1968 USC Trojans football team

1968 USC Trojans football
Pac-8 champion
Rose Bowl, L 16–27 vs. Ohio State
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 4
1968 record	9–1–1 (6–0 Pac-8)
Head coach	John McKay (9th season)
Captains	O. J. Simpson Steve Sogge
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (c. 94,500, grass)
Seasons ← 1967 1969 →

1968 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
v t	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 USC $	6	–	0	–	0			9	–	1	–	1
No. 15 Oregon State	5	–	1	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Stanford	3	–	3	–	1			6	–	3	–	1
California	2	–	2	–	1			7	–	3	–	1
Oregon	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
UCLA	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
Washington State	1	–	3	–	1			3	–	6	–	1
Washington	1	–	5	–	1			3	–	5	–	2
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1968 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1968 NCAA University Division football season. In their ninth year under head coach John McKay, the Trojans compiled a 9–1–1 record (6–0 against conference opponents), won the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) championship, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 259 to 168.^[1] The team was ranked #2 in the final Coaches Poll and #4 in the final AP Poll.

Steve Sogge led the team in passing, completing 122 of 207 passes for 1,454 yards with nine touchdowns and nine interceptions. O. J. Simpson led the team in rushing with 383 carries for 1,880 yards and 23 touchdowns. Jim Lawrence led the team in receiving with 26 catches for 386 yards and two touchdowns.^[2] Simpson won both the Heisman Trophy and the Walter Camp Award.

Schedule[]

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 21	at No. 16 Minnesota*	No. 2	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 29–20	60,820
September 28	at Northwestern*	No. 3	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 24–7	47,277
October 5	No. 13 Miami (FL)*	No. 2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 28–3	71,189
October 12	at No. 18 Stanford	No. 2	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	W 27–24	81,000
October 19	Washington	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 14–7	60,990
November 2	at Oregon	No. 1	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	W 20–13	33,500
November 9	No. 11 California	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 35–17	80,871
November 16	No. 13 Oregon State	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 17–13	59,236
November 23	at UCLA	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	W 28–16	75,066
November 30	No. 9 Notre Dame*	No. 2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Jeweled Shillelagh)	T 21–21	82,659
January 1, 1969	vs. No. 1 Ohio State*	No. 2	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	L 16–27	102,063
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster[]

1968 USC Trojans football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 9 Bob Chandler So QB 7 Mike Holmgren Jr TE 84 Bob Klein Sr WR 28 Jim Lawrence Sr TE 86 Bob Miller Sr T 78 Marv Montgomery Jr QB 6 Steve Sogge Sr RB 32 O. J. Simpson Sr T 77 Sid Smith Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class FS 17 Mike Battle Sr DT 72 Al Cowlings Jr CB 16 Sandy Durko Jr DE 83 Jimmy Gunn Jr DE 85 Bill Hayhoe Sr LB 55 Jim Snow Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach John McKay Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Source:^[3][4][5]

Rankings[]

Game summaries[]

Minnesota[]

• OJ Simpson 39 rushes, 236 yards ^[6]

Miami (FL)[]

Stanford[]

• O.J. Simpson 47 rushes, 220 yards ^[7]

Oregon State[]

• O.J. Simpson 47 rushes, 238 yards ^[8]

Notre Dame[]

^[9]

vs. Ohio State (Rose Bowl)[]

No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 2 USC

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 1 Buckeyes 0 10 3 14 27 No. 2 Trojans 0 10 0 6 16 Date: January 1, 1969 Location: Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA Game start: 5:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 102,063 Game weather: Sunny; 84°F Referee: Charles Moffett TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy Kyle Rote

Scoring summary 2 9:40 USC Ayala 21-yard field goal USC 3–0 2 6:38 USC Simpson 80-yard run (Ayala kick) USC 10–0 2 1:45 OSU Otis 1-yard run (Roman kick) USC 10–7 2 0:03 OSU Roman 26-yard field goal Tie 10–10 3 1:40 OSU Roman 25-yard field goal OSU 13–10 4 13:52 OSU Hayden 4-yard pass from Kern (Roman kick) OSU 20–10 4 10:05 OSU Gillian 16-yard pass from Kern (Roman kick) OSU 27–10 4 0:45 USC Dickerson 19-yard pass from Sogge (pass failed) OSU 27–16

Awards and honors[]

• O. J. Simpson, Heisman Trophy^[10]
• O. J. Simpson, Walter Camp Award

1969 NFL Draft[]

The following players were drafted into professional football following the season.

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
O.J. Simpson	Running back	1	1	Buffalo Bills
Bob Klein	Tight end	1	21	Los Angeles Rams
Bill Hayhoe	Defensive tackle	5	116	Green Bay Packers
Bob Miller	Tackle	6	138	New Orleans Saints
Jim Lawrence	Back	8	189	New Orleans Saints
Jack O’Malley	Tackle	12	302	San Francisco 49ers
Mike Battle	Defensive back	12	311	New York Jets
Wilson Bowie	Running back	13	320	Detroit Lions

^[11]

References[]