1980 USC Trojans football team

The 1980 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fifth year under head coach John Robinson, the Trojans compiled an 8–2–1 record (4–2–1 against conference opponents), finished in third place in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10), and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 265 to 134.[1]

1980 USC Trojans football
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 12
AP	No. 11
1980 record	8–2–1 (4–2–1 Pac-10)
Head coach	John Robinson (5th season)
Captains	Ronnie Lott Keith Van Horne
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (c. 92,604, grass)

1980 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 16 Washington $	6	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 13 UCLA	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
No. 11 USC	4	–	2	–	1			8	–	2	–	1
Arizona State	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Oregon	4	–	3	–	1			6	–	3	–	2
Stanford	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Arizona	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Washington State	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
California	3	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Oregon State	0	–	8	–	0			0	–	11	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Quarterback Gordon Adams led the team in passing, completing 104 of 179 passes for 1,237 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. Marcus Allen led the team in rushing with 354 carries for 1,563 yards and 14 touchdowns. Hoby Brenner led the team in receiving with 26 catches for 315 yards and no touchdowns.[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 13	at Tennessee*	No. 5	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	ESPN	W 20–17	95,049
September 20	No. 20 South Carolina*	No. 4	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 23–13	58,385
September 27	at Minnesota*	No. 5	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN		W 24–7	55,115
October 4	Arizona State	No. 4	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 23–21	69,052
October 11	at Arizona	No. 2	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	ONTV	W 27–10	54,789
October 18	at Oregon	No. 2	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	USA	T 7–7	43,733
November 1	California	No. 7	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 60–7	55,658
November 8	at Stanford	No. 4	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	ABC	W 34–9	84,892
November 15	Washington	No. 2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		L 10–20	55,515
November 22	at No. 18 UCLA	No. 12	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	ABC	L 17–20	83,491
December 6	No. 2 Notre Dame*	No. 17	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Jeweled Shillelagh)	ABC	W 20–3	82,663
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1980 USC Trojans football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB Gordon Adams RB 33 Marcus Allen Jr TE 89 Hoby Brenner Sr RB Paul DiLulo G 64 Roy Foster Jr RB Anthony Gibson RB Michael Harper WR 5 Speedy Hart RSr TE 85 James Hunter Sr WR Thomas Jefferson RB Doug MacKenzie C 66 Bruce Matthews So RB Bob McClanahan WR Malcolm Moore OT 72 Don Mosebar So OL Allen Pugh WR Vic Rakshani OG 77 Ken Ruettgers Fr WR 25 Jeff Simmons So OT 67 Kelly Thomas So QB 15 Scott Tinsley So OT 68 Keith Van Horne Sr WR Timmy White WR 8 Kevin Williams Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DL George Achica LB 51 Chip Banks Jr DT 94 Bryon Darby So S 47 Joey Browner So DL Keith Browner LB 54 Steve Busick Sr DL 87 August Curley So DL Byron Darby DL Dennis Edwards CB 40 Jeff Fisher Sr LB Riki Gray DB Don Jones S 42 Ronnie Lott Sr LB 81 Eric Scoggins Sr DB 49 Dennis Smith Sr DL Charles Ussery	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K Eric Hipp P 13 John Perry Sr	Head coach John Robinson Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Game summaries

Minnesota

• Marcus Allen 42 rushes, 216 yards [3]

Arizona St

1 2 3 4 Total Arizona St 0 7 7 7 21 • USC 7 13 3 0 23 Date: October 4 Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Game attendance: 69,052

Scoring summary Q1 USC Allen 2 yard run (Hipp kick) USC 7–0 Q2 ASU Mistler 3 yard pass from Pagel (Lewis kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 USC Hipp 33 yard field goal USC 10–7 Q2 USC Simmons 15 yard pass from Adams (Hipp kick) USC 17–7 Q2 USC Hipp 43 yard field goal USC 20–7 Q3 ASU Gittens 59 yard run (Lewis kick) USC 20–14 Q3 USC Hipp 27 yard field goal USC 23–14 Q4 ASU Wetzel 14 yard pass from Pagel (Lewis kick) USC 23–21

• Marcus Allen 36 Rush, 133 Yds

[4]

Oregon

1 2 3 4 Total USC 0 7 0 0 7 Oregon 0 0 7 0 7 Date: October 18 Location: Autzen Stadium

Scoring summary Q2 USC Simmons 38 yard pass from Adams (Hipp kick) USC 7–0 Q3 ORE Jones 3 yard run (Jollymour kick) Tie 7–7

[5]

Washington

• Marcus Allen 30 rushes, 216 yards [6]

vs. UCLA

#18 UCLA Bruins (7–2) vs. #12 USC Trojans (7–1–1)

	1	2	3	4	Total
USC	3	0	7	7	17
UCLA	0	7	7	6	20

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California

• Date: November 22
• Game attendance: 83,491
• Eugene Register-Guard, 1980 Nov 23.

Game information

First quarter USC – Eric Hipp 32-yard field goal. USC 3–0. Drive: Second quarter UCLA – Freeman McNeil 6-yard run (Norm Johnson kick). UCLA 7–3. Drive: 80 yards. Third quarter USC – Jeff Simmons 12-yard pass from Scott Tinsley (Eric Hipp kick), 12:05. USC 10–7. Drive: UCLA – Michael Brant 25-yard pass from Jay Schroeder (Norm Johnson kick). UCLA 14–10. Drive: Fourth quarter USC – Marcus Allen 1-yard run (Eric Hipp kick), 12:33. USC 17–14. Drive: 10 plays, 43 yards. UCLA – Freeman McNeil 58-yard pass from Jay Schroeder (kick failed), 2:07. UCLA 20–17. Drive: 6 plays, 80 yards. Top passers USC – Scott Tinsley – 15/27, 146 yards, TD, INT UCLA – Jay Schroeder – 9/11, 165 yards, 2 TD, INT Top rushers USC – Marcus Allen – 37 rushes, 72 yards, TD UCLA – Freeman McNeil – 24 rushes, 111 yards, TD Top receivers USC – Jeff Simmons – 5 receptions, 53 yards, TD UCLA – Freeman McNeil – 2 receptions, 74 yards, TD

Notre Dame

1 2 3 4 Total Notre Dame 0 0 3 0 3 • USC 0 10 0 10 20 Date: December 6 Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA Game attendance: 82,663 Television network: ABC

Scoring summary 2 8:23 USC Harper 6-yard run (Hipp kick) USC 7-0 2 USC Hipp 22-yard field goal USC 10-0 3 ND Oliver 30-yard field goal USC 10-3 4 USC Hipp 17-yard field goal USC 13-3 4 1:09 USC Harper 10-yard run (Hipp kick) USC 20-3

[7][8]

Team players drafted into the NFL

• Ronnie Lott, 1st round, San Francisco 49ers
• Keith Van Horne, 1st round, Chicago Bears
• Dennis Smith, 1st round, Denver Broncos\
• Ray Butler, 4th round, Baltimore Colts
• Kevin Williams, 7th round, New Orleans Saints
• Jeff Fisher, 7th round, Chicago Bears
• Steve Busick, 7th round, Denver Broncos
• James Hunter, 9th round, Pittsburgh Steelers
• Eric Scoggins, 12th round, Baltimore Colts

Awards and honors

• Former USC Trojans player Tay Brown, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame

References

1. "Southern California Yearly Results (1980-1984)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
2. "1980 Southern California Trojans Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
3. 2020 USC Media Guide Supplement
4. Eugene Register-Guard. "Southern Cal wins, but sloppily, 23-21." 1980 Oct 5. Retrieved 2018-Sep-02.
5. Gadsden Times. 1980 Oct 19. Retrieved 2018-Dec-16.
6. 2020 USC Media Guide Supplement
7. "USC Makes Sure Notre Dame Won't Be No. 1". The Register-Guard. Eugene. December 7, 1980. p. 11. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
8. "Trojans Knock Irish From Pedestal, 20-3". Ocala Star-Banner. December 7, 1980.