1972 USC Trojans football team

American college football season

1972 USC Trojans football
Consensus national champion Pac-8 champion Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 42–17 vs. Ohio State
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	12–0 (7–0 Pac-8)
Head coach	John McKay (13th season)
Captains	Sam Cunningham John Grant
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Seasons ← 1971 1973 →

1972 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 USC $	7	–	0	–	0	12	–	0	–	0
No. 15 UCLA	5	–	2	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
No. 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 (USC) during the 1972 NCAA University Division football season. The Trojans won all 12 of their games and were consensus national champions.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 9	at No. 4 Arkansas*	No. 8	War Memorial Stadium Little Rock, AR	W 31–10	54,461
September 16	Oregon State	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 51–6	56,305
September 23	at Illinois*	No. 1	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 55–20	61,277
September 30	Michigan State*	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 51–6	63,934
October 7	at No. 15 Stanford	No. 1	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	W 30–21	84,000
October 14	California	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 42–14	56,488
October 21	No. 18 Washington	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 34–7	59,151
October 28	Oregon	No. 1	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	W 18–0	32,000
November 4	vs. Washington State	No. 1	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	W 44–3	46,000
November 18	at No. 14 UCLA	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	W 24–7	82,929
December 2	No. 10 Notre Dame*	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	W 45–23	75,243
January 1, 1973	vs. No. 3 Ohio State*	No. 1	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	W 42–17	106,869
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1972 USC Trojans football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB	`10`	Pat Haden	So
QB	`6`	Mike Rae	Sr
RB		Allen Carter	So
RB	`39`	Sam Cunningham	Sr
RB	`28`	Anthony Davis	So
RB	`27`	Rod McNeill	Jr
WR	`22`	Lynn Swann	Jr
OT	`77`	Pete Adams	Sr
TE	`89`	Charle Young	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DE		John Grant
DT		Karl Lorch
DT		Jeff Winans

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`6`	Mike Rae	Sr

Head coach

John McKay

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

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

Injured
Redshirt

Source:^[1]^[2]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
AP	8	1 (13)	1 (28)	1 (28)	1 (36)	1 (34)	1(28)	1 (44)	1 (41)	1 (40)	1 (42)	1 (44)	1 (46)	1 (50)	1 (50)
Coaches	8	2 (11)	1 (14)	1 (20)	1 (22)	1 (21)	1 (22)	1 (32)	1 (31)	1 (27)	1 (31)	1 (31)	1 (31)	1 (35)	Not released

Game summaries

At No. 4 Arkansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 8 Trojans	0	3	14	14	31
No. 4 Razorbacks	3	0	0	7	10

Date: September 9
Location: War Memorial Stadium, Little Rock, AR
Game attendance: 54,461

Scoring summary

1	ARK	Bolton 27-yard field goal	ARK 3–0

2	USC	Rae 26-yard field goal	Tie 3–3

3	USC	Rae 5-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 10–3
3	USC	McNeill 18-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 17–3

4	USC	McNeill 3-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 24–3
	ARK	Richardson 1-yard run (Bolton kick)	USC 24–10
	USC	Cunningham 18-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 31–10

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.^[3]

Oregon State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Beavers	0	6	0	0	6
• No. 1 Trojans	7	13	17	14	51

Date: September 16
Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
Game attendance: 56,305

Scoring summary

Q1	11:20	USC	McNeill 14-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 7–0

Q2	14:37	USC	McNeill 2-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 14–0

Q2	9:40	ORST	Morris 10-yard run (kick failed)	USC 14–6

Q2	7:35	USC	McNeill 5-yard run (kick failed)	USC 20–6

Q3	8:48	USC	Rae 20-yard field goal	USC 23–6

Q3	3:11	USC	Young 37-yard pass from Rae (Rae kick)	USC 30–6

Q3	1:32	USC	McKay 3-yard pass from Rae (Rae kick)	USC 37–6

Q4	4:19	USC	Haden 10-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 44–6

Q4	:55	USC	Washmara 1-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 51–6

^[4]

Anthony Davis 25 rushes, 206 yards ^[5]

At Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 1 Trojans	7	13	15	20	55
Fighting Illini	7	7	6	0	20

Date: September 23
Location: Memorial Stadium, Champaign, IL
Game attendance: 61,277

Scoring summary

Q1	4:26	ILL	Hayes 5-yard run (Rucks kick)	ILL 7–0

Q1		USC	Garrison 58-yard pass from Rae (Rae kick)	Tie 7–7

Q2		ILL	Uremovich 5-yard run (Rucks kick)	ILL 14–7

Q2		USC	Davis 2-yard run (Rae kick)	Tie 14–14

Q2	:21	USC	McKay 31-yard pass from Rae (kick failed)	USC 20–14

Q3		USC	Davis 2-yard run (McKay pass from Davis)	USC 28–14

Q3		ILL	Hayes 1-yard run (run failed)	USC 28–20

Q3		USC	Cunningham 2-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 35–20

Q4		USC	Sims 35-yard blocked punt return (Rae kick)	USC 42–20

Q4		USC	McKay 6-yard pass from Haden (Rae kick)	USC 49–20

Q4		USC	Carter 1-yard run (kick failed)	USC 55–20

^[6]^[7]

Michigan State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spartans	0	6	0	0	6
• No. 1 Trojans	14	7	3	27	51

Date: September 30
Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
Game attendance: 63,934

Scoring summary

1	USC	Swann 92-yard punt return (Rae kick)	USC 7–0
1	USC	McNeill 8-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 14–0

2	USC	McKay 9-yard pass from Rae (Rae kick)	USC 21–0
2	MSU	Werner 1-yard run (pass failed)	USC 21–6

3	USC	Rae 20-yard field goal	USC 24–6

4	USC	Wood 25-yard interception return (Rae kick)	USC 31–6
	USC	Moore 9-yard pass from Haden (kick failed)	USC 37–6
	USC	Carter 21-yard run (Limahelu kick)	USC 44–6
	USC	Swann 30-yard pass from Haden (Limahelu kick)	USC 51–6

^[8]

At No. 15 Stanford

	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 1 Trojans	13	7	3	7	30
No. 15 Cardinals	10	3	0	8	21

Date: October 7
Location: Stanford Stadium, Stanford, CA
Game attendance: 84,000

Scoring summary

Q1		STAN	J. Ferguson recovered fumble in end zone (Garcia kick)	STAN 7–0

Q1		USC	Davis 8-yard run (Rae kick)	Tie 7–7

Q1		STAN	Garcia 49-yard field goal	STAN 10–7

Q1		USC	Cunningham 2-yard run (kick failed)	USC 13–10

Q2		STAN	Garcia 35-yard field goal	Tie 13–13

Q2		USC	Davis 1-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 20–13

Q3		USC	Rae 37-yard field goal	USC 23–13

Q4	5:40	USC	Swann 4-yard pass from Haden (Rae kick)	USC 30–13

Q4		STAN	Cross 30-yard pass from Boryla (Stone pass from Boryla)	USC 30–21

^[9]

California

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Bears	0	0	7	7	14
• No. 1 Trojans	14	7	14	7	42

Date: October 14
Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, California
Game attendance: 56,488

Scoring summary

1	USC	Cunningham 1-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 7-0

1	USC	Rae 10-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 14-0

2	USC	Cunningham 1-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 21-0

3	CAL	Schmidt 3-yard pass from Cruze (Wersching kick)	USC 21-7

3	USC	Rae 8-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 28-7

3	USC	Young 40-yard pass from Haden (Rae kick)	USC 35-7

4	USC	Young 9-yard pass from Haden (Rae kick)	USC 42-7

4	CAL	Youngblood 1-yard run (Wersching kick)	USC 42-14

^[10]

No. 18 Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	0	0	0	7	7
• No. 1 Trojans	7	13	14	0	34

Date: October 21
Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
Game attendance: 59,151

Scoring summary

Q1	USC	Cunningham 2-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 7–0

Q2	USC	Davis 44-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 14–0

Q2	USC	Rae 22-yard field goal	USC 17–0

Q2	USC	Rae 26-yard field goal	USC 20–0

Q3	USC	Davis 14-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 27–0

Q3	USC	Cunningham 1-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 34–0

Q4	WASH	Fitzpatrick 10-yard run (Wiezbowski kick)	USC 34–7

^[11]

Oregon

	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 1 Trojans	0	0	12	6	18
Webfoots	0	0	0	0	0

Date: October 28
Location: Autzen Stadium, Eugene, OR
Game attendance: 32,000

Scoring summary

Q3	6:06	USC	Davis 48-yard run	USC 6–0

Q3	3:58	USC	Davis 55-yard run	USC 12–0

Q4	5:45	USC	Cunningham 2-yard run	USC 18–0

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

^[12]^[13]^[14]

Washington State

	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 1 Trojans	3	14	7	20	44
Cougars	3	0	0	0	3

Date: November 4
Location: Husky Stadium, Seattle, WA

Scoring summary

1	USC	Rae 23-yard field goal	USC 3-0

1	WSU	Danelo 50-yard field goal	Tied 3-3

2	USC	Rae 11-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 10-3

2	USC	Davis 3-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 17-3

3	USC	Davis 6-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 24-3

4	USC	Davis 14-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 31-3

4	USC	Moore 1-yard run (kick failed)	USC 37-3

4	USC	Powell 21-yard interception return (Rae kick)	USC 44-3

^[15]

At No. 14 UCLA

	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 1 Trojans	10	7	7	0	24
No. 14 Bruins	7	0	0	0	7

Date: November 18
Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
Game attendance: 82,929
TV announcers (ABC): Chris Schenkel, Bud Wilkinson, Bill Flemming

Scoring summary

1	USC	Rae 32-yard field goal	USC 3–0
	USC	Davis 23-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 10–0
	UCLA	McAlister 2-yard run (Herrera kick)	USC 10–7

2	USC	McNeill 1-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 17–7

3	USC	Rae 7-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 24–7

Anthony Davis 25 Rush, 178 Yds

^[16]

No. 10 Notre Dame

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Fighting Irish	3	7	13	0	23
• No. 1 Trojans	19	0	13	13	45

Date: December 2
Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
Game attendance: 75,243

Scoring summary

1	USC	Davis 97-yard kickoff return (kick failed)	USC 6-0
	ND	Thomas 45-yard field goal	USC 6-3
	USC	Davis 1-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 13-3
	USC	Davis 5-yard run (kick failed)	USC 19-3

2	ND	W. Townsend 5-yard pass from Clements (Thomas kick)	USC 19-10

3	USC	Davis 4-yard run (run failed)	USC 25-10
	ND	Diminick 11-yard pass from Clements (Thomas kick)	USC 25-17
	ND	Creaney 10-yard pass from Clements (pass failed)	USC 25-23

4	USC	Davis 96-yard kickoff return (Rae kick)	USC 32-23
	USC	Davis 8-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 39-23
	USC	Cunningham 1-yard run (kick failed)	USC 45-23

^[17]

Vs. No. 3 Ohio State (Rose Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 3 Buckeyes	0	7	3	7	17
• No. 1 Trojans	7	0	21	14	42

Date: January 1
Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA
Game attendance: 106,869

Scoring summary

1	USC	Swann 10-yard pass from Rae (Rae kick)	USC 7–0

2	OHST	Keith 1-yard run (Conway kick)	Tie 7–7

3	USC	Cunningham 2-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 14–7
	OHST	Conway 21-yard field goal	USC 14–10
	USC	Davis 20-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 21–10
	USC	Cunningham 1-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 28–10

Q4	USC	Cunningham 1-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 35–10
	USC	Cunningham 1-yard run (Rae kick)	USC 42–10
	OHST	Bledsoe 5-yard run (Conway kick)	USC 42–17

John McKay's 100th career victory
Anthony Davis 157 Rush Yds
Sam Cunningham set Rose Bowl scoring record (previous - 18 by three players)

^[18]

NFL Draft

Ten Trojans were selected in the 1973 NFL Draft, with three in the first round.

List of USC Trojans in the NFL Draft

References

^ "Starting lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). October 28, 1972. p. 1B.
^ "TV bowl rosters: Rose Bowl". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. January 1, 1973. p. 62.
^ "U.S.C. Turns Back Arkansas, 31-10". The New York Times. September 10, 1972. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Sept 17.
^ 2020 USC Media Guide Supplement
^ "USC Buries Illinois." 1972 Sept 24.
^ "Trojans Rip Illinois." Palm Beach Post. 1972 Sept 24.
^ "Top-rated Trojans blitz Sparts, 51–6." Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Oct 1.
^ "USC gets revenge as Cards halted." Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Oct 8.
^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Oct 15.
^ "Trojans overpower Washington by 34-7." Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Oct 22.
^ Cawood, Neil (October 29, 1972). "Ducks, Fouts kayoed by Trojans". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1C.
^ "Davis leads Southern Cal past Oregon". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. October 29, 1972. p. D-8.
^ "Ducks stubborn, but finally fall". The Bulletin. (Bend, Oregon). UPI. October 30, 1972. p. 9.
^ "Eugene Register-Guard - Google News Archive Search".
^ "Trojans roll past Bruins, 24-7." Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Nov 19.
^ "Davis' spree leads USC to 45-23 rout." Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Dec 3.
^ "It's 'bring on Miami' after USC wins easily." Eugene Register-Guard. 1973 Jan 2.

External links

Game program: #1 USC vs. Washington State at Seattle – November 4, 1972

v t e 1972 USC Trojans football—consensus national champions
Pete Adams Bill Bain Booker Brown Allen Carter Sam Cunningham Marvin Cobb Anthony Davis John Grant Pat Haden Karl Lorch Bob McCaffrey J. K. McKay Rod McNeill Manfred Moore Artimus Parker Charlie Phillips Mike Rae Danny Reece Steve Riley Lynn Swann Jeff Winans Richard Wood Charle Young Head coach: John McKay Assistant coaches: Willie Brown Craig Fertig Wayne Fontes Raymond George John Robinson

1972 USC Trojans football—consensus national champions

Head coach: John McKay

Assistant coaches: Willie Brown
Craig Fertig
Wayne Fontes
Raymond George
John Robinson

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

v t e College football national champions (poll era)
1936–1949	1936: Minnesota (AP) 1937: Pittsburgh 1938: TCU 1939: Texas A&M 1940: Minnesota 1941: Minnesota 1942: Ohio State 1943: Notre Dame 1944: Army 1945: Army (AP) / Oklahoma A&M (Coaches) 1946: Notre Dame 1947: Notre Dame 1948: Michigan 1949: Notre Dame
1950s	1950: Oklahoma (AP, Coaches) 1951: Tennessee 1952: Michigan State 1953: Maryland 1954: Ohio State (AP) / UCLA (FWAA, Coaches) 1955: Oklahoma 1956: Oklahoma 1957: Auburn (AP) / Ohio State (Coaches, FWAA) 1958: LSU (AP, Coaches) / Iowa (FWAA) 1959: Syracuse (AP, Coaches, FWAA, NFF)
1960s	1960: Minnesota (AP, Coaches, NFF) / Ole Miss (FWAA) 1961: Alabama (AP, Coaches, NFF) / Ohio State (FWAA) 1962: USC 1963: Texas 1964: Alabama (AP, Coaches) / Arkansas (FWAA) / Notre Dame (NFF) 1965: Alabama (AP, FWAA) / Michigan State (Coaches, FWAA, NFF) 1966: Notre Dame (AP, Coaches, FWAA, NFF) / Michigan State (NFF) 1967: USC 1968: Ohio State 1969: Texas
1970s	1970: Nebraska (AP, FWAA) / Texas (NFF, Coaches) / Ohio State (NFF) 1971: Nebraska 1972: USC 1973: Notre Dame (AP, FWAA, NFF) / Alabama (Coaches) 1974: Oklahoma (AP) / USC (FWAA, NFF, Coaches) 1975: Oklahoma 1976: Pittsburgh 1977: Notre Dame 1978: Alabama (AP, FWAA, NFF) / USC (Coaches) 1979: Alabama
1980–1991	1980: Georgia 1981: Clemson 1982: Penn State 1983: Miami (FL) 1984: BYU 1985: Oklahoma 1986: Penn State 1987: Miami (FL) 1988: Notre Dame 1989: Miami (FL) 1990: Colorado (AP, FWAA, NFF, USAT/CNN) / Georgia Tech (Coaches) 1991: Miami (FL) (AP) / Washington (Coaches, FWAA, UPI/NFF)

v t e Pac-12 Conference football champions
Pacific Coast	Washington (1916) Washington State (1917) California (1918) Oregon & Washington (1919) California (1920) California (1921) California (1922) California (1923) Stanford (1924) Washington (1925) Stanford (1926) Idaho, Stanford, & USC (1927) USC (1928) USC (1929) Washington State (1930) USC (1931) USC (1932) Oregon & Stanford (1933) Stanford (1934) California, Stanford, & UCLA (1935) Washington (1936) California (1937) California & USC (1938) USC (1939) Stanford (1940) Oregon State (1941) UCLA (1942) USC (1943) USC (1944) USC (1945) UCLA (1946) USC (1947) California & Oregon (1948) California (1949) California (1950) Stanford (1951) USC (1952) UCLA (1953) UCLA (1954) UCLA (1955) Oregon State (1956) Oregon & Oregon State (1957) California (1958)
AAWU	UCLA, USC, & Washington (1959) Washington (1960) UCLA (1961) USC (1962) Washington (1963) Oregon State & USC (1964) UCLA (1965) USC (1966) USC (1967)
Pacific-8	USC (1968) USC (1969) Stanford (1970) Stanford (1971) USC (1972) USC (1973) USC (1974) California & UCLA (1975) USC (1976) Washington (1977)
Pacific-10	USC (1978) USC (1979) Washington (1980) Washington (1981) UCLA (1982) UCLA (1983) USC (1984) UCLA (1985) Arizona State (1986) USC & UCLA (1987) USC (1988) USC (1989) Washington (1990) Washington (1991) Washington & Stanford (1992) Arizona, UCLA, & USC (1993) Oregon (1994) USC & Washington (1995) Arizona State (1996) UCLA & Washington State (1997) UCLA (1998) Stanford (1999) Oregon, Oregon State, & Washington (2000) Oregon (2001) USC & Washington State (2002) USC (2003) USC (2004) vacated USC (2005) vacated California & USC (2006) Arizona State & USC (2007) USC (2008) Oregon (2009) Oregon (2010)
Pac-12	Oregon (2011) Stanford (2012) Stanford (2013) Oregon (2014) Stanford (2015) Washington (2016) USC (2017) Washington (2018) Oregon (2019) Oregon (2020) Utah (2021) Utah (2022) Washington (2023)
National championships in bold