1976 USC Trojans football team

The 1976 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1976 NCAA Division I football season. In their first year under head coach John Robinson, the Trojans compiled an 11–1 record (7–0 against conference opponents), won the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) championship, defeated Michigan in the 1977 Rose Bowl, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 386 to 139.[1] The team was ranked #2 in both the final AP Poll and the final UPI Coaches Poll.

1976 USC Trojans football
National champion (multiple selectors)
Pac-8 champion
Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 14–6 vs. Michigan
ConferencePacific-8 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 2
APNo. 2
Record11–1 (7–0 Pac-8)
Head coach
CaptainRicky Bell
Vince Evans
Eric Williams
Home stadiumLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum (c. 94,500, grass)
1976 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 2 USC $ 7 –0 –011 –1 –0
No. 15 UCLA 6 –1 –09 –2 –1
Stanford 5 –2 –06 –5 –0
California 3 –4 –05 –6 –0
Washington 3 –4 –05 –6 –0
Washington State 2 –5 –03 –8 –0
Oregon 1 –6 –04 –7 –0
Oregon State 1 –6 –02 –10 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Quarterback Vince Evans led the team in passing, completing 95 of 177 passes for 1,440 yards with ten touchdowns and six interceptions. Ricky Bell led the team in rushing with 280 carries for 1,433 yards and 14 touchdowns. Shelton Diggs led the team in receiving with 37 catches for 655 yards and eight touchdowns.[2]

The team was named national champion by Berryman, Billingsley MOV, DeVold, Dunkel, Football Research, and Matthews, all NCAA-designated major selectors.[3]: 114 

Schedule
DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 11Missouri*No. 8
L 25–4649,535
September 18at Oregon
W 53–040,600
September 25at Purdue*No. 19
W 31–1365,425
October 2Iowa*No. 13
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 55–055,518
October 9at Washington StateNo. 11
W 23–1437,268
October 23Oregon StatedaggerNo. 7
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 56–053,216
October 30CaliforniaNo. 4
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 20–660,323
November 6at StanfordNo. 4
W 48–2476,500
November 13WashingtonNo. 3
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 20–349,264
November 20vs. No. 2 UCLANo. 3
ABCW 24–1490,519
November 27No. 13 Notre Dame*No. 3
ABCW 17–1376,561
January 1, 1977vs. No. 2 Michigan*No. 3
NBCW 14–6106,182
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster
1976 USC Trojans football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
RB 42 Ricky Bell Sr
OL Gary Bethel
OL Brad Budde
RB 21 Lynn Cain Jr
WR 26 Shelton Diggs Sr
QB 8 Vince Evans Sr
RB Dave Farmer
TE 86 William Gay Jr
QB 6 Rob Hertel Jr
G 61 Donnie Hickman Sr
RB Kurt Hollmer
G 66 Pat Howell So
RB Vic Jackson
QB Paul McDonald
TE Jim Obradovich
OL Otis Page
OL Marvin Powell
WR Ken Randle
WR Mike Robinson
WR Randy Simmrin
RB Bernard Tarver
RB Mosi Tatupu
RB 12 Charles White Fr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
CB 44 Mike Burns Sr
DB Ron Bush
LB 58 Mario Celotto Jr
LB 85 Garry Cobb So
DT 92 Rich Dimler So
DL Ed Gutierrez
DB Carter Hartwig
DT 79 Gary Jeter Sr
DT 96 Myron Lapka So
LB 57 David Lewis Sr
LB 52 Rod Martin Sr
LB 60 Clay Matthews Jr
DB Ricky Odom
DL Harold Steele
DB Clint Strozier
DB Dennis Thurman
DL Walt Underwood
DL Vinny Van Dyke
DL Eric Williams
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K, P Glen Walker
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2021-Jan-04

Game summaries

Missouri

At Purdue
#19 USC Trojans (1–1) at Purdue Boilermakers (1–1)
Period 1 2 34Total
USC 7 0 141031
Purdue 7 0 6013

at Ross–Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, Indiana

  • Date: September 25
  • Game attendance: 65,425
  • [4][5]
Game information

At Washington State
#11 USC Trojans (3–1) at Washington State Cougars (1–3)
Period 1 2 34Total
USC 0 14 0923
Washington State 0 7 0714

at Kingdome, Seattle, Washington

  • Date: October 9
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)
  • Game attendance: 37,268
  • [6]
Game information

Notre Dame
#13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8–2) at #3 USC Trojans (9–1)
Period 1 2 34Total
Notre Dame 0 0 01313
USC 0 7 7317

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California

  • Date: November 27
  • Game attendance: 76,561
  • TV: ABC
  • Recap/Box
Game information

Ricky Bell was held to 75 yards on 21 carries but USC's passing game thrived with Vince Evans completing six of his 14 passes for 106 yards with Randy Simmrin hauling in six passes for 121 yards and Evans' touchdown pass.

[7]

References
  1. "Southern California Yearly Results (1975-1979)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
  2. "1976 Southern California Trojans Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  3. 2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). Indianapolis: National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2018. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
  4. Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Sep 26. Retrieved 2018-Sep-23.
  5. "U.S.C. Crushes Purdue 31-13; Bell 177 yards." New York Times. 1976 Sep 26. Retrieved 2021-Jan-05.
  6. "Bell runs for 346 as USC clips Cougars." Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 OCt 10. Retrieved 2018-Dec-29.
  7. "Trojans Trip Up Error-Prone Irish". Ocala Star-Banner. November 28, 1976. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
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