1978 USC Trojans football team

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.

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

This would be the last national championship won by the Trojans until 2003.

Schedule edit

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 09Texas TechNo. 9W 17–950,321
September 16at OregonNo. 8W 37–1031,000
September 23at No. 1 Alabama*No. 7W 24–1477,313[2]
September 29Michigan State*No. 3
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 30–965,319
October 14at Arizona StateNo. 2L 7–2070,138
October 21Oregon State No. 7
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 38–753,734
October 28CaliforniaNo. 6
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 42–1756,954
November 4at StanfordNo. 6W 13–784,084
November 11No. 19 WashingtonNo. 5
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 28–1054,071
November 18at No. 14 UCLANo. 5
W 17–1090,387
November 25No. 8 Notre Dame*No. 3
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)
W 27–2584,256
December 2at Hawaii*No. 3W 21–548,767
January 1, 1979vs. No. 5 Michigan*No. 3W 17–10105,629[3][4]
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

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
  •   Redshirt

Game summaries edit

Notre Dame edit

1 234Total
Notre Dame 3 0319 25
USC 6 1173 27

[5]

Rose Bowl edit

Rose Bowl: Michigan Wolverines vs. USC Trojans
Period 1 2 34Total
Michigan 0 3 7010
USC 7 10 0017

at Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California

Game information

1978 Trojans in the NFL edit

All 22 starters played in the NFL.[6]

Awards and honors edit

Charles White: Heisman trophy, Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, UPI Player of the Year

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 has No. 1 'Bama on the run, 24–14". Los Angeles Times. September 24, 1978. Retrieved October 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ "Trojans' Late Field Goal Stymies Irish Comeback." Palm Beach Post. 1978 Nov 26.
  6. ^ Sikahema, Vai (March 25, 2011). "Vai's View: What's in a name? Bobby Salazar knows". Deseret News. Retrieved February 13, 2019.