1978 USC Trojans football team

1978 USC Trojans football
1978 USC Trojans football
Coaches Poll national champion; Pac-10 champion; Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 17–10 vs. Michigan
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 2
Record	12–1 (6–1 Pac-10)
Head coach	John Robinson (3rd season);
Captains	Lynn Cain; Rich Dimler;
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
	Seasons ← 1977 1979 →

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.

CoachesNo. 1

APNo. 2

Record12–1 (6–1 Pac-10)

Quick facts USC Trojans football, Coaches Poll national championPac-10 championRose Bowl champion ...

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1978 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
v t e	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

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

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9	Texas Tech*	No. 9	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 17–9	50,321	^[2]
September 16	at Oregon	No. 8	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR		W 37–10	31,000	^[3]
September 23	at No. 1 Alabama*	No. 7	Legion Field Birmingham, AL		W 24–14	77,313	^[4]
September 29	Michigan State*	No. 3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 30–9	65,319	^[5]
October 14	at Arizona State	No. 2	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ		L 7–20	70,138	^[6]
October 21	Oregon State	No. 7	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 38–7	53,734	^[7]
October 28	California	No. 6	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 42–17	56,954	^[8]
November 4	at Stanford	No. 6	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)		W 13–7	84,084	^[9]
November 11	No. 19 Washington	No. 5	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 28–10	54,071	^[10]
November 18	at No. 14 UCLA	No. 5	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)		W 17–10	90,387	^[11]
November 25	No. 8 Notre Dame*	No. 3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)		W 27–25	84,256	^[12]
December 2	at Hawaii*	No. 3	Aloha Stadium Halawa, HI		W 21–5	48,767	^[13]
January 1, 1979	vs. No. 5 Michigan*	No. 3	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	NBC	W 17–10	105,629	^[14]^[15]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game Source: ^[16]

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Notre Dame	3	0	3	19	25
• USC	6	11	7	3	27


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 27–25

Schedule

1978 USC Trojans football

Coaches Poll national champion Pac-10 champion Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 17–10 vs. Michigan
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 2
Record	12–1 (6–1 Pac-10)
Head coach	John Robinson (3rd season)
Captains	Lynn Cain Rich Dimler
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Seasons ← 1977 1979 →