Jump to content

1978 USC Trojans football team

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1978 USC Trojans football
122 × 182
Coaches Poll national champion
Pac-10 champion
Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 17–10 vs. Michigan
ConferencePacific-10 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 1
APNo. 2
Record12–1 (6–1 Pac-10)
Head coach
CaptainLynn Cain
Rich Dimler
Home stadiumLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Seasons
← 1977
1979 →
1978 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
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
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1978 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California in the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. Following the season, the Trojans were crowned national champions according to the Coaches Poll. While Alabama claimed 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

[edit]
DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 9Texas TechNo. 9
W 17–950,321[2]
September 16at OregonNo. 8
W 37–1031,000[3]
September 23at No. 1 Alabama*No. 7
W 24–1477,313[4]
September 29Michigan State*No. 3
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 30–965,319[5]
October 14at Arizona StateNo. 2
L 7–2070,138[6]
October 21Oregon StatedaggerNo. 7
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 38–753,734[7]
October 28CaliforniaNo. 6
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 42–1756,954[8]
November 4at StanfordNo. 6
W 13–784,084[9]
November 11No. 19 WashingtonNo. 5
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 28–1054,071[10]
November 18at No. 14 UCLANo. 5
W 17–1090,387[11]
November 25No. 8 Notre Dame*No. 3
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)
W 27–2584,256[12]
December 2at Hawaii*No. 3
W 21–548,767[13]
January 1, 1979vs. No. 5 Michigan*No. 3
W 17–10105,629[14][15]
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[16]

Personnel

[edit]
1978 USC Trojans football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB Marcus Allen
TE Hoby Brenner
OL Brad Budde
WR Ray Butler
RB Lynn Cain (C)
RB Paul DiLulo
RB Dwight Ford
WR Dan Garcia
WR Michael Hayes
OL Pat Howell
TE James Hunter
QB Paul McDonald
OL Anthony Muñoz
OL Otis Page
OL Ray Peters
QB Rob Preston
TE Vic Rakhshani
QB Walt Ransom
WR Calvin Sweeney
OL Keith Van Horne
RB Charles White
WR Kevin Williams
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DL Chip Banks
DB Larry Braziel
DL Gary Cobb
DB Willie Crawford
DL Rich Dimler (C)
DL Dennis Edwards
LB Riki Ellison
DB Carter Hartwig
LB Dennis Johnson
DL Myron Lapka
DB Tim Lavender
DB Ronnie Lott
LB Larry McGrew
LB Charlie Moses
LB Eric Scoggins
DB Dennis Smith
DL Ty Sperling
DB Herb Ward
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K Frank Jordan
P Marty King
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

1978 Trojans in the NFL

[edit]

All 22 starters played in the NFL.[17]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "USC Claims Title". The Evening Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. January 2, 1979. p. C7. Retrieved May 13, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "USC booed, then tips Tech". The Columbian. September 10, 1978. Retrieved October 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "White, defense make difference". The Daily Breeze. September 17, 1978. Retrieved October 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "USC has No. 1 'Bama on the run, 24–14". Los Angeles Times. September 24, 1978. Retrieved October 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Trojans roll past Spartans". The Arizona Republic. October 1, 1978. Retrieved October 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Arizona State shocks USC, 20–7". The Blade-Tribune. October 15, 1978. Retrieved October 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Southern Cal rips Oregon State 38–7". Daily Press. October 22, 1978. Retrieved October 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "McDonald TD passes help USC maul Bears". The Miami Herald. October 29, 1978. Retrieved October 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Did Stanford let USC have game?". The San Francisco Examiner. November 5, 1978. Retrieved October 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "USC has to win and does". The Los Angeles Times. November 12, 1978. Retrieved October 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "USC rips UCLA for Roses". The Sacramento Bee. November 19, 1978. Retrieved October 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Jordan provides punch for Irish wake". Ventura County Star & Free Press. November 26, 1978. Retrieved October 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Hawaii makes USC sweat before surrndering, 21–5". The Los Angeles Times. December 3, 1978. Retrieved October 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Mal Florence (January 2, 1979). "USC Wins Rose Bowl but the Replay's a Tie: White Scores (or Did He?) as Trojans Beat Michigan, 17-10". Los Angeles Times. pp. III-1, III-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Tom Henderson (January 2, 1979). "Phantom TD helps Southern Cal -- Michigan's Roses wilt again, 17-10". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1D, 5D – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "1978 USC Trojans Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  17. ^ Sikahema, Vai (March 25, 2011). "Vai's View: What's in a name? Bobby Salazar knows". Deseret News. Archived from the original on March 26, 2011. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1978_USC_Trojans_football_team&oldid=1256033619"