University Southern California Trojans
USC Reaches 1,000-Game Milestone
September 30, 1999 | Football
Sept. 30, 1999
USC football reaches a milestone in its illustrious history on Oct. 2 as the Trojans play their 1,000th game. Looking back, who would have thought that a tiny school founded by the Methodist Church would emerge to become one of the top football powers in the country?
There have been so many accomplishments in these 1,000 games: eight national titles, four Heisman Trophy winners, 28 Rose Bowls and 121 All-Americans. Trojan football history is packed with heroic moments and legendary names.
The names are etched clearly in our memories: Gloomy Gus. The Thundering Herd. John McKay. Iron Mike. And the famous games still resonate: the twin comebacks versus Notre Dame, the recurring nail-biters against UCLA, the triumphant Rose Bowls. But what about the "most important" games out of the past 1,000 - the games that helped make USC what it is today? Which games started trends, broke streaks or changed history? Some you'll remember, some you won't. Here are a few of the contests that shaped USC's football history:
1888 - USC 16, Alliance AC 0 The first game. Who could have imagined how the future would unfold? In those days a touchdown scored four points, while the conversion was worth two points, a field goal five points and a safety scored two. Frank Suffel and Henry Goddard were the playing coaches for this first team. 1905 - Stanford 16, USC 0 This was USC's first game ever against major college competition. Prior to this, USC had played Southland colleges, high schools, academies and athletic clubs and had rivalry games with Pomona and Occidental. Stanford, however, was big-time on the gridiron long before USC was. The Stanford-Cal game annually made bigger headlines, even in Los Angeles, than any USC game. USC fans looked forward to this game all year and the Trojans managed to hold their own on a dreary day in Palo Alto, but the result was a shutout loss. Significantly, USC did not play another major opponent in college football for nine years after this Stanford loss.
1924 - Cal 7, USC 0 Elmer "Gloomy Gus" Henderson's undefeated Trojans met Andy Smith's undefeated Bears before 60,000 in USC's first appearance at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley. Jim Dixon scored the game's only touchdown on a 12-yard run around left end in the second quarter. USC's loss pushed its record against Cal to 1-8-1. The pressure from the alumni for Henderson's ouster grew intense, and after an upset loss to St. Mary's the next week, the decision was made to buy out Gloomy Gus' contract at the end of the year. The way was thus cleared for the arrival of Howard Jones, arguably Troy's greatest head coach.
1925 - Nebraska 17, Notre Dame 0 The greatest intersectional college football rivalry - USC versus Notre Dame - might never have commenced but for this game. USC was looking for a national rival and dispatched graduate manager Gwynn Wilson (akin to the modern day athletic director) and his wife to Lincoln, where Notre Dame was playing Nebraska on Thanksgiving Day. Knute Rockne was cool to the idea of a home-and-home series with USC because of the travel involved, but Mrs. Wilson was able to persuade Mrs. Rockne that a trip every two years to sunny Southern California was better than one to snowy, hostile Nebraska. Mrs. Rockne spoke to her husband and shortly thereafter Notre Dame became an annual fixture on USC's schedule.
1928 - USC 10, Stanford 0 Howard Jones had not beaten Glenn "Pop" Warner's Stanford Indians in three tries until his Thundering Herd did it before 80,000 at the Coliseum this year. The legendary Warner considered this Stanford team to be his best, but they lost five turnovers to USC that day. Stanford's 10-pound per-man weight advantage was offset by the Trojans' "quick-mix" defense and a speedy backfield comprised of Don Williams, Russ Saunders and Marshall Duffield. This was a landmark game as it signaled Troy's emergence as the preeminent power on the West Coast. USC went on to win its first national title that season and Jones never lost to Warner again.
1931 - USC 16, ND 14 This game captured the imagination of football fans everywhere - and the hearts of the citizens of Los Angeles. More than 300,000 fans welcomed the Trojans home from this thrilling victory in South Bend - a victory clinched by what sportswriter Maxwell Stiles called "Johnny Baker's 10 little toes and three BIG points." USC trailed 14-0 at the outset of the final stanza, but stormed back behind the running of Gus Shaver and the passing of Orv Mohler. Baker's 23-yard field goal with one minute remaining made the difference. The win snapped Notre Dame's 26-game unbeaten string and was the Trojans' first win in South Bend. Called "...the biggest upset since Mrs. O'Leary's cow knocked over that lantern" by El Rodeo, Troy's student yearbook, it clinched USC's second national title and firmly established the Trojans as a national power.
1944 - USC 38, Washington 7 This was USC's first Coliseum home night game in the Coliseum. The game program reported: "This may well be the one and only Coliseum night game in Trojan varsity football history." That year, Washington was under wartime travel restrictions and was forced to schedule two California games in seven days. A schedule conflict resulted and an exception had to be made to USC's longstanding policy of playing Saturday afternoons. The game was a success. The attendance of 62,865 was USC's largest for a home game that year. As a result, home night games became a regular part of the USC schedule.
1956 - USC 44, Texas 20 In 1925, guard Brice Taylor, an African-American, was named USC's first All-American. It would be about 30 years before another black man made his mark on Trojan football. Fullback C.R. Roberts was that man. He rumbled for 251 yards versus Texas, setting the USC single-game rushing record in the process. The record stood for 20 years. It was sweet redemption for Roberts and his teammates. The game was played in Austin and the hotel where the Trojans had booked was segregated. Head Coach Jess Hill moved his team to another lodging and the Trojans seemed to take it out on the Longhorns on gameday.
1959 - Notre Dame 16, USC 6 This was the last game played between the two teams in South Bend in November. The freezing cold affected the Trojans so much that Athletic Director Jess Hill proposed moving USC's games at Notre Dame Stadium to October, while continuing to play the Coliseum games in late November. Notre Dame agreed and it's been that way ever since.
1961 - Iowa 35, USC 34 The Hawkeyes came into this game ranked No. 1 in the country. The Trojans, in their first season using John McKay's I-formation, were struggling. The critics in the press box said the "I" stood for "incompetent," "intolerable" and "ineffective." But on this day, after falling behind 21-0, USC exploded for 34 points and lost only in the last minute, 35-34. The Trojans totaled 220 yards on the ground and 156 in the air. For the first time, the I-formation proved its worth. Soon, USC and John McKay became synonymous with this tailback-led rushing attack.
1967 - USC 24, Notre Dame 7 The 1967 USC-UCLA game is the game everyone remembers this season, but it never would have had the same importance if the Trojans hadn't first defeated defending national champion and No. 5 Notre Dame on a sunny October day in South Bend. The previous year, the Irish handed the Trojans their worst defeat ever, 51-0, and despite USC's No.1 rank in the 1967 polls, Notre Dame was a heavy favorite. Weighing heavy on the oddsmakers' minds was the fact that USC had not won in South Bend since 1939 (it didn't matter much to them that McKay, after the '66 debacle, vowed never to lose to the Irish again). It was on this day that most of the country first heard of a tailback named O.J. Simpson. The junior from San Francisco rushed for 160 yards on 38 carries and tacked on all three USC touchdowns. A tenacious Trojan defense intercepted seven passes (four by a true Irishman, Adrian Young) and recovered two fumbles. USC trailed at the half 7-0, but roared back in the second half to win the game. The win solidified Troy's place at the top of the final rankings.
1970 - USC 42, Alabama 21 It's a rare feat when a football game helps to change societal attitudes. The 1970 USC win over Alabama may have done just that. The Trojans traveled to Birmingham where they faced an all-white Crimson Tide team coached by Paul "Bear" Bryant. Thanks to dominating performances for USC by a trio of African-Americans (Sam Cunningham, Clarence Davis and Jimmy Jones), Bryant was convinced that he needed to recruit black players for his program. The rest of the Southeastern Conference soon followed suit and opportunities for black athletes in the South began to improve tremendously. Bryant was so impressed by Cunningham (who had 135 yards and two touchdowns on just 12 carries) that he invited the sophomore fullback into the 'Bama locker room after the game. He brought his players to Cunningham one-by-one and introduced him, saying: "This is what a football player looks like."
1996 - USC 27, Notre Dame 20 At long last, after 13 years of futility, the Trojans defeated the Irish. In what seemed the unlikeliest of streaks, USC had found every possible way to not defeat Notre Dame. And in what seemed like the unlikeliest of days for it to happen, Troy finally ended that streak. USC was struggling at 5-6 after a wild double-overtime loss to UCLA the previous week while Notre Dame was standing tall with an 8-2 record and a New Year's Day bowl bid in the works. The Trojans somehow managed to stay in the game despite playing without starting quarterback Brad Otton for large chunks of regulation, as he was bothered by an injury. When Notre Dame scored a touchdown to go ahead 20-12 (with the PAT pending) in the fourth quarter, things looked bleak for USC. But Irish kicker Jim Sanson shanked the extra point and the margin stayed at eight. The Trojans responded with an eight-play, 67-yard drive culminating in Delon Washington's 15-yard touchdown scamper. Washington also ran in the two-point conversion and the score was knotted at 20. Neither team could score before the end of regulation and overtime ensued. On USC's first drive, Otton hit Rodney Sermons with a five-yard touchdown pass and the Trojans went ahead for the first time, 27-20. Jubilation erupted in the Coliseum when Mark Cusano batted down Ron Powlus' fourth-down pass and the streak ended. Since then, USC has added two more victories over the Irish.
Congratulations, USC. Here's to the next 1,000 games.
Other important games in Trojan history:
1939 Rose Bowl - USC 7, Duke 3 (Duke was unbeaten, unscored upon until this game) 1951 Notre Dame 19, USC 12 (USC's first appearance on national television) 1953 Rose Bowl - USC 7, Wisconsin 0 (breaks Big Ten Rose Bowl win streak) 1964 USC 20, Notre Dame 17 (Fertig to Sherman shocks the No. 1 Irish) 1974 USC 55, Notre Dame 24 (The Comeback - enough said) 1975 Rose Bowl - USC 18, Ohio State 17 (Haden to McKay, then Diggs for national title) 1978 USC 24, Alabama 14 (key game in most recent national title season) 1983 Washington 24, USC 0 (first shutout of USC in 187 games, a then record)
-- By Chris Huston, Assistant Sports Information Director
