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
1976 record11–1 (7–0 Pac-8)
Head coachJohn Robinson (1st season)
CaptainRicky Bell
Vince Evans
Eric Williams
Home stadiumLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum (c. 94,500, grass)
1976 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 2 USC $ 7 –0 –0  11 –1 –0
No. 15 UCLA 6 –1 –0  9 –2 –1
Stanford 5 –2 –0  6 –5 –0
California 3 –4 –0  5 –6 –0
Washington 3 –4 –0  5 –6 –0
Washington State 2 –5 –0  3 –8 –0
Oregon 1 –6 –0  4 –7 –0
Oregon State 1 –6 –0  2 –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 9vs. Washington StateNo. 11
W 23–1437,268
October 23Oregon StateNo. 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 20at No. 2 UCLANo. 3
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA (Battle for the Victory Bell)
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
  • Homecoming
  • 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
RB 21 Lynn Cain Jr
WR 26 Shelton Diggs Sr
QB 8 Vince Evans Sr
TE 86 William Gay Jr
QB 6 Rob Hertel Jr
OG 61 Donnie Hickman Sr
OG 66 Pat Howell So
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DB 44 Mike Burns Sr
LB 58 Mario Celotto Jr
LB 85 Garry Cobb So
DT 92 Rich Dimler So
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
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Game summaries

at Purdue
1 234Total
• USC 7 01410 31
Purdue 7 060 13

[4]

Washington State
See also: 1976 Washington State Cougars football team
USC Trojans at Washington State Cougars
1 2 34Total
USC 0 14 0923
Washington St 0 7 0714

at Kingdome • Seattle, Washington

  • Date: October 9
  • Game attendance: 37,268
  • [5]

Notre Dame
1 234Total
Notre Dame 0 0013 13
• USC 0 773 17
  • Date: Saturday, November 27
  • Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California

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.

[6]

References
  1. "Southern California Yearly Results (1975-1979)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. 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. "Bell runs for 346 as USC clips Cougars." Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 OCt 10. Retrieved 2018-Dec-29.
  6. "Trojans Trip Up Error-Prone Irish". Ocala Star-Banner. November 28, 1976. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
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