1971 USC Trojans football team

The 1971 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1971 NCAA University Division football season. In their 12th year under head coach John McKay, the Trojans compiled a 6–4–1 record (3–2–1 against conference opponents), finished in second place in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8), and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 229 to 164. The team was ranked #20 in the final AP Poll.

1971 USC Trojans football
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 20
Record	6–4–1 (3–2–1 Pac-8)
Head coach	John McKay (12th season)
Captains	Willie Hall John Vella
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

1971 Pacific-8 Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 10 Stanford $	6	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 20 USC	3	–	2	–	1			6	–	4	–	1
No. 19 Washington	4	–	3	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
California	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Oregon State	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Oregon	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Washington State	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
UCLA	1	–	4	–	1			2	–	7	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Jim Jones led the team in passing, completing 89 of 161 passes for 995 yards with seven touchdowns and ten interceptions. Lou Harris led the team in rushing with 167 carries for 801 yards and four touchdowns. Edesel Garrison led the team in receiving with 25 catches for 475 yards and five touchdowns.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 10	No. 16 Alabama*	No. 5	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 10–17	67,781
September 18	at Rice*	No. 17	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	W 24–0	22,000
September 25	Illinois*	No. 16	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 28–0	49,390
October 2	at No. 8 Oklahoma*	No. 17	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	L 20–33	62,351
October 9	Oregon		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 23–28	50,111
October 16	No. 15 Stanford		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	L 18–33	65,375
October 23	at No. 6 Notre Dame*		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	W 28–14	59,075
October 30	at California	No. 20	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	W 28–0	54,000
November 6	Washington State	No. 17	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 30–20	57,432
November 13	at No. 19 Washington	No. 15	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	W 13–12	59,982
November 20	UCLA	No. 15	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	T 7–7	68,426
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1971 USC Trojans football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OT 77 Pete Adams Jr OL Dave Brown RB 39 Sam Cunningham Jr OL Allen Gallaher WR Edsel Garrison OL Allan Graf RB Lou Harris RB Charles Hinton RB Bill Holland QB 8 Jimmy Jones Sr RB Manfred Moore WR Mike Morgan QB, K 6 Mike Rae Jr OL Steve Riley OL Mike Ryan OL Bob Shaputis WR Lynn Swann TE Chris Vella OT 75 John Vella (C) Sr RB Ray Washmera TE 89 Charle Young Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB Charles Anthony DB Bruce Dyer LB Bob Eriksen DB Steve Fate DL George Follett DE 94 John Grant Jr LB Willie Hall (C) DT Greg Marderian DL Mike McGirr LB John Papadakis DB Artimus Parker DL John Skiles DB 46 Skip Thomas Sr DL Scott Weber	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P Dave Boulware	Head coach John McKay Coordinators/assistant coaches Craig Fertig Wayne Fontes Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Season summary

At Notre Dame

1 2 3 4 Total • USC 14 14 0 0 28 Notre Dame 7 0 7 0 14 Date: October 23 Location: Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, Indiana Game start: 1:30 p.m. EST Game attendance: 59,075 Referee: Jerry Markbreit

Scoring summary 1 USC Garrison 31-yard pass from Jones (Rae kick) USC 7-0 1 ND Huff 1-yard run (Thomas kick) Tie 7-7 1 USC Garrison 24-yard pass from Rae (Rae kick) USC 14-7 2 USC Cunningham 1-yard run (Rae kick) USC 21-7 2 USC Dyer 53-yard interception return (Rae kick) USC 28-7 3 ND Cieszkowski 4-yard run (Thomas kick) USC 28-14

At Washington

#15 USC Trojans (5–4) at #19 Washington Huskies (7–2)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
USC	3	0	7	3	13
Washington	6	0	0	6	12

at Husky Stadium, Seattle, Washington

• Date: November 13
• Game attendance: 59,800

Game information

First quarter USC – Mike Rae 34-yard field goal. USC 3–0. WASH – John Brady 21-yard pass from Sonny Sixkiller (kick failed). Washington 6–3. Drive: 2 plays, 31 yards. Second quarter No scoring Third quarter USC – Jimmy Jones 7-yard run (Mike Rae kick). USC 10–6. Fourth quarter WASH – Pete Taggares 2-yard run (run failed). Washington 12–10. Drive: 48 yards. USC – Mike Rae 28-yard field goal. USC 13–12.

Jimmy Jones sets school record for total career touchdowns (42), breaking the old mark held by Mort Kaer.