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1972 USC Trojans football
Consensus national champion
Pac-8 champion
Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 42–17 vs. Ohio State
Conference Pacific-8 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 1
APNo. 1
Record12–0 (7–0 Pac-8)
Head coach
Captains
Home stadium Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Seasons
←  1971
1973 →
1972 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 USC $ 7 0 0 12 0 0
No. 15 UCLA 5 2 0 8 3 0
No. 19 Washington State 4 3 0 7 4 0
Washington 4 3 0 8 3 0
California 3 4 0 3 8 0
Oregon 2 5 0 5 6 0
Stanford 2 5 0 6 5 0
Oregon State 1 6 0 2 9 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1972 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) during the 1972 NCAA University Division football season. The Trojans won all 12 of their games and were consensus national champions.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendance
September 9at No. 4 Arkansas*No. 8W 31–1054,461
September 16 Oregon StateNo. 1W 51–656,305
September 23at Illinois*No. 1W 55–2061,277
September 30 Michigan State*No. 1
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 51–663,934
October 7at No. 15 StanfordNo. 1W 30–2184,000
October 14 CaliforniaNo. 1
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 42–1456,488
October 21No. 18 WashingtondaggerNo. 1
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 34–759,151
October 28 OregonNo. 1W 18–032,000
November 4vs. Washington StateNo. 1W 44–346,000
November 18at No. 14 UCLANo. 1
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA ( Victory Bell)
W 24–782,929
December 2No. 10 Notre Dame*No. 1
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA ( rivalry)
W 45–2375,243
January 1, 1973vs. No. 3 Ohio State*No. 1W 42–17106,869
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1972 USC Trojans football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
QB 10 Pat Haden So
QB 6 Mike Rae Sr
RB Allen Carter So
RB 39 Sam Cunningham Sr
RB 28 Anthony Davis So
RB 27 Rod McNeill Jr
WR 22 Lynn Swann Jr
OT 77 Pete Adams Sr
TE 89 Charle Young Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DE John Grant
DT Karl Lorch
DT Jeff Winans
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 6 Mike Rae Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt
Source: [1] [2]

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre12345678910111213Final
AP81 (13)1 (28)1 (28)1 (36)1 (34)1(28)1 (44)1 (41)1 (40)1 (42)1 (44)1 (46)1 (50)1 (50)
Coaches82 (11)1 (14)1 (20)1 (22)1 (21)1 (22)1 (32)1 (31)1 (27)1 (31)1 (31)1 (31)1 (35)Not released

Game summaries

At No. 4 Arkansas

1 234Total
No. 8 Trojans 0 31414 31
No. 4 Razorbacks 3 007 10
   

Tailback Rod McNeill, who sat out the previous year with a hip injury, led the Trojans with 117 yards on 28 carries while Mike Rae, a backup for two seasons, completed 18 of 24 passes for 269 yards and in the second half completed nine straight passes at one point in his first start. [3]

Oregon State

1 234Total
Beavers 0 600 6
No. 1 Trojans 7 131714 51

[4]

  • Anthony Davis 25 rushes, 206 yards [5]

At Illinois

1 234Total
No. 1 Trojans 7 131520 55
Fighting Illini 7 760 20

[6] [7]

Michigan State

1 234Total
Spartans 0 600 6
No. 1 Trojans 14 7327 51
     

[8]

At No. 15 Stanford

1 234Total
No. 1 Trojans 13 737 30
No. 15 Cardinals 10 308 21

[9]

California

1 234Total
Golden Bears 0 077 14
No. 1 Trojans 14 7147 42

[10]

No. 18 Washington

1 234Total
Huskies 0 007 7
No. 1 Trojans 7 13140 34

[11]

Oregon

1 234Total
No. 1 Trojans 0 0126 18
Webfoots 0 000 0

On a very rainy and cold day, the Trojans were held to their lowest score of the season.

[12] [13] [14]

Washington State

1 234Total
No. 1 Trojans 3 14720 44
Cougars 3 000 3

[15]

At No. 14 UCLA

1 234Total
No. 1 Trojans 10 770 24
No. 14 Bruins 7 000 7
  

Anthony Davis 25 Rush, 178 Yds

[16]

No. 10 Notre Dame

1 234Total
No. 10 Fighting Irish 3 7130 23
No. 1 Trojans 19 01313 45
       

[17]

Vs. No. 3 Ohio State (Rose Bowl)

1 234Total
No. 3 Buckeyes 0 737 17
No. 1 Trojans 7 02114 42
     

[18]

NFL Draft

Ten Trojans were selected in the 1973 NFL Draft, with three in the first round.

References

  1. ^ "Starting lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). October 28, 1972. p. 1B.
  2. ^ "TV bowl rosters: Rose Bowl". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. January 1, 1973. p. 62.
  3. ^ "U.S.C. Turns Back Arkansas, 31-10". The New York Times. September 10, 1972. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
  4. ^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Sept 17.
  5. ^ 2020 USC Media Guide Supplement
  6. ^ "USC Buries Illinois." 1972 Sept 24.
  7. ^ "Trojans Rip Illinois." Palm Beach Post. 1972 Sept 24.
  8. ^ "Top-rated Trojans blitz Sparts, 51–6." Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Oct 1.
  9. ^ "USC gets revenge as Cards halted." Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Oct 8.
  10. ^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Oct 15.
  11. ^ "Trojans overpower Washington by 34-7." Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Oct 22.
  12. ^ Cawood, Neil (October 29, 1972). "Ducks, Fouts kayoed by Trojans". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1C.
  13. ^ "Davis leads Southern Cal past Oregon". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. October 29, 1972. p. D-8.
  14. ^ "Ducks stubborn, but finally fall". The Bulletin. (Bend, Oregon). UPI. October 30, 1972. p. 9.
  15. ^ "Eugene Register-Guard - Google News Archive Search".
  16. ^ "Trojans roll past Bruins, 24-7." Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Nov 19.
  17. ^ "Davis' spree leads USC to 45-23 rout." Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Dec 3.
  18. ^ "It's 'bring on Miami' after USC wins easily." Eugene Register-Guard. 1973 Jan 2.

External links