1960 USC Trojans football team

American college football season

1960 USC Trojans football
Conference	Athletic Association of Western Universities
Record	4–6 (3–1 AAWU)
Head coach	John McKay (1st season)
Captains	Mike McKeever George Van Vliet
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Seasons ← 1959 1961 →

1960 Athletic Association of Western Universities football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 6 Washington $	4	–	0	–	0	10	–	1	–	0
USC	3	–	1	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
UCLA	2	–	2	–	0	7	–	2	–	1
California	1	–	3	–	0	2	–	7	–	1
Stanford	0	–	4	–	0	0	–	10	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1960 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1960 NCAA University Division football season. In their first year under head coach John McKay, the Trojans compiled a 4–6 record (3–1 against conference opponents), finished in second place in the Athletic Association of Western Universities, and were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 152 to 95.^[1]

Bill Nelsen led the team in passing with 29 of 72 passes completed for 446 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. Marlin McKeever was the leading receiver with 15 catches for 218 yards. Hal Tobin was the leading rusher with 318 yard on 61 carries.^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 16	Oregon State*	No. 6	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 0–14	32,928
September 24	TCU*		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 6–7	31,475
October 1	at No. 9 Ohio State*		Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	L 0–20	83,204
October 7	Georgia*		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 10–3	28,120	^[3]
October 15	California		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 27–10	39,830
October 29	at Stanford		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	W 21–10	29,000
November 5	No. 7 Washington		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 0–34	43,475
November 12	at Baylor*		Baylor Stadium Waco, TX	L 14–35	23,000
November 19	at No. 11 UCLA		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	W 17–6	66,865
November 26	Notre Dame*		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	L 0–17	28,297
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1960 USC Trojans football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB		Ben Charles
E		Marlin McKeever
QB		Bill Nelsen
		George Van Vliet
FB		Ben Wilson

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Head coach

John McKay

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Season summary

Oregon State

TCU

At Ohio State

USC Trojans (0–2) at #9 Ohio State Buckeyes (1–0)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
USC	0	0	0	0	0
Ohio St	6	7	0	7	20

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

Date: October 1, 1960
Game weather: Sunny, 64 °F (18 °C)
Game attendance: 83,204
Box Score

^[4]

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
USC	Passing	Ben Charles	4/8, 46 Yds, 2 INT
	Rushing	Ben Wilson	3 Rush, 29 Yds
	Receiving	Marlin McKeever	1 Rec, 29 Yds
Ohio St	Passing	Tom Matte	6/11, 78 Yds, INT
	Rushing	Bob Ferguson	20 Rush, 157 Yds, 3 TD
	Receiving	Charles Bryant	2 Rec, 28 Yds

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	USC	OSU
1	8:25	1	74	0:19	Ohio St	Ben Ferguson 74-yard touchdown run, Ben Jones kick no good (blocked)	0	6
2	4:36	8	57	4:10	Ohio St	Bob Ferguson 2-yard touchdown run, Ben Jones kick good	0	13
4	4:36	9	75	4:12	Ohio St	Bob Ferguson 19-yard touchdown run, Ben Jones kick good	0	20
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							0	20

References

^ "Southern California Yearly Results (1960-1964)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
^ "1960 Southern California Trojans Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
^ "Georgia aerial backfires and Trojans win 10–3". The Sacramento Bee. October 8, 1960. Retrieved October 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Ferguson Sparks 20-0 Buck Romp." Palm Beach Post. 1960 Oct 2. Retrieved 2014-Feb-10.

v t e USC Trojans football
Venues	Athletic Park (1895–1898) Fiesta Park (1897–1898, 1901–1902, 1904–1906, 1916) Chutes Park (1900) Prager Park (1903) Bovard Field (1904–1910, 1914–1915, 1917–1923) Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (1923–present) Jones Field/Kennedy Field (practice)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Notre Dame Stanford UCLA: Victory Bell
Culture & lore	Traveler George Tirebiter Giles Pellerin "Fight On" Spirit of Troy Student Body Right Tommy Trojan Tribute to Troy Athletics scandal 1967 "Game of the Century" "Bush Push" 2007 Stanford game So This Is College
People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911–1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold