1974 USC Trojans football team

The 1974 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the Pacific-8 Conference during the 1974 NCAA Division I football season. In their 15th year under head coach John McKay, the Trojans compiled a 10–1–1 record (6–0–1 in Pac-8, first)), and outscored their opponents 363 to 142.^[1] The team was ranked #1 in the final UPI Coaches Poll and #2 in the final AP Poll due to Oklahoma being on probation from the Coaches’ Poll.

1974 USC Trojans football
Coaches' Poll national champion Pac-8 champion Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 18–17 vs. Ohio State
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 2
Record	10–1–1 (6–0–1 Pac-8)
Head coach	John McKay (15th season)
Captains	Pat Haden Richard Wood
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Seasons ← 1973 1975 →

1974 Pacific-8 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 USC $	6	–	0	–	1			10	–	1	–	1
Stanford	5	–	1	–	1			5	–	4	–	2
California	4	–	2	–	1			7	–	3	–	1
UCLA	4	–	2	–	1			6	–	3	–	2
Washington	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Oregon State	3	–	4	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Washington State	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Oregon	0	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Quarterback Pat Haden led the team in passing, completing 70 of 149 passes for 988 yards with 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Anthony Davis led the team in rushing with 301 carries for 1,421 yards and 13 touchdowns. J. K. McKay led the team in receiving with 34 catches for 550 yards and eight touchdowns.^[2] Vince Evans backed up Haden. Allen Carter backed up Davis. The fullbacks were Ricky Bell, Dave Farmer and Mosi Tatupu. The starting flanker, Shelton Diggs, caught the two point conversion that lifted USC over Ohio State in the January 1975 Rose Bowl.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 14	vs. No. 20 Arkansas*	No. 5	War Memorial Stadium Little Rock, AR	L 7–22	54,622	[3]
September 28	at No. 8 Pittsburgh*	No. 18	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	W 16–7	52,934
October 5	Iowa*	No. 9	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 41–3	52,095
October 12	vs. Washington State	No. 7	Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA	W 54–7	32,000
October 19	at Oregon	No. 6	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	W 16–7	32,500
October 26	Oregon State	No. 6	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 35–10	52,392
November 2	California	No. 6	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	T 15–15	53,921
November 9	at Stanford	No. 11	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	W 35–10	83,500
November 16	Washington	No. 8	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 42–11	51,157
November 23	at UCLA	No. 8	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	W 34–9	82,467
November 30	No. 5 Notre Dame*	No. 6	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	W 55–24	83,552
January 1, 1975	vs. No. 3 Ohio State*	No. 5	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	W 18–17	106,721
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

Washington

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Washington	0	3	0	8	11
• USC	7	14	14	7	42

• Date: November 16
• Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA
• Game attendance: 51,157

Scoring summary

1		USC	Diggs 36-yard pass from Haden (Limahelu kick)	USC 7-0
2		USC	Davis 7-yard pass from Haden (Limahelu kick)	USC 14-0
2		USC	Davis 1-yard run (Limahelu kick)	USC 21-0
2		WASH	Robbins 46-yard field goal	USC 21-3
3		USC	Carter 1-yard run (Limahelu kick)	USC 28-3
3		USC	Evans 3-yard run (Limahelu kick)	USC 35-3
4		USC	Ford 36-yard run (Limahelu kick)	USC 42-3
4		WASH	McBride 4-yard run (Conley pass from McBride)	USC 42-11

^[4]

Roster

1974 USC Trojans football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 42 Ricky Bell So RB 28 Anthony Davis Sr WR 26 Shelton Diggs So QB 8 Vince Evans So QB 10 Pat Haden Sr G 61 Donnie Hickman So G 65 Melvin Jackson Jr WR 25 J.K. McKay Sr OT 76 Marvin Powell So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 44 Mike Burns So DT 79 Gary Jeter So LB 57 David Lewis So DT Greg Marderian LB 52 Rod Martin So CB 46 Danny Reece Jr LB 55 Eric Williams So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K/P 39 Glen Walker So	Head coach John McKay (15th year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

^[5]