1978 USC Trojans football team
1978 USC Trojans football | |
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Coaches Poll national champion Pac-10 champion Rose Bowl champion | |
Conference | Pacific-10 Conference |
Ranking | |
Coaches | No. 1 |
AP | No. 2 |
Record | 12–1 (6–1 Pac-10) |
Head coach |
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Captain | Lynn Cain Rich Dimler |
Home stadium | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum |
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 2 USC $ | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 12 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 14 UCLA | 6 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 3 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Washington | 6 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arizona State | 4 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 17 Stanford | 4 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
California | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arizona | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Oregon | 2 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 9 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Oregon State | 2 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 7 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Washington State | 1 | – | 7 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 7 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1978 USC Trojans football team represented the
AP Poll title because it had defeated top-ranked Penn State in the Sugar Bowl, the Trojans felt they deserved the title since they had defeated Alabama and Notre Dame during the regular season, and then Michigan in the Rose Bowl.[1]
Both USC and Alabama ended their seasons with a single loss.
This would be the last national championship won by the Trojans until 2003.
Schedule
Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Attendance | Source |
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September 09 | Los Angeles, CA | W 17–9 | 50,321 | |||
September 16 | at Oregon | No. 8 | W 37–10 | 31,000 | ||
September 23 | at No. 1 Alabama* | No. 7 | W 24–14 | 77,313 | [2] | |
September 29 | Michigan State* | No. 3 |
| W 30–9 | 65,319 | |
October 14 | at Sun Devil Stadium | L 7–20 | 70,138 | |||
October 21 | Oregon State | No. 7 |
| W 38–7 | 53,734 | |
October 28 | California | No. 6 |
| W 42–17 | 56,954 | |
November 4 | at Stanford | No. 6 | W 13–7 | 84,084 | ||
November 11 | No. 19 Washington | No. 5 |
| W 28–10 | 54,071 | |
November 18 | at No. 14 UCLA | No. 5 |
| W 17–10 | 90,387 | |
November 25 | No. 8 Notre Dame* | No. 3 |
| W 27–25 | 84,256 | |
December 2 | at Hawaii* | No. 3 | W 21–5 | 48,767 | ||
January 1, 1979 | vs. No. 5 Michigan* | No. 3 | W 17–10 | 105,629 | [3][4] | |
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Personnel
1978 USC Trojans football team roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Offense
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Defense
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Special teams
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Game summaries
Notre Dame
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Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl: Michigan Wolverines vs. USC Trojans
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Michigan | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
USC | 7 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
at Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
- Date: January 1
- Game attendance: 105,629
- TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy, John Brodie, and O.J. Simpson
- Recap/Box
Game information | ||
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1978 Trojans in the NFL
All 22 starters played in the NFL.[6]
- Marcus Allen
- Chip Banks
- Lynn Cain
- Rich Dimler
- Ronnie Lott
- Anthony Muñoz
- Charles White
- Brad Budde
- Garry Cobb
- Larry Braziel
- Paul McDonald
- Riki Gray
- Ray Butler
- Steve Busick
- Keith Van Horne
- Dennis Smith
- Allen, Lott, and Muñoz are the only three starters on the team enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Awards and honors
Charles White: Heisman trophy, Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, UPI Player of the Year
References
- Baltimore, Maryland. January 2, 1979. p. C7. Retrieved May 13, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Trojans' Late Field Goal Stymies Irish Comeback." Palm Beach Post. 1978 Nov 26.
- ^ Sikahema, Vai (March 25, 2011). "Vai's View: What's in a name? Bobby Salazar knows". Deseret News. Retrieved February 13, 2019.