1970 USC Trojans football team

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.

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)
Captains	Bob Chandler Charlie Weaver
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Seasons ← 1969 1971 →

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

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	Time	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	1:23 p.m.	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 All times are in Pacific time

Game summaries

Alabama

Team	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:

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

Team	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

Team	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 Willie Brown – Assistant Dave Levy – Assistant Marv Goux – Assistant Craig Fertig – Assistant Phil Krueger – Assistant Rod Humenuik – Assistant Joe Gibbs – Assistant Pete Yoder – Running backs 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]