1970 USC Trojans football team

1970 USC Trojans football
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 19
AP	No. 15
Record	6–4–1 (3–4 Pac-8)
Head coach	John McKay (11th season)
Captain	Bob Chandler Charlie Weaver
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

1970 Pacific-8 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 8 Stanford $	6	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Washington	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Oregon	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	1
UCLA	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
California	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
No. 15 USC	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	4	–	1
Oregon State	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Washington State	0	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1970 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1970 NCAA University Division football season. In their 11th year under head coach John McKay, the Trojans compiled a 6–4–1 record (3–4 against conference opponents), finished in a tie for sixth place in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8), and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 343 to 233.^[1] The team was ranked #15 in the final AP Poll and #19 in the final Coaches Poll.

On September 12, 1970, USC opened the season visiting the University of Alabama under coach Bear Bryant and became the first fully integrated team to play in the State of Alabama.^[2] The game, scheduled by Bryant, resulted in a 42–21 win for the Trojans. More importantly, all six touchdowns scored by USC team were by African-American players, two by USC running back Sam "Bam" Cunningham, against an all-white Crimson Tide team.^[3] The game hastened the racial integration of football at Alabama and in the American South.^[2][4]

Jimmy Jones led the team in passing, completing 121 of 234 passes for 1,877 yards with 10 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Clarence Davis led the team in rushing with 214 carries for 972 yards and nine touchdowns. Bob Chandler led the team in receiving with 41 catches for 590 yards and three touchdowns.^[5]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 12	vs. No. 16 Alabama*	No. 3	Legion Field Birmingham, AL	W 42–21	72,175	[6][7]
September 19	No. 9 Nebraska*	No. 3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	T 21–21	73,768
September 26	at Iowa*	No. 7	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 48–0	56,131
October 3	Oregon State	No. 5	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 45–13	57,769
October 10	at No. 12 Stanford	No. 4	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	L 14–24	86,000
October 17	Washington	No. 11	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 28–25	56,166
October 24	at Oregon	No. 10	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	L 7–10	34,000
October 31	California	No. 18	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 10–13	54,750
November 7	vs. Washington State		Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA	W 70–33	14,500
November 21	at UCLA		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	L 20–45	78,773
November 28	No. 4 Notre Dame*		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	W 38–28	64,694
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

Alabama

1 2 3 4 Total • USC 12 10 10 10 42 Alabama 0 7 6 8 21 Date: September 12 Location: Legion Field, Birmingham, Alabama Source: [1]

Scoring summary 1 USC Cunningham 22-yard run (kick failed) USC 6-0 1 USC Cunningham 4-yard run (pass failed) USC 12-0 2 USC Ayala 32-yard field goal USC 15-0 2 ALA Musso 1-yard run (Clemny kick) USC 15-7 2 USC Evans 7-yard run (Ayala kick) USC 22-7 3 USC Davis 23-yard pass from Jones (Ayala kick) USC 29-7 3 USC Ayala 25-yard field goal USC 32-7 3 ALA Bailey 6-yard pass from Hayden (kick failed) USC 32-13 4 USC Ayala 27-yard field goal USC 35-13 4 USC Holland 6-yard pass from Rae (Ayala kick) USC 42-13 4 ALA Musso 1-yard run (Hunter to Ceav pass) USC 42-21

Nebraska

Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total • USC 7 27 14 0 48 Iowa 0 0 0 0 0 Date: September 26 Location: Iowa Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game attendance: 56,131

Scoring summary 1 USC Jones 1-yard run (Ayala kick) USC 7-0 2 USC Davis 3-yard run (Ayala kick) USC 14-0 2 USC Jones 8-yard run (kick failed) USC 20-0 2 USC Chandler 9-yard pass from Jones (Dickerson pass from Jones) USC 28-0 2 USC Rae 4-yard run (run failed) USC 34-0 3 USC Harris 1-yard run (Ayala kick) USC 41-0 3 USC McNeill 4-yard run (Ayala kick) USC 48-0

^[8]

Oregon State

Jimmy Jones 15/21, 304 Yds, 3 TD, rush TD

^[9]

Notre Dame

1 2 3 4 Total Notre Dame 7 7 7 7 28 • USC 21 3 14 0 38 Date: November 28 Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles Game attendance: 64,694 TV announcers (ABC): Chris Schenkel, Bud Wilkinson

Scoring summary 1 ND Theismann 25-yard run (Hempel kick) ND 7-0 1 USC Davis 3-yard run (Ayala kick) Tied 7-7 1 USC Davis 5-yard run (kick failed) USC 13-7 1 USC Dickerson 45-yard pass from Jones (Jones to Chandler pass) USC 21-7 2 ND Cieszkowski 9-yard pass from Theismann (Hempel kick) USC 21-14 2 USC Ayala 19-yard field goal USC 24-14 3 USC Adams recovered fumble in end zone (Ayala kick) USC 31-14 3 USC Vella recovered fumble in end zone (Ayala kick) USC 38-14 3 ND Parker 46-yard pass from Theismann (Hempel kick) USC 38-21 4 ND Theismann 1-yard run (Hempel kick) USC 38-28

^[10]

Personnel

1970 USC Trojans football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OT 77 Pete Adams So RB Mike Berry OL Dave Brown WR 10 Bob Chandler (C) Sr RB 39 Sam Cunningham So RB 28 Clarence Davis Sr WR Sam Dickerson RB 33 Charlie Evans Sr OL Allan Graf RB Lou Harris RB Bill Holland QB 8 Jimmy Jones Jr RB Rod McNeill OT 78 Marv Montgomery Sr WR Mike Morgan TE 86 Gerry Mullins Sr QB 6 Mike Rae So OL Mike Ryan TE Chris Vella OT 75 John Vella Jr OL Wayne Yary TE 89 Charle Young Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DL Ken Carter DB Bruce Dyer DB Walt Failor DE 94 John Grant So DL John Grissum DE 83 Willie Hall Sr LB Mike Haluchak DB Tyrone Hudson LB John Papadakis LB Ron Preston DL John Skiles LB Greg Slough DT 93 Tody Smith Sr DB 46 Skip Thomas Jr DB Curt Timmons DL 84 Charlie Weaver (C) Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K Ron Ayala	Head coach John McKay Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

1970 team players in the NFL

The following players were claimed in the 1971 NFL draft.

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Marv Montgomery	Tackle	1	12	Denver Broncos
Tody Smith	Defensive tackle	1	25	Dallas Cowboys
Charles Weaver	Defensive end	2	48	Detroit Lions
Sam Dickerson	Wide receiver	3	55	San Francisco 49ers
Gerry Mullins	Tight end	4	86	Pittsburgh Steelers
Clarence Davis	Running back	4	97	Oakland Raiders
Greg Slough	Linebacker	6	149	Oakland Raiders
Herman Franklin	Wide receiver	6	152	Detroit Lions
Bob Chandler	Wide receiver	7	160	Buffalo Bills
Charles Evans	Running back	14	356	New York Giants

^[11]

References

1. "Southern California Yearly Results (1970-1974)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
2. Yaeger, Don; Sam Cunningham; John Papadakis (September 1, 2006). Turning of the Tide: How One Game Changed the South. Center Street. ISBN 1-931722-94-3.
3. Robbins, Lenn (August 26, 2007). "Trojans Have Horses". New York Post. Retrieved August 26, 2007.
4. Forde, Pat (August 28, 2007). "The Dash Is Off and Running". ESPN. Retrieved August 28, 2007.
5. "1970 Southern California Trojans Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
6. Land, Charles (September 13, 1970). "Tough Trojans top Tide, 42–21". The Tuscaloosa News. p. 1. Retrieved January 20, 2014.
7. Thomas, Ronnie (September 13, 1970). "Tide drubbed 42–21 by USC". The Florence Times. p. 17. Retrieved January 20, 2014.
8. "Trojans Roll Past Iowa". The Register-Guard. Eugene, Oregon. September 27, 1970.
9. "Jimmy Jones quiets critics by passing USC past OSU". The Register-Guard. Eugene, Oregon. October 4, 1970.
10. "Trojans Down Irish by 38-28". The Register-Guard. Eugene. November 29, 1970.
11. "1970 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.

External links

• Game program: USC vs. Washington State at Spokane – November 7, 1970