing of USC's subsequent onside kick. With both flimsy Wooden goalposts being dismantled by the Purdue throng, the Trojans last-second scoring opportunity was thwarted by a pair of sacks by defensive lineman Fred Rafa.

Winning a first Rose Bowl is nothing to make light of. This is especially true considering Purdue's history of not doing it before or since. Yet, and we are splitting hairs here, the fact that the Boilermakers were a two-touchdown favorite and it turned into a slow-paced game is the only thing that keeps it from the top of our list. In the end, however, the game's drama was stark, as USC attempted a two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter that was intercepted by George Catavolos. The play preserved the win for Jack Mollenkopf's team.

Previous games:

No. 8: 2007 Motor City Bowl

No. 7: 1978 Peach Bowl

No. 6: 1980 Liberty Bowl

No: 5: 2002 Sun Bowl

No. 4: 1997 Alamo Bowl

No. 3: 1979 Bluebonnet Bowl

Check back tomorrow morning as we post our top bowl game in Boilermaker history.

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