1972 USC Trojans football team

The 1972 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California during the 1972 NCAA University Division football season.

1972 USC Trojans football
Consensus national champion
Pac-8 champion
Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 42–17 vs. Ohio State
ConferencePacific-8 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 1
APNo. 1
1972 record12–0 (7–0 Pac-8)
Head coachJohn McKay (13th season)
Captains
  • Sam Cunningham
  • John Grant
Home stadiumLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
1972 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW 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

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

Game summaries

Arkansas
1 234Total
• USC 0 31414 31
Arkansas 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. [1]

Oregon State
1 234Total
Oregon St 0 600 6
• USC 7 131714 51

[2]

Illinois
1 234Total
• USC 7 131520 55
Illinois 7 760 20
  • Date: September 23
  • Location: Memorial Stadium, Champaign, IL
  • Game attendance: 61,277

[3][4]

Michigan State
1 234Total
Michigan St 0 600 6
• USC 14 7327 51

[5]

Stanford
1 234Total
• USC 13 737 30
Stanford 10 308 21

[6]

California
1 234Total
California 0 077 14
• USC 14 7147 42

[7]

Washington
1 234Total
Washington 0 007 7
• USC 7 13140 34

[8]

Oregon
1 234Total
• USC 0 0126 18
Oregon 0 000 0
  • Date: October 28
  • Location: Autzen Stadium, Eugene, OR
  • Game attendance: 32,000

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

[9]

Washington State
1 234Total
• USC 3 14720 44
Washington State 3 000 3

[10]

UCLA
1 234Total
• USC 10 770 24
UCLA 7 000 7

Anthony Davis 25 Rush, 178 Yds

[11]

Notre Dame
1 234Total
Notre Dame 3 7130 23
• USC 19 01313 45

[12]

Rose Bowl
1 234Total
Ohio St 0 737 17
• USC 7 02114 42
  • Date: January 1
  • Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA
  • Game attendance: 106,869

[13]

References
  1. "Rae leads Southern Cal to 31-10 rout of Arkansas."
  2. Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Sept 17.
  3. "USC Buries Illinois." 1972 Sept 24.
  4. "Trojans Rip Illinois." Palm Beach Post. 1972 Sept 24.
  5. "Top-rated Trojans blitz Sparts, 51–6." Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Oct 1.
  6. "USC gets revenge as Cards halted." Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Oct 8.
  7. Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Oct 15.
  8. "Trojans overpower Washington by 34-7." Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Oct 22.
  9. Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Oct 29.
  11. "Trojans roll past Bruins, 24-7." Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Nov 19.
  12. "Davis' spree leads USC to 45-23 rout." Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Dec 3.
  13. "It's 'bring on Miami' after USC wins easily." Eugene Register-Guard. 1973 Jan 2.
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