CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1976 USC

11–⁠1 (7–⁠0 Pac-8), coached by John Robinson, finished No. 2 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

USC in 1976, game by game: lost vs. Missouri 25–46; won at Oregon 53–0; won at Purdue 31–13; won vs. Iowa 55–0; won at Washington State 23–14; won vs. Oregon State 56–0; won vs. California 20–6; won at Stanford 48–24; won vs. Washington 20–3; won at No. 2 UCLA 24–14; won vs. No. 13 Notre Dame 17–13; won vs. No. 2 Michigan 14–6+56−21Lost 25–46 vs. Missouri-21MissouriWon 53–0 at Oregon+53OregonWon 31–13 at Purdue+18PurdueWon 55–0 vs. Iowa+55IowaWon 23–14 at Washington State+9Washington StateWon 56–0 vs. Oregon State+56Oregon StateWon 20–6 vs. California+14CaliforniaWon 48–24 at Stanford+24StanfordWon 20–3 vs. Washington+17WashingtonWon 24–14 at No. 2 UCLA+10No. 2 UCLAWon 17–13 vs. No. 13 Notre Dame+4No. 13 Notre DameWon 14–6 vs. No. 2 Michigan+8No. 2 Michigan
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 11vsMissouriL 25–⁠4665%
Sep 18atOregonW 53–⁠063%
Sep 25atPurdueW 31–⁠1362%
Oct 2vsIowaW 55–⁠080%
Oct 9atWashington StateW 23–⁠1476%
Oct 23vsOregon StateW 56–⁠091%
Oct 30vsCaliforniaW 20–⁠667%
Nov 6atStanfordW 48–⁠2462%
Nov 13vsWashingtonW 20–⁠384%
Nov 20at2UCLAW 24–⁠1436%
Nov 27vs13Notre DameW 17–⁠1368%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs2MichiganRose BowlW 14–⁠647%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Michigan 14–⁠6 in the Rose Bowl; No. 2 in the final AP poll; Pac-8 champions.

In program history: The 15th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 8
  2. Wk 3: 19
  3. Wk 4: 13
  4. Wk 5: 11
  5. Wk 6: 8
  6. Wk 7: 7
  7. Wk 8: 4
  8. Wk 9: 4
  9. Wk 10: 3
  10. Wk 11: 3
  11. Wk 12: 3
  12. Wk 13: 3
  13. Final: 2

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1976.

Pac-8 champions7–⁠0 in the conference

Heisman voteRicky Bell, second

3 consensus All-AmericansRicky Bell, RB; Gary Jeter, DT; Dennis Thurman, DB

Record
11–⁠1
Conference
7–⁠0 first in Pac-8
AP final
No. 2 peak No. 2
Points
386–⁠139
Coach
John Robinson
Elo
1778 +152 this season
SP+ rating
26.4 No. 4 of 132; offense No. 5, defense No. 15
SRS
23.5 No. 3 of 137 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Ricky Bell, Vince Evans and Eric Williams

Drafted in 1977

The 1977 draft
Rd 1Ricky Bell RBTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 1Marvin Powell OTNew York Jets
Rd 1Gary Jeter DENew York Giants
Rd 2Dave Lewis LBTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 5Shelton Diggs WRAtlanta Falcons
Rd 5Donnie Hickman OGLos Angeles Rams
Rd 6Vince Evans QBChicago Bears
Rd 6Mike Burns DBSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 7Ken Randle WRCleveland Browns
Rd 7Ron Bush DBSan Diego Chargers

All-Pac-8

9 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

  • William GayTECoaches-2
  • Walt UnderwoodDown linemenCoaches-2
  • Clint StrozierDBCoaches-2
  • Ricky OdomDBCoaches-2

From Wikipedia’s 1976 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1976 Pac-8 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
USC7–⁠011–⁠12
UCLA6–⁠19–⁠2–⁠115
Stanford5–⁠26–⁠5
California3–⁠45–⁠6
Washington3–⁠45–⁠6
Washington State2–⁠53–⁠8
Oregon1–⁠64–⁠7
Oregon State1–⁠62–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.