1977 USC Trojans football team

1977 USC Trojans football
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, W 47–28 vs. Texas A&M
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 12
AP	No. 13
Record	8–4 (5–2 Pac-8)
Head coach	John Robinson (2nd season)
Captains	Rob Hertel Clay Matthews Jr.
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

1977 Pacific-8 Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 10 Washington $	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
No. 15 Stanford	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 13 USC	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
California	3	–	4	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Washington State	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Oregon	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Oregon State	0	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
UCLA †	0	–	2	–	0			0	–	4	–	0
$ – Conference champion † – UCLA forfeited 7 wins (5 conference wins) due to ineligible players. Rankings from AP Poll

The 1977 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. In their second year under head coach John Robinson, the Trojans compiled a 8–4 record (5–2 against conference opponents), finished in a tie for second place in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8), and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 357 to 212. The team was ranked #12 in the final UPI Coaches Poll and #13 in the final AP Poll.

Quarterback Rob Hertel led the team in passing, completing 132 of 245 passes for 2,145 yards with 19 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. Charles White led the team in rushing with 285 carries for 1,478 yards and seven touchdowns. Randy Simmrin led the team in receiving with 41 catches for 840 yards and five touchdowns.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 10	at Missouri*	No. 4	Faurot Field Columbia, MO		W 27–10	65,298
September 17	at Oregon State	No. 2	Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR		W 17–10	31,143
September 24	TCU*	No. 2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 51–0	54,620
September 30	Washington State	No. 2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 41–7	61,809
October 8	No. 7 Alabama*	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	ABC	L 20–21	63,140
October 15	Oregon	No. 6	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 33–15	51,120
October 22	at No. 11 Notre Dame*	No. 5	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	ABC	L 19–49	59,075
October 29	at California	No. 10	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA		L 14–17	76,780
November 5	Stanford	No. 16	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)		W 49–0	65,101
November 12	at Washington	No. 14	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA		L 10–28	59,501
November 25	No. 17 UCLA		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	ABC	W 29–27	86,168
December 31	vs. No. 17 Texas A&M*	No. 20	Houston Astrodome Houston, TX (Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl)	Mizlou	W 47–28	52,842
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1977 USC Trojans football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OL Gary Bethel OL Brad Budde TE Dan Burns RB 21 Lynn Cain Jr RB Rod Connors RB Dwight Ford TE 86 William Gay Sr QB 6 Rob Hertel Sr G 66 Pat Howell Jr QB Paul McDonald OL Anthony Munoz OT 74 John Schuhmacher Sr TE 89 Joe Shipp Sr WR Randy Simmrin WR Howard Studdard WR 24 Calvin Sweeney Jr FB 36 Mosi Tatupu Sr OT 68 Keith Van Horne So RB 12 Charles White So WR 8 Kevin Williams So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 47 Larry Braziel Jr LB 58 Mario Celotto Sr LB 85 Garry Cobb Jr DB Willie Crawford DT 92 Rich Dimler Jr CB 40 Jeff Fisher Fr LB 50 Ed Gutierrez DB Carter Hartwig LB 56 Dennis Johnson So DT 96 Myron Lapka So S 42 Ronnie Lott Fr LB 60 Clay Matthews Sr LB 58 Mike McDonald Sr LB 57 Larry McGrew So DB 33 Ricky Odom Sr LB 81 Eric Scoggins Fr DB 49 Dennis Smith Fr DL Ty Sperling DB 7 Dennis Thurman Sr DL Walt Underwood	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K Frank Jordan	Head coach John Robinson Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Game summaries

UCLA

1 2 3 4 Total • USC 0 17 9 3 29 UCLA 10 0 7 10 27 Date: November 25 Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles Game attendance: 86,168

Scoring summary 1 UCLA Carrol 52-yard field goal UCLA 3–0 1 UCLA Brown 1-yard run (Carrol kick) UCLA 10–0 2 USC Jordan 25-yard field goal UCLA 10–3 2 USC Gay 20-yard pass from Hertel (kick failed) UCLA 10–9 2 USC Williams 40-yard pass from Hertel (Gay pass from Hertel) USC 16–10 3 9:57 USC Williams 27-yard pass from Hertel (kick failed) USC 23–10 3 USC Jordan 36-yard field goal USC 26–10 3 UCLA Owens 32-yard pass from Bashore (Carrol kick) USC 26–17 4 UCLA Carrol 20-yard field goal USC 26–20 4 2:51 UCLA Pederson 2-yard pass from Bashore (Carrol kick) UCLA 27–26 4 :02 USC Jordan 38-yard field goal USC 29–27