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1978 USC Trojans football
Coaches' Poll national champion
Pac-10 champion
Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 17–10 vs. Michigan
ConferencePacific-10 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 1
APNo. 2
1978 record12–1 (6–1 Pac-10)
Head coachJohn Robinson (3rd season)
CaptainLynn Cain
Rich Dimler
Home stadiumLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Seasons
← 1977
1979 →
1978 Pacific-10 football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#2 USC 6 1 0     12 1 0
#14 UCLA 6 2 0     8 3 1
Washington 6 2 0     7 4 0
Arizona State 4 3 0     9 3 0
#17 Stanford 4 3 0     8 4 0
California 3 4 0     6 5 0
Arizona 3 4 0     5 6 0
Oregon 2 5 0     2 9 0
Oregon State 2 6 0     3 7 1
Washington State 1 7 0     3 7 1
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1978 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California in the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. Following the season, the Trojans were crowned national champions according to the Coaches Poll. While Alabama claimed the AP Poll title because it had defeated top-ranked Penn State in the Sugar Bowl, the Trojans felt they deserved the title since they had defeated Alabama and Notre Dame during the regular season, and then Michigan in the Rose Bowl.[1] Both USC and Alabama ended their seasons with a single loss.

Schedule[]

The Trojans finished the regular season with an 11–1 record before going on to defeat the Michigan Wolverines 17–10 in the Rose Bowl.

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendance
September 9Texas Tech*No. 9W 17–950,321
September 16at OregonNo. 8
W 37–1031,000
September 23at No. 1 Alabama*No. 7W 24–1477,313
September 29Michigan State*No. 3
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 30–965,319
October 14at Arizona StateNo. 2L 7–2070,138
October 21Oregon StatedaggerNo. 7
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 38–753,734
October 28CaliforniaNo. 6
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 42–1756,954
November 4at StanfordNo. 6
W 13–784,084
November 11No. 19 WashingtonNo. 5
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 28–1054,071
November 18at No. 14 UCLANo. 5
W 17–1090,387
November 25No. 8 Notre Dame*No. 3
W 27–2584,256
December 2at Hawaii*No. 3
W 21–548,767
January 1, 1979vs. No. 5 Michigan*No. 3W 17–10105,629
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries[]

Notre Dame[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Notre Dame 3 0 3 19 25
USC 6 11 7 3 27

[2]

1978 Trojans in the NFL[]

All 22 starters played in the NFL.[3]

Awards and honors[]

Charles White: Heisman trophy, Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, UPI Player of the Year

References[]

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