1968 USC Trojans football team

The 1968 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1968 NCAA University Division football season. In their ninth year under head coach John McKay, the Trojans compiled a 9–1–1 record (6–0 against conference opponents), won the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) championship, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 259 to 168.^[1] The team was ranked #2 in the final Coaches Poll and #4 in the final AP Poll.

1968 USC Trojans football
Pac-8 champion
Rose Bowl, L 16–27 vs. Ohio State
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 4
Record	9–1–1 (6–0 Pac-8)
Head coach	John McKay (9th season)
Captains	O. J. Simpson Steve Sogge
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Seasons ← 1967 1969 →

1968 Pacific-8 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 USC $	6	–	0	–	0			9	–	1	–	1
No. 15 Oregon State	5	–	1	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Stanford	3	–	3	–	1			6	–	3	–	1
California	2	–	2	–	1			7	–	3	–	1
Oregon	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
UCLA	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
Washington State	1	–	3	–	1			3	–	6	–	1
Washington	1	–	5	–	1			3	–	5	–	2
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Steve Sogge led the team in passing, completing 122 of 207 passes for 1,454 yards with nine touchdowns and nine interceptions. O. J. Simpson led the team in rushing with 383 carries for 1,880 yards and 23 touchdowns. Jim Lawrence led the team in receiving with 26 catches for 386 yards and two touchdowns.^[2] Simpson won both the Heisman Trophy and the Walter Camp Award.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 21	at No. 16 Minnesota*	No. 2	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 29–20	60,820	[3]
September 28	at Northwestern*	No. 3	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 24–7	47,277	[4]
October 5	No. 13 Miami (FL)*	No. 2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 28–3	71,189	[5]
October 12	at No. 18 Stanford	No. 2	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	W 27–24	81,000	[6]
October 19	Washington	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 14–7	60,990	[7]
November 2	at Oregon	No. 1	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	W 20–13	33,500	[8]
November 9	No. 11 California	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 35–17	80,871	[9]
November 16	No. 13 Oregon State	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 17–13	59,236	[10]
November 23	at UCLA	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	W 28–16	75,066	[11]
November 30	No. 9 Notre Dame*	No. 2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	T 21–21	82,659	[12]
January 1, 1969	vs. No. 1 Ohio State*	No. 2	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	L 16–27	102,063	[13]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Rankings

Main article: 1968 NCAA University Division football rankings

Game summaries

Minnesota

• OJ Simpson 39 rushes, 236 yards ^[14]

Miami (FL)

See also: 1968 Miami Hurricanes football team

Stanford

• O.J. Simpson 47 rushes, 220 yards ^[15]

Oregon State

• O.J. Simpson 47 rushes, 238 yards ^[16]

Notre Dame

See also: 1968 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team and Notre Dame–USC football rivalry

^[17]

Vs. Ohio State (Rose Bowl)

Main article: 1969 Rose Bowl

See also: 1968 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 2 USC

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 1 Buckeyes	0	10	3	14	27
No. 2 Trojans	0	10	0	6	16

• Date: January 1, 1969
• Location:
  Rose Bowl
  Pasadena, CA
• Game start: 5:00 p.m. EST
• Game attendance: 102,063
• Game weather: Sunny; 84 °F (29 °C)
• Referee: Charles Moffett
• TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy Kyle Rote

Scoring summary

2	9:40	USC	Ayala 21-yard field goal	USC 3–0
2	6:38	USC	Simpson 80-yard run (Ayala kick)	USC 10–0
2	1:45	OSU	Otis 1-yard run (Roman kick)	USC 10–7
2	0:03	OSU	Roman 26-yard field goal	Tie 10–10
3	1:40	OSU	Roman 25-yard field goal	OSU 13–10
4	13:52	OSU	Hayden 4-yard pass from Kern (Roman kick)	OSU 20–10
4	10:05	OSU	Gillian 16-yard pass from Kern (Roman kick)	OSU 27–10
4	0:45	USC	Dickerson 19-yard pass from Sogge (pass failed)	OSU 27–16

Roster

1968 USC Trojans football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 9 Bob Chandler So QB 7 Mike Holmgren Jr QB 8 Jimmy Jones Fr TE 84 Bob Klein Sr WR 28 Jim Lawrence Sr TE 86 Bob Miller Sr OT 78 Marv Montgomery Jr QB 6 Steve Sogge Sr RB 32 O. J. Simpson Sr OT 77 Sid Smith Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class FS 17 Mike Battle Sr DT 72 Al Cowlings Jr CB 16 Sandy Durko Jr DE 83 Jimmy Gunn Jr DE 85 Bill Hayhoe Sr LB 55 Jim Snow Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach John McKay Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

^[18][19][20]

Awards and honors

• O. J. Simpson: Heisman Trophy,^[21] Walter Camp Award

1969 NFL/AFL draft

Eight Trojans were selected in the 1969 NFL/AFL draft, held in late January.

Player	Position	Round	Overall	Franchise
O. J. Simpson	Running back	1	1	Buffalo Bills
Bob Klein	Tight end	1	21	Los Angeles Rams
Bill Hayhoe	Defensive tackle	5	116	Green Bay Packers
Bob Miller	Tackle	6	138	New Orleans Saints
Jim Lawrence	Back	8	189	New Orleans Saints
Jack O’Malley	Tackle	12	302	San Francisco 49ers
Mike Battle	Defensive back	12	311	New York Jets
Wilson Bowie	Running back	13	320	Detroit Lions

Source:^[22]