1975 USC Trojans football team

1975 USC Trojans football
Liberty Bowl champion
Liberty Bowl, W 20–0 vs. Texas A&M
ConferencePacific-8 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 19
APNo. 17
Record8–4 (3–4 Pac-8)
Head coach
Captains
  • Kevin Bruce
  • Danny Reece
Home stadiumLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
1975 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 UCLA ^ + 6 – 1 – 0 9 – 2 – 1
No. 14 California + 6 – 1 – 0 8 – 3 – 0
Stanford 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 1
Washington 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
No. 17 3 – 4 – 0 8 – 4 – 0
Oregon 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Oregon State 1 – 6 – 0 1 – 10 – 0
Washington State 0 – 7 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – Selected as Rose Bowl representative
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1975 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the Pacific-8 Conference during the 1975 NCAA Division I football season. In their 15th year under head coach John McKay, the Trojans compiled an 8–4 record (3–4 in Pac-8, fifth), and outscored their opponents 247 to 140.[1] The team was ranked #17 in the final AP Poll and #19 in the final UPI Coaches Poll.

Quarterback Vince Evans led the team in passing, completing 35 of 112 passes for 695 yards with three touchdowns and nine interceptions. Ricky Bell led the team in rushing with 385 carries for 1,957 yards and 13 touchdowns. Randy Simmrin led the team in receiving with 26 catches for 478 yards and one touchdown.[2]

Opening with seven wins, the Trojans lost all four conference games in November, and were invited to the Liberty Bowl.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 12Duke*No. 4
W 35–756,727[3]
September 19Oregon StateNo. 4
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 24–750,165
September 27Purdue*No. 3
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 19–656,170
October 4at Iowa*No. 3
W 27–1654,600
October 11Washington StateNo. 3
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 28–1047,468
October 18OregonNo. 3
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 17–350,542
October 25at No. 14 Notre Dame*No. 3
ABCW 24–1759,075
November 1at CaliforniaNo. 4
ABCL 14–2858,871
November 8StanfordNo. 9
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)
L 10–1368,249
November 15at WashingtonNo. 13
L 7–853,700
November 28No. 14 UCLA
ABCL 22–2580,927
December 22vs. No. 6 Texas A&M*
ABCW 20–052,129[4]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

Duke

  • Ricky Bell 34 rushes, 256 yards [5]

Oregon State

Purdue

At Iowa

Team 1 234Total
• USC 0 7173 27
Iowa 10 006 16
Scoring summary
Q1IOWAQuartaro 26 yard field goalIOWA 3–0
Q1IOWAHolmes 1 yard run (Quartaro kick)IOWA 10–0
Q21:26USCHertel 3 yard run (Walker kick)IOWA 10–7
Q310:03USCSimmrin 10 yard pass from Hertel (Walker kick)USC 14–10
Q3USCHertel 6 yard run (Walker kick)USC 21–10
Q3USCWalker 47 yard field goalUSC 24–10
Q411:26USCWalker 25 yard field goalUSC 27–10
Q40:20IOWAWellington from McLaughlin (pass failed)USC 27–16

[6]

Washington State

Team 1 234Total
Washington St 3 007 10
• USC 0 1477 28
Scoring summary
1Washington StDiedrick 24-yard field goalWashington St 3-0
2USCHertel 2-yard run (Walker kick)USC 7-3
2USCReece 64-yard punt return (Walker kick)USC 14-3
3USCTatupu 28-yard run (Walker kick)USC 21-3
44:42USCBell 3-yard run (Walker kick)USC 28-3
4Washington StWilliams 5-yard run (Diedrick kick)USC 28-10

Ricky Bell 38 Rush, 217 Yds

[7]

At Notre Dame

Team 1 234Total
• USC 0 7710 24
Notre Dame 6 803 17
Scoring summary
Q1NDHunter 52 yard run (kick failed)ND 6–0
Q2USCDiggs 21 yard pass from Evans (Walker kick)USC 7–6
Q2NDLopienski 13 yard blocked punt return (Haines pass from Hunter)ND 14–7
Q3USCBell 2 yard run (Walker kick)Tie 14–14
Q4NDReeve 27 yard field goalND 17–14
Q47:28USCEvans 2 yard run (Walker kick)USC 21–17
Q4USCWalker 35 yard field goalUSC 24–17

[8]

Roster

1975 USC Trojans football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB 42 Ricky Bell Jr
RB 21 Lynn Cain So
WR 26 Shelton Diggs Jr
QB 8 Vince Evans Jr
TE 86 William Gay So
QB 6 Rob Hertel So
G 61 Donnie Hickman Jr
G 66 Pat Howell Fr
G 65 Melvin Jackson Sr
OT 76 Marvin Powell Jr
OT 74 John Schuhmacher So
FB 36 Mosi Tatupu So
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DB 44 Mike Burns Jr
LB 58 Mario Celotto So
LB 85 Garry Cobb Fr
DT 92 Rich Dimler Fr
LB 88 Ricky Jackson Fr
DT 79 Gary Jeter Jr
DT 96 Myron Lapka Fr
LB 57 David Lewis Jr
LB 52 Rod Martin Jr
LB 60 Clay Matthews So
DB 33 Ricky Odom So
CB 46 Danny Reece Sr
DB 7 Dennis Thurman So
LB 55 Eric Williams Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K/P 39 Glen Walker Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

1975 team players in the NFL

The following players were drafted into professional football following the season.

Player Position Round Pick Franchise
Danny Reece Defensive back 3 69 Cincinnati Bengals
Joe Davis Tackle 8 211 New York Jets
Mel Jackson Guard 12 328 Green Bay Packers
Doug Hogan Defensive back 16 454 Oakland Raiders

[9]

Scenes from the November 8 game against Stanford are featured in a 1976 episode of the television series Emergency! entitled "The Game".

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. ^ "1975 Southern California Trojans Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  3. ^ "Bell has a ball for USC, 35–7". Independent Press-Telegram. September 13, 1975. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "USC's Liberty punch makes McKay a winner in end". The Commercial Appeal. December 23, 1975. Retrieved March 29, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ 2020 USC Media Guide Supplement
  6. ^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1975 Oct 5. Retrieved 2018-Nov-09.
  7. ^ "Trojans Stagger Cougars". The Palm Beach Post. October 12, 1975.
  8. ^ "Bells Gains 165, USC Clips Irish". The Register-Guard. Eugene. October 26, 1975.
  9. ^ "1976 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.
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