1979 USC Trojans football team

The 1979 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fourth year under head coach John Robinson, the Trojans compiled an 11–0–1 record (6–0–1 against conference opponents), won the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) championship, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 389 to 171.[2] The team was ranked #2 in both the final AP Poll and the final UPI Coaches Poll.

1979 USC Trojans football
National champion (Football Research) Rose Bowl champion Pac-10 champion
Rose Bowl, W 17–16 vs. Ohio State
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 2
1979 record	11–0–1 (6–0–1 Pac-10)
Head coach	John Robinson (4th season)
Captains	Dennis Johnson Charles White
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (c. 94,500, grass)

1979 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 USC $	6	–	0	–	1			11	–	0	–	1
No. 11 Washington	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Arizona	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	1
Oregon	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
California	5	–	4	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
Stanford	3	–	3	–	1			5	–	5	–	1
Arizona State †	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
UCLA	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Washington State	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Oregon State	1	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion † – Arizona State later forfeited 5 wins (3 in conference) due to NCAA sanctions[1] Rankings from AP Poll

Quarterback Paul McDonald led the team in passing, completing 164 of 264 passes for 2,223 yards with 18 touchdowns and six interceptions. Charles White led the team in rushing with 332 carries for 2,050 yards and 19 touchdowns. Dan Garcia led the team in receiving with 29 catches for 492 yards and three touchdowns.[3]

The team was named national champion by the College Football Researchers Association, an NCAA-designated major selector.[4]^:114

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 8	at Texas Tech*	No. 1	Jones Stadium Lubbock, TX		W 21–7	52,991
September 15	at Oregon State	No. 1	Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR	ONTV	W 42–5	32,000
September 22	Minnesota*	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 48–14	61,766
September 29	at No. 20 LSU*	No. 1	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA		W 17–12	78,322
October 6	Washington State	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 50–21	55,117
October 13	Stanford	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)		T 21–21	76,067
October 20	at No. 9 Notre Dame*	No. 4	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (Jeweled Shillelagh)	ABC	W 42–23	59,075
October 27	at California	No. 3	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA		W 24–14	76,780
November 3	Arizona	No. 3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 34–7	62,054
November 10	at No. 15 Washington	No. 4	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	ABC	W 24–17	60,527
November 24	UCLA	No. 4	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	KABC	W 49–14	88,214
January 1	vs. No. 1 Ohio State*	No. 3	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	NBC	W 17–16	105,526
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

Stanford

• Charles White 32 rushes, 221 yards [5]

at Notre Dame

1 2 3 4 Total • USC 0 7 14 21 42 Notre Dame 0 7 7 9 23 Date: October 20 Location: South Bend, Indiana Source:

Scoring summary 2 USC Garcia 12-yard pass from McDonald (Hipp kick) USC 7-0 2 ND Ferguson 1-yard run (Male kick) Tied 7-7 3 USC White 3-yard run (Hipp kick) USC 14-7 3 USC White 1-yard run (Hipp kick) USC 21-7 3 ND Ferguson 21-yard run (Male kick) USC 21-14 4 USC Williams 12-yard pass from McDonald (Hipp kick) USC 28-14 4 ND Stone 2-yard run (kick failed) USC 28-20 4 USC White 1-yard run (Hipp kick) USC 35-20 4 USC White 1-yard run (Hipp kick) USC 42-20 4 ND Male 42-yard field goal USC 42-23

• Charles White 44 rushes, 261 yards [6]

Washington

1 2 3 4 Total • USC 0 10 7 7 24 Washington 3 0 7 7 17 Date: November 10 Location: Husky Stadium, Seattle Game attendance: 60,527 TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson Frank Broyles

Scoring summary 1 WASH Lansford 30-yard field goal WASH 3-0 2 USC Garcia 8-yard pass from McDonald (Hipp kick) USC 7-3 2 USC Hipp 31-yard field goal USC 10-3 3 USC K. Williams 19-yard pass from McDonald (Hipp kick) USC 17-3 3 WASH Flick 1-yard run (Lansford kick) USC 17-10 4 WASH Skansi 12-yard pass from Flick (Lansford kick) Tied 17-17 4 USC M. Allen 10-yard run (Hipp kick) USC 24-17

[7]

• Charles White 38 rushes, 243 yards [8]

Rose Bowl (vs. Ohio State)

• Charles White 39 rushes, 247 yards[9]

Roster

1979 USC Trojans football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 33 Marcus Allen So TE 89 Hoby Brenner Jr G 71 Brad Budde Sr WR 86 Ray Butler Sr C 68 Chris Foote Sr G 64 Roy Foster So TE 85 James Hunter Jr C 66 Bruce Matthews Fr QB 16 Paul McDonald Sr T 72 Don Mosebar Fr T 77 Anthony Muñoz Sr WR 26 Danny Garcia Sr T 68 Keith Van Horne Jr RB 12 Charles White Sr WR 8 Kevin Williams Jr	Defense Herb Ward DB #23???? Pos. # Name Class LB 51 Chip Banks So DT 94 Bryon Darby Fr S 47 Joey Browner Fr LB 54 Steve Busick Jr LB 87 August Curley Fr CB 40 Jeff Fisher Jr LB 56 Dennis Johnson Sr DT 96 Myron Lapka Sr FS 42 Ronnie Lott Jr LB 58 Mike McDonald Sr LB 57 Larry McGrew Sr LB 81 Eric Scoggins Jr DB 49 Dennis Smith Jr DT 93 Kelly Thomas Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach John Robinson Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

1979 Team Players in the NFL

• Marcus Allen
• Chip Banks
• Joey Browner
• Ronnie Lott
• Dennis Smith
• Jeff Fisher
• Chris Foote
• Bruce Matthews
• Don Mosebar
• Anthony Muñoz
• Keith Van Horne
• Charles White

Paul McDonald Hoby Brenner Roy Foster

Awards and honors

• Brad Budde, Lombardi Award
• Charles White, Heisman Trophy[10]
• Charles White, Maxwell Award
• Charles White, Walter Camp Award

References

1. "2017 Media Guide" (PDF). thesundevils.com. ASU Athletics. p. 127. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
2. "Southern California Yearly Results (1975-1979)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
3. "1979 Southern California Trojans Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
4. 2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). Indianapolis: National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2018. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
5. 2020 USC Media Guide Supplement
6. 2020 USC Media Guide Supplement
7. "USC Wins Bowl Berth Unless...". The Register-Guard. Eugene. November 11, 1979.
8. 2020 USC Media Guide Supplement
9. 2020 USC Media Guide Supplement
10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-04-11. Retrieved 2007-04-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)