1976 USC Trojans football team

1976 USC Trojans football
National champion (multiple selectors) Pac-8 champion Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 14–6 vs. Michigan
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 2
1976 record	11–1 (7–0 Pac-8)
Head coach	John Robinson (1st season)
Captain	Ricky Bell Vince Evans Eric Williams
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (c. 94,500, grass)
Seasons

1976 Pacific-8 football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#2 USC †	7	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
#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

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. The team was ranked #2 in both the final AP Poll and the final UPI Coaches 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.

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

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 11	Missouri*	No. 8	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		L 25–46	49,535
September 18	at Oregon		Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR		W 53–0	40,600
September 25	at Purdue*	No. 19	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		W 31–13	65,425
October 2	Iowa*	No. 13	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 55–0	55,518
October 9	vs. Washington State	No. 11	Kingdome Seattle, WA		W 23–14	37,268
October 23	Oregon State	No. 7	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 56–0	53,216
October 30	California	No. 4	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 20–6	60,323
November 6	at Stanford	No. 4	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)		W 48–24	76,500
November 13	Washington	No. 3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 20–3	49,264
November 20	at No. 2 UCLA	No. 3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Battle for the Victory Bell)	ABC	W 24–14	90,519
November 27	No. 13 Notre Dame*	No. 3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Jeweled Shillelagh)	ABC	W 17–13	76,561
January 1, 1977	vs. No. 2 Michigan*	No. 3	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	NBC	W 14–6	106,182
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1976 USC Trojans football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 42 Bell, RickyRicky Bell 7.0 !Sr RB 21 Cain, LynnLynn Cain 5.0 !Jr WR 26 Diggs, SheltonShelton Diggs 7.0 !Sr QB 8 Evans, VinceVince Evans 7.0 !Sr TE 86 Gay, WilliamWilliam Gay 5.0 !Jr QB 6 Hertel, RobRob Hertel 5.0 !Jr OG 61 Hickman, DonnieDonnie Hickman 7.0 !Sr OG 66 Howell, PatPat Howell 3.0 !So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 44 Burns, MikeMike Burns 7.0 !Sr LB 58 Celotto, MarioMario Celotto 5.0 !Jr LB 85 Cobb, GarryGarry Cobb 3.0 !So DT 92 Dimler, RichRich Dimler 3.0 !So DT 79 Jeter, GaryGary Jeter 7.0 !Sr DT 96 Lapka, MyronMyron Lapka 3.0 !So LB 57 Lewis, DavidDavid Lewis 7.0 !Sr LB 52 Martin, RodRod Martin 7.0 !Sr LB 60 Matthews, ClayClay Matthews 5.0 !Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach John Robinson Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Game summaries

Purdue

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total • USC 7 0 14 10 31 Purdue 7 0 6 0 13 Date: September 25 Location: Ross–Ade Stadium Game attendance: 65,425

Scoring summary Q1 USC Tatupu 1 yard run (Walker kick) USC 7–0 Q1 PUR Dierking 2 yard run (Turner kick) Tie 7–7 Q3 USC Bell 5 yard run (Walker kick) USC 14–7 Q3 USC Simmrin 4 yard pass from Evans (Walker kick) USC 21–7 Q3 PUR Skibinski 1 yard run (kick failed) USC 21–13 Q4 USC Tatupu 27 yard run (Walker kick) USC 28–13 Q4 USC Walker 44 yard field goal USC 31–13

• Ricky Bell 37 Rush, 177 Yds

Washington State

See also: 1976 Washington State Cougars football team

USC Trojans at Washington State Cougars 1 2 3 4 Total USC 0 14 0 9 23 Washington St 0 7 0 7 14 at Kingdome • Seattle, Washington Date: October 9 Game attendance: 37,268 Game information USC Ricky Bell 51 Rush, 346 Yds, 2 TD Washington St Jack Thompson 26/48, 341 Yds, TD

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring Information Score Plays Yards TOP USC WSU 2 USC Bell 1-yard touchdown run, Walker kick good 7 0 2 6:23 USC Diggs 55-yard touchdown reception from Evans, Walker kick good 14 0 2 Washington St Gillum 4-yard touchdown run, Diedrick kick good 14 7 4 Washington St Kelly 23-yard touchdown reception from Thompson, Diedrick kick good 14 14 4 9:26 USC 26-yard field goal by Walker 17 14 4 USC Bell 9-yard touchdown run, Walker kick no good 23 14 "TOP" = Time of Possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 23 14

Notre Dame

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total Notre Dame 0 0 0 13 13 • USC 0 7 7 3 17 Date: Saturday, November 27 Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California Scoring summary 2 USC Shelton Diggs 6-yard pass from Rob Hertel (Glen Walker kick) USC 7-0 3 USC Randy Simmrin 63-yard pass from Vince Evans (Glen Walker kick) USC 14-0 4 Notre Dame Vagas Ferguson 17-yard pass from Rusty Lisch (kick good) USC 14-7 4 USC Glen Walker 48-yard field goal USC 17-7 4 Notre Dame Rusty Lisch 1-yard run (two-point conversion failed) USC 17-13

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.