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1978 USC Trojans football team

American college football season

Field	Value
year	1978
team	USC Trojans
sport	football
image	USC Trojans logo.svg
image_size	122 × 182
conference	Pacific-10 Conference
short_conf	Pac-10
CoachRank	1
APRank	2
record	12–1
conf_record	6–1
head_coach	John Robinson
hc_year	3rd
captain	Lynn Cain
captain2	Rich Dimler
stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
champion	Coaches Poll national champion
Pac-10 champion
Rose Bowl champion
bowl	[Rose Bowl](1979-rose-bowl)
bowl_result	W 17–10 vs. [Michigan](1978-michigan-wolverines-football-team)

Pac-10 champion Rose Bowl champion 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. 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

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Game summaries

Notre Dame

Rose Bowl

Main article: 1979 Rose Bowl

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
MICH – Rick Leach – 10/21, 137 yards, TD, 2 INT
USC – Paul McDonald – 4/9, 23 yards, TD ;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

Roster

John Robinson

1978 Trojans in the NFL

All 22 starters played in the NFL.

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.

References

(January 2, 1979). "USC Claims Title". [[The Baltimore Sun.
(September 10, 1978). "USC booed, then tips Tech". The Columbian.
(September 17, 1978). "White, defense make difference". The Daily Breeze.
(September 24, 1978). "USC has No. 1 'Bama on the run, 24–14". [[Los Angeles Times]].
(October 1, 1978). "Trojans roll past Spartans". The Arizona Republic.
(October 15, 1978). "Arizona State shocks USC, 20–7". The Blade-Tribune.
(October 22, 1978). "Southern Cal rips Oregon State 38–7". Daily Press.
(October 29, 1978). "McDonald TD passes help USC maul Bears". The Miami Herald.
(November 5, 1978). "Did Stanford let USC have game?". The San Francisco Examiner.
(November 12, 1978). "USC has to win and does". The Los Angeles Times.
(November 19, 1978). "USC rips UCLA for Roses". The Sacramento Bee.
(November 26, 1978). "Jordan provides punch for Irish wake". Ventura County Star & Free Press.
(December 3, 1978). "Hawaii makes USC sweat before surrndering, 21–5". The Los Angeles Times.
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.
Tom Henderson. (January 2, 1979). "Phantom TD helps Southern Cal -- Michigan's Roses wilt again, 17-10". Detroit Free Press.
"1978 USC Trojans Schedule and Results". Sports Reference LLC.
[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=mq6pegT_rlEC&dat=19781126&printsec=frontpage&hl=en "Trojans' Late Field Goal Stymies Irish Comeback." Palm Beach Post. 1978 Nov 26.]
Sikahema, Vai. (2011-03-25). "Vai's View: What's in a name? Bobby Salazar knows". Deseret News.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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