American college football season
1978 USC Trojans football Conference Pacific-10 Conference Coaches No. 1 AP No. 2 1978 record 12–1 (6–1 Pac-10) Head coach Captain Lynn Cain Rich Dimler Home stadium Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Seasons
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
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.
Schedule [ ]
The Trojans finished the regular season with an 11–1 record before going on to defeat the Michigan Wolverines 17–10 in the Rose Bowl .
Date Opponent Rank Site Result Attendance September 9 Texas Tech * No. 9 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA W 17–950,321
September 16 at Oregon No. 8 W 37–1031,000
September 23 at No. 1 Alabama * No. 7 Legion Field Birmingham, AL W 24–1477,313
September 29 Michigan State * No. 3 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA W 30–965,319
October 14 at Arizona State No. 2 Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ L 7–2070,138
October 21 Oregon State No. 7 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA W 38–753,734
October 28 California No. 6 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA W 42–1756,954
November 4 at Stanford No. 6 Stanford Stadium Palo Alto, CA (rivalry )W 13–784,084
November 11 No. 19 Washington No. 5 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA W 28–1054,071
November 18 at No. 14 UCLA No. 5 W 17–1090,387
November 25 No. 8 Notre Dame * No. 3 W 27–2584,256
December 2 at Hawaii * No. 3 Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI W 21–548,767
January 1, 1979 vs. No. 5 Michigan * No. 3 W 17–10105,629
*Non-conference game HomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
Personnel [ ]
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 Gray
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 [ ]
Notre Dame [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Notre Dame
3
0 3 19
25
• USC
6
11 7 3
27
Date: November 25Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum , Los Angeles Game attendance: 84,256
Scoring summary 1 USC Williams 50-yard pass from McDonald (kick failed) USC 6-0
1 ND Unis 47-yard field goal USC 6-3
2 USC Garcia 35-yard pass from McDonald (McDonald to Hunter pass) USC 14-3
2 USC Jordan 39-yard field goal USC 17-3
3 ND Unis 26-yard field goal USC 17-6
3 7:38 USC White 1-yard run (Jordan kick) USC 24-6
4 12:26 ND Haines 57-yard pass from Montana (pass failed) USC 24-12
4 3:01 ND Buchanan 1-yard run (Unis kick) USC 24-19
4 0:46 ND Holohan 2-yard pass from Montana (pass failed) ND 25-24
4 0:02 USC Jordan 37-yard field goal USC 27-26
[2]
Rose Bowl [ ]
See also: 1978 Michigan Wolverines football team
Rose Bowl: Michigan Wolverines vs. USC Trojans
1
2
3 4 Total
Michigan
0
3
7 0 10
USC
7
10
0 0 17
at Rose Bowl , Pasadena, California
Date : Game attendance : 105,629TV announcers (NBC ) : Curt Gowdy , John Brodie , and O.J. Simpson Recap/Box
Game information
First quarter
USC – Hoby Brenner 9-yard pass from Paul McDonald (Frank Jordan kick). USC 7–0. Drive:
Second quarter
MICH – Gregg Willner 36-yard field goal. USC 7–3. Drive:
USC – Charles White 3-yard run (Frank Jordan kick). USC 14–3. Drive:
USC – Frank Jordan 35-yard field goal. USC 17–3. Drive:
Third quarter
MICH – R. Smith 44-yard pass from Rick Leach (Gregg Willner kick). USC 17–10. Drive:
Top passers
Top rushers
MICH – Russell Davis – 8 rushes, 28 yards
USC – Charles White – 32 rushes, 99 yards, TD
Top receivers
MICH – Roosevelt Smith – 4 receptions, 58 yards, TD
USC – Dan Garcia – 1 reception, 12 yards
1978 Trojans in the NFL [ ]
All 22 starters played in the NFL.[3]
Awards and honors [ ]
Charles White: Heisman trophy, Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, UPI Player of the Year
References [ ]
Venues
Athletic Park (1895–98)
Fiesta Park (1897–98, 1902, 1904–06, 1916)
Chutes Park (1900)
Prager Park (1903)
Bovard Field (1904–10, 1914–15, 1917–22)
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (1923–present)
Jones Field/Kennedy Field (practice)
Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold
1936–1949 1950s 1960s
1960 : Minnesota (AP, Coaches, NFF ) / Ole Miss (FWAA)
1961 : Alabama (AP, Coaches, NFF) / Ohio State (FWAA)
1962 : USC
1963 : Texas
1964 : Alabama (AP, Coaches) / Arkansas (FWAA) / Notre Dame (NFF)
1965 : Alabama (AP, FWAA) / Michigan State (Coaches, FWAA, NFF)
1966 : Notre Dame (AP, Coaches, FWAA, NFF) / Michigan State (NFF)
1967 : USC
1968 : Ohio State
1969 : Texas
1970s
1970 : Nebraska (AP, FWAA) / Texas (NFF, Coaches) / Ohio State (NFF)
1971 : Nebraska
1972 : USC
1973 : Notre Dame (AP, FWAA, NFF) / Alabama (Coaches)
1974 : Oklahoma (AP) / USC (FWAA, NFF, Coaches)
1975 : Oklahoma
1976 : Pittsburgh
1977 : Notre Dame
1978 : Alabama (AP, FWAA, NFF) / USC (Coaches)
1979 : Alabama
1980–1991
1980 : Georgia
1981 : Clemson
1982 : Penn State
1983 : Miami (FL)
1984 : BYU
1985 : Oklahoma
1986 : Penn State
1987 : Miami (FL)
1988 : Notre Dame
1989 : Miami (FL)
1990 : Colorado (AP, FWAA, NFF, USAT /CNN ) / Georgia Tech (Coaches)
1991 : Miami (FL) (AP) / Washington (Coaches, FWAA, UPI /NFF)
Pacific Coast AAWU Pacific-8
USC (1968)
USC (1969)
Stanford (1970)
Stanford (1971)
USC (1972)
USC (1973)
USC (1974)
California & UCLA (1975)
USC (1976)
Washington (1977)
Pacific-10
USC (1978)
USC (1979)
Washington (1980)
Washington (1981)
UCLA (1982)
UCLA (1983)
USC (1984)
UCLA (1985)
Arizona State (1986)
USC & UCLA (1987)
USC (1988)
USC (1989)
Washington (1990)
Washington (1991)
Washington & Stanford (1992)
Arizona , UCLA , & USC (1993)
Oregon (1994)
USC & Washington (1995)
Arizona State (1996)
UCLA & Washington State (1997)
UCLA (1998)
Stanford (1999)
Oregon , Oregon State , & Washington (2000)
Oregon (2001)
USC & Washington State (2002)
USC (2003)
USC (2004) vacated
USC (2005) vacated
California & USC (2006)
Arizona State & USC (2007)
USC (2008)
Oregon (2009)
Oregon (2010)
Pac-12 National championships in bold