History of USC Football

[Music] allow me to present this to you and to congratulate you Sutton and von Kleinschmidt and Uehara go [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] Dame of the country once again [Music] since 1928 the University of Southern California football program has won an unprecedented 11 national championships eight of those titles were split equally between coaching legends Howard Jones and John McCain the roster of talented players includes six Heisman Trophy winners and 135 all-americans but in spite of its prestigious pedigree USC football fell on hard times in the 1990s appearing in just one Rose Bowl in ten years the gleaming trophies that formed a shrine to the lineage of Troy were beginning to touch the Trojan nation prayed for the second coming of mckay and just days before christmas in the year 2000 the university introduced the man who would be saving his name Pete Carroll an NFL fixtures since 1984 until he was fired as head coach of the New England Patriots a year earlier the reaction just what you might expect I think it was not a lot of excitement I mean he had he hadn't been a failure as an NFL coach but he hadn't been a huge success either it was a little bit of wait and see and a little bit of disappointment I think there was talk of Dennis Erickson and Mike Riley and and some other people that they had obviously looked into first so the Carroll name would just sort of came up almost as an afterthought well no I was definitely not a popular choice I was you know fourth fifth choice on the ladder there and kind of hit as a bomb you know and when I get the job and I took that as a challenge you know and thought that you know I I write from the first press conference I needed to compete and do to come off with a real clear sense of what we're going to do do it and I was really excited about that challenge if you're a horse player you're always looking at the form because you're looking for that surprise if you are a typical sports fan you only identify with those who win hopefully for us in athletics in that light Department we're looking for coaches individuals who are right on the cusp of winning so you have a full run with them my question always is what do you mean why not and so Pete Carroll accepted the challenge of resurrecting this once the Bhatia's football program he took charge immediately grimming would enthusiasm I grew up during the years when Essie was really doing a lot of great things and so I I always held this universe in high regard the program all the great players that you've been here so there was something about the formula hearing that by being in Southern California about in private school the weather Hollywood the whole thing you know and the great tradition that that sparked my interest about the fact that maybe it could be continued to be that way you know and I had missed a lot of years in between and so I only pictured it being great he has different way about going about things he has a different way of coaching it's very in-your-face it's it's very inspirational and it's it's very positive and he makes it very easy to be around he makes it he makes it easy to play for his attitude the way he the way he loves the game the way he loves the school it's just needed to be around and it makes you want to win for him the players responded by winning six games in 2001 one more than the previous year but they did show potential even in defeat and the very next season Carroll led USC to an 11 and 2 record including wins over Auburn town Stanford UCLA and Notre Dame the Trojans capped the season with a 38 to 17 win over Iowa in the Orange Bowl in just his second season at Troy Pete Carroll had silenced the city's it now appeared evident that USC football was back [Music] it's future meant building on its past a rich legacy of accomplishment established some 80 years earlier [Music] the tradition was born in the 1920s as coach Elmer gloomy Gus Henderson compiled a record of 45 wins and just seven losses between 1919 and 1924 but USC fans wanted more so the university went in search of a new coach one who could take their beloved team to even greater heights s he want to get know Knute Rockne and he said no but this young man that just beat me yeah I guess Howard Jones at Iowa I think he feeted Notre Dame where it was seven or six or something and Knute Rockne recommended Howard Jones to the University well is it quite a unique man he's very straightforward didn't say too much didn't ask too much you never questioned anything he said [Music] it's a kind of know that you've walked down the street but he wouldn't go to see you you wouldn't go and see him he went his way and you went your way our Jones was almost always described as this granite face taciturn man he loved golf and I and I suppose he could be personable with his golfing buddies but the players who played Foreman the reporters who covered him always bring up the fact that this place was a taciturn man obsessed with football I think this year we have an opportunity with the top of the schedule of any team in the country I they say you have an opportunity to do something just a few Jones's passion paid immediate dividends as the Trojans won 11 games in 1925 his first year at Troy three years later the USC faithful got what they had been seeking the school's first national championship poor non-core Jones won back-to-back titles in 1931 and 32 his 31 team lost its first game of the season but did not lose again they had a close call at Notre Dame but staged an impressive comeback trailing 14 to nothing at the start of the fourth quarter the Thundering Herd scored twice led by the running of Gus shaver and the passing of orb molar but it was the foot of Johnny Baker that wanted Baker kicked this 33 yard field goal in the final minute of the game for a 16 to 14 victory over the Irish when the Trojan train returned to Los Angeles the team was greeted by over 300,000 people who celebrated well into the night the 1932 Trojans may be the greatest USC team of all time their offense was not quite as overwhelming as the previous season but it didn't need to be the SC defense recorded eight shutouts in 10 games and gave up only 13 points all season it was the pinnacle of Howard Jones's career Howard Jones was the USC what Pop Warner was at Stanford what Knute Rockne was because basically they just took the program and they pushed it to another level and they were very strong figures and and they you know they gave the nink nickname the Thundering Herd he made what SC football what it later became the tradition started and then the people who over the years expected USC to always be a great football team but even Jones had a tough time sustaining his success his teams became mired in mediocrity between 1934 and 1937 they improved to 9 and 2 in 1938 capped by a dramatic 7 to 3 victory over Duke in the Rose Bowl with 40 seconds to play 4th string quarterback Doyle nave hits 2nd string an L Krueger for a 19 yard touchdown it was the first time Duke had been scored on all season the following year the Trojans endured a pair of gut-wrenching times but sandwiched in between were seven victories four of them shutouts they're seven oh and to record was good enough to earn them a berth in the Rose Bowl opposite unbeaten and unscored upon Tennessee I remember they had to All American guards the guy named suffrage and a guy named Olinsky and I came here when we were in there we said well we go I said you you guys are something else but I say hello I can't even make the first ball club and I said we're coming right through you and my god we did we ambi ran over one side for one score and he threw a pass to Kruger for the other score I knew that I was going to be running the ball or Jack Bannon was going to carry it as a fullback know if this is a Rose Bowl and I said I'll give these people something to think about it was a perfect play and I lob the ball out till he wasn't even looking for it when I threw it I just lobbed it up there and he turned in there it was and it was a big eye how neat that was you know allow me to present this to you and to congratulate you president von Kleinschmidt and he'll Howard young pastor Dickinson it's a pleasure for me to accept this half of the University of Southern California football game which I believe made the heaviest schedule accomplished more than any team I ever could Jones's fourth national championship was his last he coached just one more year before suffering a fatal heart attack just before the 1941 season but his 16 year reign changed the University of Southern California forever it now had a key stone on which to build thanks to Knute Rockne and a man he recommended for the job in 1925 Howard Jones the 1940s and 50s had their peaks and valleys the Trojans did play in six Rose Bowls during the two decades and had a sensational season in 1952 under six-year coach Jesse osc1 ten games that year including a 7 to nothing victory over Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl it's only defeat was a 9 to nothing decision at the hands of Notre Dame but after he left in 1956 the program hit rock bottom just 5 wins in two seasons and that was only the beginning [Music] a couple of bad things happened there was a there was a probation period they got trouble with the NC 2a I think was relatively minor I think they brought a quarterback round from Pennsylvania and he rolled in a JC and never went back got had been Charles that was against the rules Don Clark resigned to go into the overall business with his brother whether it was forced out because of these problems or he just got disgusted with it all or figured he could make a lot more money private business he left there had been an assistant on the staff here for one year a former world war two tail gunner and a former star runner at Oregon than the same team with Norm Van Brocklin and his name is John Mackay he was sort of you know an unknown an assistant who was on staff but you had a great background coming from Oregon under a really great coach Glen Casanova you know it took a while it took a couple seasons but once he took hold he captivated the town he was great wonderful with the media just had a knack I always said that it was like having George Burns or Johnny Carson as the head coach at the time I mean you know you didn't have to come up with lines he provided all the lines he was just you know just great one-liners and and always funny and glib McKay had a very tough veneer a tough exterior and I'd also had the opportunity of doing his coach's show weekly and that was an experience who used to dine with John and you'd ask one question the show was only half hour long and John would still be answering the first question by the time the show was over he was fabulous at speaking to a room of strangers but if you were on in his inner circle he felt he had the right to be himself and he could be a dominating person definite rude and then he would allow you to forgive him and go have a drink together I can remember myself in peed bathroom we were his first two freshmen quarterbacks first two quarterbacks he recruited he told us we could play baseball two people's a catcher and I was a pitcher like I said his first year didn't go good but his freshman team went undefeated so we're out of spring baseball practice were throwing a ball secretary comes out and asked coach tato I wanna see friggin bathroom I said you do something he says no I'm your roommate I hadn't been out of your sight and I said why I didn't do anything he's reading the sports section no he sees the cigar smoke coming behind it maybe you guys aren't real good at either sport make a decision and I cleaned that up a lot for you too and that's when we decide to be football players he was dedicated to execution and that's what John believed that he believed in fundamental football he was a very conservative coach in terms of his offensive style with an aggressive defense and he let the defense play with that kind of emotion but he wanted the range on the offers and every once awhile would he needed a great play he wanted to know he had a wide receiver or somebody he could go to he was an extremely competitive man it wasn't so much also that he hated to lose which he did but he loved to win and and he loved to compete and whatever he did but success did not come easily to McKay's new team it won just four games in each of his first two seasons he threw a big party at the end of our first year 1960 and our last game then was UCLA and I think he felt that if we lost he might be gone and he wanted to go out with a splash and have a party and thank everybody for the opportunity and lo and behold we beat a much better team than ourselves on most Saturdays but not that sir and from there things got better but not immediately the Trojans actually ended that season being shut out by Notre Dame 17 to nothing the following season the men of Troy lost to both Notre Dame and UCLA but earlier in the year staged an impressive comeback against top ranked Iowa as he scored with just 48 seconds left in the game to pull within a single point of the hot guys and John McKay did something in that game that I don't think many coaches would do nowadays because we didn't have overtime to unit once you got the end of the game you tied you tied that was hit and we we got up to 40 or 35 34 I believes what the score was and McKay went for the two points he threw the bulk of Willie Brown he was covered and I was absolutely wide open in the back of the end zone and Pete never saw me or we win that game and if we have won that game of who knows I mean we may have won more games in 1961 that we often did had we beat Iowa but we knew from what we have read and heard that Norm poppy had set the drama to do you have one here left this is it you have to show them something else but those of us that were playing it's time as sophomores in those days we're his first recruiting class and we knew we could play the team's newfound confidence was just the first step michaei completely revamped his offense and defense to take advantage of the talent he had recruited John started an affirmation that made it popular which revolutionized but every team is used in our nation today there was a prevalent defense in college football called the monster defense pretty much made up by Frank broth at University of Arkansas and it always had it but we could now call him two terminologies strong saftey up on one side of the other usually to the wide side of the field and so I said well what we ought to do is get in a formation where we can shift away from it and run for the weaker side of the defense we did that in 1962 he wanted 11 games won a national championship then we started to involve more things out of it and in all honesty our players taught me more about if anybody else will he brown her tailback he's the guy who said I'm back seven yards I can see better and all those things and truthfully the players players did it Hester David Martin we were so proud because almost all of them were Californians we didn't go out of state to recruit we didn't spend any money we really didn't spend much money recruiting period but that that group was the pleasure and I still see a great many of them and we had some super athletes now wasn't by accident we won and when they did in fact the Trojans didn't lose a single game in 1962 we weren't in the top 20 in those days they didn't have top 25 its top 20 we were not rated at all and we ought to be that's Duke and they did 14 to nothing and then went down to SMU Hayden Fry was a young rookie coach down there and I scored my first touchdown we we just kept momentum kept building for us that year doesn't force that here beat UCLA 14 to 3 to saw the thing out then we still have one other game to go that was Notre Dame I was lucky enough girl last touchdown that game we beat Notre Dame 25 to nothing and then we went to the Rose Bowl what a thrill that was the Trojans would play Big Ten Champion Wisconsin on New Year's Day 1963 they were brimming with confidence we had given up the step foot boys 54 points in 11 games so I said you know we're going sportswear for touching on Elektra pictures this game is over so we get ahead 43 to 14 John calls me over to the sidelines during the game and says go in and tell Pete to run the ball keep it down let's just run the clock out it's not embarrassed no Brune he's a nice guy I've known him a long time and let's just get out of here with a nice win and done a Rose Bowl victory well then of course everything backfired it's fumbled snap over this punters head before we know it they're throwing every down they totally abandon the offense our guys were definitely tired from chasing after you know him and he literally passed that everywhere the one thing that discouraged me about that particular game and I read articles about it you would think that Wisconsin won the ballgame because of what they did in the last 12 minutes of the ballgame and we beat him up pretty good for three quarters in about three minutes and and we totally controlled the game I guess the guys were in the fourth quarter I guess we were trying to get on the bus and go to the postgame party I'm sure when they're asked as they say well we were just this close we really should have won and for 40 some years now I've had to live with the fact that we won but few people kind of remember that but we did in fact way and I think that we done to them what we were capable of the 62 team's image may have been considered one of the great teams of all times of us rather than just the team has started John McKay Oh [Music] after winning his first national championship in 1962 McKay's teams won just seven games in each of the next four seasons but still there were bright spots a dramatic triumph over Notre Dame in 1964 the spectacular performances of running back Mike Garrett who won the Heisman Trophy in 1965 and a return to the Rose Bowl in 1966 and then came 1967 and the debut of an exciting new tail then by the name of OJ Simpson he was big I mean he was six to ish-200 and almost fifteen lean ran a legitimate nine for which in those day in the hundred yard dash so he was a nationally classed sprinter in a smart runner he had great durability I can't ask for a whole lot it's no wonder that he fit perfectly in the affirmation of John McKay it's someone who can carry the ball 30 40 times the game and be the yeoman of the offense and he was fabulous with Simpson in the backfield the Trojans opened the season with a 49 to nothing rout of Washington state followed by narrow victories over non-conference Powers Texas and Michigan State their March to Pasadena continued with winds of a Stanford Notre Dame Washington Oregon and cow but on November 11th the train derailed in Corvallis Oregon it was just a muddy quagmire no three to nothing so the defense did their job the office just couldn't get entrapped I remember it was really a disappointing loss for them and then they came back and they had to play UCLA and to this day that's the biggest college football game I ever expected we were number one going the game NSC was number three but those teams were unbeaten and there was no J already established on the other side so when you sat back and looked at it the way we actually believed ourselves with attention was dead we talked about playing in a game that was bigger than anything we'd ever dreamed of everything was on the table the national championship the boys for the city it was just a marvelous experience that was actually a relief thinking of all the people that played the game and never played in a game like this the game not only lived up to its billing it exceeded all expectations beeban was magnificent and passed for over 300 yards his defense ki done Simpson but could only do so much to keep him in check at times he was simply unstoppable [Applause] [Laughter] [Applause] with the score tied at 14 in the fourth quarter beeban hit Dave Nadal with this 20-yard touchdown strike but the Trojans blocked the subsequent p80 kick and trailed by only six we're sitting in the film room and we had a secondary coach named dick Corey yeah we're watching the UCLA kick an extra point and coachmen case has run that back what do you run an extra point back forward we run it back three or four times and he says that's what Coach Corey pointed out is that the Senate had rescission the first soccer-style kicker we ever saw kicked the ball and sort of hooked it between the left guard and the center with a low trajectory and so coach McKay took a six foot nine the offensive end we had and put him in that gap trailing 22 14 the Trojans went to work with 10 and a half minutes to play USC faced third down on its own 36 we went into formation with our spread and Ron Drake to the left but right in front of me on the sideline and I had told our quarterback that if they walk out a guy on him then run the blast and give it to Simpson [Laughter] [Applause] he's got five to the forty gut stirred the sidelines 45 midfield gets a rock cuts back he's at the 40 touch back drugs been at the 30 [Applause] people have always asked me was I afraid somebody would catching my answers always been one thing there's only one guy not dink could catch it and he was on our team Earl McCullough the fascist earlier there was nobody gonna stop him that day the determination his eyes the moves that he made he was just I I don't think I've ever seen anybody run like that this great round is not just because I got block and he made a captain and it was off to the races but there were a couple of other fellows that had him and one of her guys knocked him off because he's so shifting OJ's touched down tied the score at 20 Ricky Aldridge kicked the extra point giving Troy of one-point lead but there was still a lot of time left in and they even could have driven him down even unfortunately got hit and the ribs early and was you know bending over in pain half the day but he played a great game also it was just the magnificent foot bugger when the two best players on the field live play the best they can and produce and you have this 21 to 20 game you know it goes out into history and why shouldn't the Rose Bowl was almost anticlimactic the Trojans beat Indiana 14 to 3 with OJ Simpson leading the way to the school's 6th national championship it was a big deal to me to us to the players I believe of a feeling of great satisfaction of a job well done and having accomplished something like that and you know wearing this ring I still wear the ring now even if I've got a Super Bowl ring on I'm aware that wear that national championship ring most often after winning the national championship in 1967 the Trojans concluded the 60s with 9 and 10 win seasons and two more Rose Bowl appearances they kicked off the 70s with two disappointing years which set the stage for 1972 that team was basically the same team from 1970 71 72 except for a few changes the offensive line was basically the same but what really made it was the camaraderie that we had and we just got tired of losing we had six four one seasons and 70 and 71 and we just you know the team got together in that summer 72 or we said listen we're gonna do it because we have a lot of talent now we felt as assistants we talked every night and say you know boys we had to be pretty good this is the deepest we've got this and nesting these guys we had some five-year seniors coming up in the offensive lying and redshirted and we said we're gonna be pretty good now I think the players probably felt they were going to be good and I'll never forget the opening night right in this building but fall camp coach McKay got the team together and we expected him just to give them a real pep talk and say men we can be good let's go and I'll never forget he said you guys think you're pretty good don't you well you haven't shown me anything yet and I you know I think we kind of dropped what happened with her well he brought them back to reality in a hurry on purpose nobody really knew ourselves included what kind of year we were going to have and it turned out to be absolutely magnificent Mike Ray who was the starting quarterback had a sensation and gave us emerged as a great big player but we had three or four running backs that Alan Pardew at me I'd rod McNeil he had number one draft fixing off at the line and defensive line as it was a really incredible team we were only pushed twice didn't really have a lot of postgame that pushed a little bit by Oregon that first rule applies to me but other than that including the Rose Bowl win against Ohio State we've got to handle everybody pretty well Southern Cal had a team that I thought the beats approaching I mean baby they were truly outstanding they had Anthony Davis Richard wood Lynn Swann fatty I mean they had a fabulous football team we were really focused in not only beating opponents with establishing a ground as you know dominant kind of team every time as I recall the element version we around the fourth quarter you know those teams we want to build feelings we never had a game that was really in doubt in the second half we didn't have a close game at all we had just dominated in every way you can possibly dominate and it's the best I can tell it's probably the greatest football team in December the 72 Trojans beat six ranked teams and outscored their opponents 467 to 134 the defense intercepted 28 passes and limited their opponents to just two and a half yards per Russian the team featured 13 players who would become all-americans they were stacked we were a team we wanted to win every game and for sure we always knew that after Saturday was the Sunday or Monday review of the game and we no one wanted to be looked at looked at in ridicule so we really performed to our best after storming through the regular season choice next challenge was the Big Ten's best third ranked Ohio State McCade got scared a little bit about what he haze in the two weeks that we were gonna play him and he started changing the offense a little bit yeah got a little nervous about it so we start change for offensive schemes blocking schemes and in the first half if you remember the game was close it was 707 nothing was working what he changed and those two weeks prior so at halftime he goes oh heck way that we're going back where we've done all year we came back and blew them away 4217 my gray threw for two hundred twenty nine yards and this touchdown tool in swamp Anthony Davis ran for 157 yards and one touchdown but the most galling performance of all to Buckeye boss Woody Hayes was the goal line acrobatics of Sam BAM Cunningham paint and scored four touchdowns by going over the top so we got down there right at the end and he's looking over at always the shirt sleeves it's cold so I'm miserable I want to get out of there so I just wonder what they don't attend slam there was a stop you now I'll tell you what he did he did to me but he did set more than ice while woody viewed the Trojans celebrated McKay's third national championship in 13 years [Music] USC followed up its 1972 championship with yet another successful expedition in 1973 but the 1974 season began on an ominous note in Little Rock Arkansas I don't think our 74 team was not as talented 272 like I said I don't think any team but I've seen college football was but we were still pretty good and we went back to Arkansas they were pretty good we got off to just a horrible start a couple we have safety we had some terrible things happen to us I was horrible I was off like I think it was until the third quarter that I throw pass for our team threw four interceptions and it was stuff is John Robbins it was our quarterback coach and we had spent the summer really working on the past and convincing coach McKay that we were gonna throw the ball more that year so it only took one game to give in socotra cable going back to the run but it was so it was a tough start we were preseason number one and I really felt like I left my team and I was but then we came back and we played a Roven Pittsburgh team the next year 20 there set that brick defense and we kind of antha gave us had a big day we won that game and really kind of ran the table we did have a tie with Cal in the Coliseum but other than that we kind of really had a ittle really started getting some momentum toward after the tie with California the Trojans came roaring back and beat Stanford Washington and UCLA by an average of 27 points per game the season finale would be staged at the Coliseum against cross country rival Notre Dame on November 30 but no matter the circumstances this game with the Irish was like all the rest of them for John McCain special before I came to the west coast I was a Notre Dame fan I grew up with Irish Catholic and small town West Virgina and my team was no Dame that game was special to him he said it's like two heavyweight fighters it's a street fight you're so lucky to play in this damn game he's you don't know how lucky i hadn´t he could go on so you were looking forward to playing Notre Dame but that anticipation quickly turned to shock as the Irish sprinted to a 24 to nothing lead on SES old field we had dominated the first half I think we were ahead 24 to nothing a memory serves me correctly and they scored on a play just before the end of the half that didn't bother me as much because we had we had done very well in the game the Trojans scoped into their locker room at halftime trailing 2046 that's the gentleman we're behind - guys you're a math major put up their hands and yeah okay he says I'll tell you one other thing we're gonna return this second half kickoff mostly it's a - poof there's no rule in this game against blocking so if you will get off your rear end and David farmer you two guys are the personal protective stuff you'll hit somebody Anthony Davis will go 98 yards for touchdown he was wrong maybe 100 yards afternoon as he boots it high and long and deep in the end zone Davis coming out at the 10 15 20 [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] I saw a kick like this in two years indoor wins perfect kick in my hands two yards deep Enzo and always had like a seven yard relation with Mike my where every time they would hit the defender I was making my break and I was kept my with myself three ways to run so my hit the air open to the left hit the side when anger and I tell you I was a fast over wrinkles out rented a and in the end of his own he scored 49 points 10 minutes to sell right on it we were trying to kick the ball away from him I was willing to take the bicycle was side or the other whichever you feel most comfortable with I remember vividly and he kicks it she write that and he comes up his left side right in front of us and I had the impulse to to grab him nothing he could have and then you started looking for a brick mason because you know there was trouble coming I mean the creek was rising fast it overflows just once it got started that was truly genuinely the nice that era Parseghian learns to hate that damn Lakers I have honest when I want to have said people they've asked me I said I don't know what happened I I have no idea what happened but our guarantee I was there and I clapped we scored 36 points in the third quarter against the number one defensive football team in the country I coach motion to me late in the third quarter great I said yes certainly Lichter honest damndest thing I've ever seen that's what they call coaching but the excitement was just beginning to even have a chance to win the national championship the Trojans would have to beat Ohio State in the Rose Bowl I think Ohio State was favored and then we had to beat them and somebody had to lose there's two other teams have to lose because I think we were rated number three or four I'm not really remembering exact but in order to win NSF everything had to fall in place but the Trojans faced immediate adversity star tailback Anthony Davis was injured in the first quarter so the load fell on the shoulders of quarterback Pat Haden paid you a lead his team in the fourth quarter but SC still trailed the powerful Buckeyes 17 to 10 with two minutes to play sometimes in sports you're close you know people talk about you know time slowed down it was one of those magical moments for me where everything deceived calm quiet seemed like I had a week and I did great for a fast petition and then it was it was a pass right a corner out that John JK and I have thrown for twenty years I think was hurt down at me for the 38 yard line and my dad called the test I would call for something like sixty four x corner which I was on the sidelines at the time and honestly told him that I didn't I didn't think I could I could run the corner on the guy cuz he was sitting outside me the whole time and he just looked at me and said run sixty four X corner and it took you watch Hayden when he throws the pass he drops back he always just said how long it took me to get open on this particular play it took forever Hayden makes a great throw and it's just it was actually one of those moments in that corner of the end zone since I was a little kid I used to hang out in that corner of the end zone and actually have my college career end that in that corner that way was something that I'll always remember the touchdown cut the Buckeye lead to a single point and that was absolutely no question what John McCain you know that point we didn't know that energy on the mine but he was just going for a win and he always did sometimes he won sometimes lost and I think as players and certainly as fans always respected you know an event slingerland that he would do that rather do the same thing came to get report I actually decided to run the ball and I thought the original I was trying to get JP a game quickly on a quick little pass he was covered decided to run at the very last moment I realized I was not going to him so I saw kind of a flash with Shelton bigs other receiver who kind of a little hook through out the back game zone and threw it didn't get a lot on the ball came up well show them went down made a great catch for the two-point play and ultimately doing it was just one of those moments that you know you couldn't draw it up you got your old family there you got it's just a memory that most of the games I played in through those years I don't remember that much about him I remember everything about that John McKay's final year at USC was 1975 his team won its first seven games but then McKay announced that he would leave as C at the end of the season and move on to the NFL the news stunned his players who promptly lost their last four games of the regular season the uncertainty was debilitating as USC leaders gathered to decide who would replace the legend Robinson was a bright young guy that you heard when he was here as an assistant you heard a lot of people say you know that okay ever leaves this might be the guy Dave Levy is a tremendous football coach and I think that if everyone wanted to see him get a shot and I think he would have been very successful but John was the guy for the people in the administration he wanted the guy out front who would be more more of a public relations figure who would be better on TV who'd be better selling the program John was better at that you could have big arguments on who the better football man was a lot of people think levy still was but John had a lot going for him you know in an era when you wanted a telegenic personality filled guy and they and that's who they got you know I'm smart enough to know that that my best chance to succeed was to carry on the legend I used to be safe the key here is the flag he carried the flag or made the flag what it is it's my turn to hold and try to carry so we didn't change it we didn't change it beautiful the locker only we did everything the same now we began to to go forward and certainly we didn't try backward eliminated some of the things maybe we weren't doing but the tradition and all of that I I had great love for him and what he in spite of his tutelage the pupil had a tough act to follow when he took the reins in 1976 the week before John Robinson's debut as the head coach of USC I had lunch with him on a Tuesday or Wednesday they were playing Missouri in the opening game first game 1976 and he filled my head with how this club was gonna go undefeated they were than ago oh I mean 11 alone there was no question we're gonna lose the ballgame and he really had me going my sidekick was with me and we will really believe he's walking out of that luncheon he really believed this close to the goal 11 or no opening kickoff of the game that Friday night against Missouri some guy from Missouri named Leo Lewis runs the ball back 99 yards for a touchdown it's said nothing before the people can be settled in their seats and I think the final score was something like forty nine to six or forty six to nine whatever it was and I remember turning from my partner says this can be a long here he won every game from that point on he won Paul Kennedy many games from their control over the following year USC finished 84 then opened the 1978 season with victories over Texas Tech Michigan State Oregon and bear Bryant's Alabama Crimson Tide they were 10-point favorites that going in they were ranked number one in the nation we were 13 and 14 and we were emotionally aroused we were really really ready for that I can't remember the locker room our players yelling and all of that it was USC 124 214 and the nation of Troy was abuzz with anticipation but in the fifth game of the season the Trojans journeyed to Arizona State and came home with a 22 seven loss their hopes of a national title were dental but not dashed so the players picked themselves up and won the next four games on their schedule UCLA was next on paper we were supposed to blow him out it seemed like at the beginning of the game I remember it was the off-tackle play and to this day I gotta let it what a calcium in this arm from a guy hit me in the shoulder I mean it be an arm right here and I hit it hit me in the arm there and hit the ground and it was just like it's gonna be along hey it was but the Trojans put up 17 first half points while holding the Bruins scoreless SC didn't score again but all UCLA could muster in the second half was a touchdown in field goal so the Trojans prevailed that set up give another dramatic showdown with no today we came out the first part of the game and just really took it to him we had a huge lead in that game I can't remember what the score was Joe Montana was maybe 2 for 18 in the first half couldn't hit the broadside of barn and I'm thinking who's this guy stuff let's be a good player comes out the second half thrust with 300 yards brings him all the way back they go for Tudor had 25 24 they go for 2 at the end don't get it and I hurt my ankle the first series of the game Bob Golok their linebacker rolled up on my ankle and just taped it up I said let me go and see if I can play the next series I threw a touchdown so I said hey I'm fine but by the end of the game my ankle is killing me and I got the offense together on the sidelines and said hey guys we're not gonna lose this game all we have to do is go down about 50 yards kick the foot only one again we get out we only had one time out so we tried to save that time out rolled into the short side of the field and nobody was open covered so I backpedaled guy was coming right at me and I threw it because I knew I had to throw it to stop the clock and hit one of their alignments thigh pads well of course they thought it was a fumble they jumped on the ball their bench emptied they're jumping up and down thinking they won the game with the official incomplete pass because the ball was going forward next pass we complete a 40-hour pass to Calvin Sweeney then Charles White knock tackle for another eight and going to fill with two seconds left kick the field goal and in the game [Music] [Applause] in the seventies I came there in 72 and I think from the 72 through 80 or somewhere 81 the winner of that game won the national championship or came in second nationally so both teams were nationally ranked you know the winner who is probably going to win the national championship or come very close to it but in 1978 the Trojans were ranked third going into their Rose Bowl showdown with number five Michigan if they were to win the title top ranked Penn State would have to lose to Alabama in the Sugar Bowl USC went on the offensive immediately against the worldA leaders as McDonald hit Hobie Brenner was 7 to nothing lead Michigan got a field goal in the second quarter but the Trojans responded quickly moving the ball to the three yard line where Charles white dr. Cole [Applause] [Music] it was a fumble it was it was you know I was I've seen I seen the video about maybe a hundred times and you know and then having an opportunity to go to Cleveland you know there's a bunch of Michigan fans there too but yeah I recall it was just the ball hit just you know just squirted out the guy hated it he hit it hit the ball at the right spot and I'm not one to argue with official and I thought that even though if they were to got the ball on the three yard line our defense was playing well we would've stopped him so you know but it was definitely was a fumble the officials thought otherwise and gave white the touchdown the Trojans added a field goal for a 17 to three lead at the half Michigan quarterback Rick leads tried to rally his team in the second half he completed 8 of 11 passes including this 44-yard touchdown strike to Roosevelt Smith but that was as close as the Wolverines would get and USC celebrated yet another Rose Bowl tired later that night second ranked Alabama upset number one Penn State in the Sugar Bowl so the Trojans shared the 1978 title with the Crimson times from the the season although Robinson's rain resulted in only one national championship he coached two other teams that finished second in the country it was an amazing time we had some great assistant coaches there then whoever whoever had spectacular careers become well known and so it was it was almost like a Camelot for a lot of people you truly love the game and everything associated with it then you can sense that you know there was a joy about it that you know that there are people city had weaknesses and different here and there but you really proved to be a great replacement for Mackay immediately and kept the program going one its own national championship and had several great seasons [Music] exactly 25 years after USC's last national championship third year coach Pete Carroll began preparations for the 2003 season his team was coming off a year in which they won 11 games and their quarterback Carson Palmer won the Heisman Trophy USC football was on the cusp of true resurgence but the first order of business was to find a successor to Palmer at quarterback I was actually a third string going into spring and I just remember it being a battle but I remember working very hard that offseason I think my whole mindset was kind of like miraculously like shifted from the game from until March or April you know three months later one spring when I was just like hey this is my opportunity my confidence kind of built as the practices went on because I could see the coaches gaining confidence in me and I was gaining confidence in myself and so now I just kind of kind of took the reins and just went with it you know and then as slowly the player started respecting me and gaining confidence and that's my new was really my team and I knew I could actually play here and be successful the Trojans traveled to the state of Alabama to open the season against the Auburn Tigers Leinart didn't waste any time taking ownership of the team because a touchdown pass his first play you know the first throw so we were under way and he was totally at ease meeting in command and comfortable and having fun playing the game and we'd be a very good opportunity a very fortunate to beat them at the time and then things just started going and we put together games one after another than put together a great season the Trojans returned home for two more wins before venturing north to Berkeley for a worrisome showdown with cow came out and didn't play well at the beginning came roaring back after halftime and tied the thing up but just for whatever reason had a couple plays in this that didn't allow us to win you know we've missed a field goal that day and that's the point he fumbled on the three yard line going in and overtime and the kinds of place against the team that was pumped up for you that happen when you when you get upset the great thing about that game is not the fact that we lost it that we had a long sentence and it didn't they didn't knock us off pace and did not go soft course actually the Trojans went on a tear winning their next eight games by an average score of 44 to 17 [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we have prided ourselves on finishing well in all areas of the program and you get this that the tension mounts when you see the position that you're at the end of the year you know it's a great challenge to programs to continue to perform at high level and then to have your opportunity to go against a great football team and even the year before against Iowa that had a marvelous team for the Oracle game even that that great matchup in the Rose Bowl Michigan if they had a phenomenal team experience every spot you know drafting adaptable guys that number of positions on the football team and would play really a solid football game against a great team in it and they're in our way you know that way through it it was a great finish to do that here in Southern California you know and to achieve that national championship status right here at home was really a great deal for us Matt Leinart threw three touchdown passes against the Wolverines and for an encore peacock and around headliner gonna catch the ball from Mike Williams touchdown UNC Mike Williams throws the touchdown pass to Matt Winer [Applause] guys stepped up carry Kolbert stuffed up big time in that game my twin so had did with his part and that offensive line did great and we ran the ball when we needed to it and I just got the ball to the opening scene and stuff so yeah it was it was a memorable moment for me I mean I remember the after game been VPR's and holding the sword up into the conquest and kind of doing it to the fans after the game it was definitely great so after a 25-year hiatus the Trojans were once again national champions it was however another split decision the AP's top-ranked team USC was left out of the BCS Championship game which was won by second ranked LSU I think everyone was more disappointed that the two best teams couldn't play you know it's the same old BCS thing that we all write about and criticize and you know so many years the two best teams don't play USC came out of it you know they ended they get to forgot to stay home they got to play in the Rose ball which they love that helps their recruiting locally and in the state you know and talent rich California playing in the Rose Bowl winning the Rose Bowl is a great thing for recruiting all the recruits are there you know if they had the best of both worlds [Music] as the 2004 season approached the trojans were hard at work they were the preseason favorite so they had to be better as he opened the season back east against powerful Virginia Tech in the PC a classic but the first blow was actually delivered before kickoff the NCAA ruled that wide receiver Mike Williams was ineligible so someone would have to step up and replace it just his presence on the field you know it is felt by the defense and he's a he's a the big weapon out there so I knew how I would have to step up and really on his team taught in a playful bomb a plays all across the board and that's exactly what Reggie Bush did he got three touchdown passes and led the Trojans to a 24-13 win over the Hokies but it wasn't quite as easy as it appeared we struggled at times but Reggie being himself he made a ton of big plays and I kind of just got the ball finally found a groove I remember in the second half the first half I was felt a little bit we're kind of off off the timing and everything and it was loud I remember being super loud and I like 80,000 definitely possible varmint and I really believe that that game really prepared us for the whole season to do what we did playing a team like that battery battling back from halftime the championship caliber team were played you know in a BCS game finished with two off ethanol year so it definitely helped us sell for you the Trojans would summon that fortitude often during the 2004 season just games later USC found itself in a dogfight its temp Matt Leinart was brilliant completing 23 of 30 attempts for 284 yards but still the cardinal led 28 17 at the half [Music] [Music] Stanford did not score in the second half but the Trojans needed two touchdowns to win a spark was ignited late in the third quarter when Leinart hits Dean Smith on a 51 yard bomb three plays later the quarterback took it in himself to cut the Cardinal lead to pool in the fourth quarter Reggie Bush gave the Trojans great field position with this 33 yard punt return to the Stanford 41 eight plays later Glendale white you've got the coal he's down at the goal line he's in the endzone touchdown USC are the Trojans have believe that was probably the most meaningful win of the season for us because that was the game when we solidified who we were what we were all about the very next week Cal came to the Coliseum determined to make it two in a row over the vaunted men of Troy obviously there was a lot of hype going of the game and kind of a revenge game for us if you want to call it we weren't thinking like that but I know inside of me I wanted it you know and inside everybody else's even giving coach you know we wanted that game bad and I just remember as a battle from the get the get go we know we got on them early and that we got up 14 nothing or seven or something like that and defense was playing good you know that the one thing I think they cut the ball so long and then they kept their offense off and we kept going three now for now and the defense is getting tired and all that and came down to the last series of the game and back and forth back and forth and then four players on the 9 yard line their symptoms with the potent offense like that and a great offense you know in a smart often set this is gonna be tough and I just remember sitting on the side and then just get ready to for two minutes real get out there and try to score and get the game and our defense you know the first place okay you know we got a chance second play and then you're getting down a third and fourth down and it's critical man this is two biggest plays of the year and we stopped them [Applause] thanks to that epic goal-line stand the Trojans won the game 23 to 17 the team would not be challenged again until it traveled to Corvallis Oregon where fog-shrouded Reiser stadium the Beavers actually scored the first 13 points of the game but the Trojans tallied the next 28 and came home with their ninth victory of the season horrible cold foggy night including to see the feel from the press box part at the time you know they're on the road most teams are just gonna you know look we had a bad night that's it you know we're gonna lose but there's something Carroll's teams play in the second half they make adjustments they come out they're always better almost in every game you watch them over a full season couple seasons they're always the better team in the second half USC finished the season with blowout wins against Arizona and Notre Dame before battling UCLA at the Rose Bowl in the season finale the game was not as close as the 29:24 score would indicate but the Bruins were ready to rumble and I was a tough game the only day they played a lot harder runs and I think a lot of people expected you know we we didn't expect anyone to come up you know any nice harder than they did you know it was a great game when we start to today and I was part of history you know it send us on our way to Tennessee [Music] and we're glad you're coming back so that journey took the Trojans to South Florida for a date with second ranked Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl [Music] you know looking at them on film I thought that was probably the best defense we've seen on film you know the fastest athletic you know big and not intimidating you know but just like just killing people you know killing everybody they faced and the hype was supposed to be the greatest game ever you know the two teams we're gonna face off everyone wanted to see us in Oklahoma play and they've been waiting for two years and they finally got it and and I really think we just were mentally prepared more mentally prepared than they were and I think we came out and they came out fast and scored and then we came out and just kind of got a turnover here and there and just capitalized and I think they were just in shock you know they didn't they didn't think was gonna happen and then we just kept pounding on him kept crushing him and and you know just till they couldn't really breathe anymore and we just kept going and and they gave up and they gave up in the second quarter and we just kept playing the way in there now and really we expected we we knew we could beat them we we thought we were gonna do them but we knew was India tough challenge and it was still a tough game for you know just not as tough as we were it was surprising me you know cuz big sweaters master Chan me should get respect to see the best you know both sides votes from both teams so you know we felt like it was a great game first half no it was I mean it was a pretty solid game they didn't look anything didn't look out of order but I guess second half and we just came out and you know even stronger we did the first half so it was definitely a shock to me I definitely expect to do to be a closer game [Music] sometimes things worked out like that the triumph put an exclamation point on a storybook season in which the Trojans remain the top ranked team in the country from start to finish you can't do that dream about being the national champion maybe it happened you have to work at it every single day to try to apply yourself really tremendous focus there's so many distractions and so many issues that you deal with you know from the media from inside from outside every in every direction that if you don't have an approach and how to handle things I think you're gonna get knocked off me and become like other teams that have struggled to that kind of notoriety we've I think we've become comfortable with with that with this position and we've created a sense of it's normal to be in this position to be number one team and have the guys in the Heisman race and to have all at the top of the hypervisor and we've taken and embraced that confident leaving to feel comfortable there and that's really important you know if you're all full yourself and all jacked up about your last win and all that you're gonna go up and down we try to stay very steady about each game and it's each challenge that we and not get too full of ourselves or too full the situation to fold the poles and the high branding that stuff and our ability to hold that focus is our greatest challenge and if we can hold on to that then we've got a chance to be good for a long time as Carroll and his Trojans embark on their quest for a third straight title they know they have the full support and admiration of those who have gone before them pride once again permeates the USC football family well first of all I think coach Carroll's is one of the great people I've ever met at this University I happen to love Pete Carroll I love his attitude I love his philosophy I would give anything to have opportunity to play for him this great institution has always you know produced in the classroom produce on the fields and and then for a period of time again it was like oh you know we got to bring back that glory that mystique that history that tradition I didn't think anybody could resurrect the program not because you couldn't have good coaches and good players I just thought the rules have been changed since when I played some at the NCAA instigated this some rules changes like scholarship limitations for example that I thought maybe you know USC could be good every year but they wouldn't dominate I was completely surprised happily by what Pete Carroll has done and his staff have done here at USC over the last four years but particular the last four years and I and I say these last four years have been the best it's great for all of us I mean the great thing about my class when I was here is we've had bragging rights because we had two national championships whenever there's a reunion of any kind we always can kind of go to the front of the line so to speak well this class that's in about to play this next year now has an opportunity to put up three national championships which would move them right to the front of line if they're not already there to be able to represent them and put this into position and if they feel great about it it's hard to describe how important that is to me because it it's it's connecting and sharing the pride that they have felt and giving them the sense to to feel so good about where they come from and yeah it goes beyond that to it because it's also connecting it with the the alums that have been here and in the past they knew the championship years they talked about it with their kids and their grandkids and all that what it used to be like for them to be able to again point the finger since this is this what I was telling you it could be like and this is how it how it was and this is this is how you get to leave for them to get to see their kids sharing in that great fun that they get out of our accomplishments it's it's the most rewarding aspect of all of this it has been a very very special part of this whole thing that's why it's so important to keep working hard and to keep pressing and pushing to keep it going so that we can share this for as long as we can hold on to it whatever the future holds USC can always look back with pride at it's regal football heritage it gave us legendary coaches whose energy and innovation built nearly invincible dynasties it gave us unforgettable athletes whose skill and dedication inspire us in even the darkest blue and it gave us indelible imprints of so many special moments of the Coliseum the Rose Bowl and throughout the country exhilarating moments that make us smile that is the essence of USC football and the reason we have the good fortune to celebrate 11 national championships and Counting [Music]

Channel: One Hour Football

Views: 15,339

Rating: 4.8899083 out of 5

Keywords: University of Southern California, One Hour Football, USC Trojans, John McKay, John Robinson, Marcus Allen, OJ SImpson, Charles White, Carson palmer, Mike Garrett, JK Mckay, Pat Haden

Id: He0R2iCd0aQ

Length: 75min 12sec (4512 seconds)

Published: Fri May 03 2019