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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
ConferencePacific-8 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 1
APNo. 1
1972 record12–0 (7–0 Pac-8)
Head coachJohn McKay (13th season)
CaptainSam Cunningham
CaptainJohn Grant
Home stadiumLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Seasons
← 1971
1973 →
1972 Pacific-8 football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#1 USC 7 0 0     12 0 0
#15 UCLA 5 2 0     8 3 0
#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 during the 1972 college football season.

Schedule[]

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendance
September 9at No. 4 Arkansas*No. 8
W 31–1054,461
September 16Oregon StateNo. 1W 51–656,305
September 23at Illinois*No. 1W 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 WashingtondaggerNo. 1
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 34–759,151
October 28OregonNo. 1
W 18–032,000
November 4vs. Washington StateNo. 1W 44–346,000
November 18at No. 14 UCLANo. 1
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. 1W 42–17106,869
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries[]

Arkansas[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
• USC 0 3 14 14 31
Arkansas 3 0 0 7 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[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Oregon St 0 6 0 0 6
• USC 7 13 17 14 51

[2]

Illinois[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
• USC 7 13 15 20 55
Illinois 7 7 6 0 20

[3][4]

Michigan State[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Michigan St 0 6 0 0 6
• USC 14 7 3 27 51

[5]

Stanford[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
• USC 13 7 3 7 30
Stanford 10 3 0 8 21

[6]

California[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
California 0 0 7 7 14
USC 14 7 14 7 42

[7]

Washington[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Washington 0 0 0 7 7
• USC 7 13 14 0 34

[8]

Oregon[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
• USC 0 0 12 6 18
Oregon 0 0 0 0 0

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

[9]

Washington State[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
USC 3 14 7 20 44
Washington State 3 0 0 0 3

[10]

UCLA[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
• USC 10 7 7 0 24
UCLA 7 0 0 0 7

Anthony Davis 25 Rush, 178 Yds

[11]

Notre Dame[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Notre Dame 3 7 13 0 23
USC 19 0 13 13 45

[12]

Rose Bowl[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Ohio St 0 7 3 7 17
• USC 7 0 21 14 42

[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.
  10. [1]
  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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