1962 USC Trojans football team

1962 USC Trojans football
1962 USC Trojans football
Consensus national champion; AAWU champion; Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 42–37 vs. Wisconsin
Conference	Athletic Association of Western Universities
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	11–0 (4–0 AAWU)
Head coach	John McKay (3rd season);
Captains	Marv Marinovich; Ben Wilson;
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
	Seasons ← 1961 1963 →

1962 Athletic Association of Western Universities football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 USC $	4	–	0	–	0	11	–	0	–	0
Washington	4	–	1	–	0	7	–	1	–	2
Washington State	1	–	1	–	0	5	–	4	–	1
Stanford	2	–	3	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
UCLA	1	–	3	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
California	0	–	4	–	0	1	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1962 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1962 NCAA University Division football season. In their third year under head coach John McKay, the Trojans compiled an 11–0 record (4–0 against conference opponents), won the Athletic Association of Western Universities (AAWU or Big 6) championship, and defeated Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. USC outscored their opponents 261 to 92, and finished first in both major polls, released prior to the bowls.^[1]

Junior quarterback Pete Beathard completed 54 of 107 passes for 989 yards with ten touchdown passes and only one interception. (Bill Nelsen also completed 36 of 80 passes for 682 yards and eight touchdown passes with two interceptions.) Willie Brown was the team's leading rusher with 574 rushing yards (and 291 receiving yards). Hal Bedsole was USC's leading receiver with 33 catches for 827 yards and 11 touchdowns.^[2] Bedsole was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2012.

Two USC players were selected by the Associated Press (AP) for the All-Coast team; end Bedsole and linebacker Damon Bame.^[3] Bedsole was a consensus All-American in 1962,^[4] while Bame received first-team honors from the AP.^[5]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 22	No. 8 Duke*		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 14–7	26,400	^[6]
September 29	at SMU*	No. 9	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX	W 33–3	14,000
October 6	at Iowa*	No. 6	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 7–0	55,300
October 20	California	No. 6	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 32–6	38,500
October 27	at Illinois*	No. 4	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 28–16	31,375
November 3	No. 9 Washington	No. 3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 14–0	46,456
November 10	at Stanford	No. 2	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	W 39–14	41,000
November 17	Navy*	No. 2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 13–6	51,701
November 24	at UCLA	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	W 14–3	86,740
December 1	Notre Dame*	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	W 25–0	81,676
January 1, 1963	vs. No. 2 Wisconsin*	No. 1	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	W 42–37	98,698
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

Duke

#8 Duke at USC

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 8 Blue Devils	7	0	0	0	7
• Trojans	0	14	0	0	14

Date: September 22
Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
Game attendance: 26,400

^[7]

SMU

Statistics

Receiving: Hal Bedsole 4 receptions, 112 yards, 2 TD^[8]

California

Statistics

Receiving: Hal Bedsole 6 receptions, 201 yards, 2 TD^[8]

Players

The following players were members of the 1962 USC football team.^[9]

Damon Bame, linebacker
Pete Beathard, quarterback
Hal Bedsole, end
Willie Brown, halfback
John Brownwood, end
Ron Butcher
Mac Byrd
Jay Clark
Ken Del Conte, halfback
Craig Fertig, quarterback
Bill Fisk
Mike Gale
Stan Gonta
Ron Heller
Fred Hill
Gary Hill
Phil Hoover
Hudson Houck
Loran Hunt
Tom Johnson
Ernie Jones
Randy Jones
Gary Kirner, tackle
Pete Lubisich, guard
Tom Lupo
Marv Marinovich, guard
Rich McMahon
Bill Nelsen, quarterback
Gary Potter
Ernie Pye
John Ratliff, guard
Lynn Reade
Larry Sagouspe
Armando Sanchez
Denny Schmidt
Ron Smedley
Bob Svihus, tackle
Toby Thurlow
Gary Winslow
Ben Wilson, fullback

Coaching staff and administration

Head coach: John McKay
Assistant coaches: Mel Hein, Mike Giddings, Raymond George, Dave Levy, Charlie Hall, Marv Goux, and Joe Margucci^[10]
Athletic director: Jess Hill^[11]
Senior manager: Mike Leddel^[10]

References

^ "Southern California Yearly Results (1960-1964)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
^ "1962 Southern California Trojans Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
^ Jack Hewins (December 4, 1962). "Explosive Backfield, Fast Line Form All-Coast '11'". Santa Cruz Sentinel. p. 8.
^ "2014 NCAA Football Records: Consensus All-America Selections" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2014. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 22, 2014. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
^ "AP's 1962 All-America Team". The Miami News. December 6, 1962. p. 19C.
^ "Trojans topple favored Duke 14–7". The Sacramento Bee. September 23, 1962. Retrieved January 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Southern Cal Upsets Duke". The Palm Beach Post. September 23, 1962.
^ ^a ^b 2012 USC football media supplement.
^ 1963 "El Rodeo" (USC yearbook), pages 206-209.
^ ^a ^b 1963 "El Rodeo", page 211.
^ 1963 "El Rodeo", page 202.