1980 USC Trojans football team

American college football season

1980 USC Trojans football
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 12
AP	No. 11
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
Seasons ← 1979 1981 →

1980 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
v t e	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

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]

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	Source
September 13	at Tennessee*	No. 5	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	ESPN	W 20–17	95,049	^[3]
September 20	No. 20 South Carolina*	No. 4	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 23–13	58,385	^[4]
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 (rivalry)	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
G	`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	`94`	Byron Darby	So
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 ^[5]

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

^[6]

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

^[7]

Washington

Marcus Allen 30 rushes, 216 yards ^[8]

Vs. UCLA

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

Period	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

^[9]^[10]

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

^ "Southern California Yearly Results (1980-1984)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
^ "1980 Southern California Trojans Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
^ "Trojans win by a Hipp and a foot". The Daily Breeze. September 14, 1980. Retrieved May 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "USC wins easily". The Los Angeles Times. September 21, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ 2020 USC Media Guide Supplement
^ Eugene Register-Guard. "Southern Cal wins, but sloppily, 23-21." 1980 Oct 5. Retrieved 2018-Sep-02.
^ Gadsden Times. 1980 Oct 19. Retrieved 2018-Dec-16.
^ 2020 USC Media Guide Supplement
^ "USC Makes Sure Notre Dame Won't Be No. 1". The Register-Guard. Eugene. December 7, 1980. p. 11. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
^ "Trojans Knock Irish From Pedestal, 20-3". Ocala Star-Banner. December 7, 1980.

v t e USC Trojans football
Venues	Athletic Park (1895–1898) Fiesta Park (1897–1898, 1901–1902, 1904–1906, 1916) Chutes Park (1900) Prager Park (1903) Bovard Field (1904–1910, 1914–1915, 1917–1923) Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (1923–present) Jones Field/Kennedy Field (practice)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Notre Dame Stanford UCLA: Victory Bell
Culture & lore	Traveler George Tirebiter Giles Pellerin "Fight On" Spirit of Troy Student Body Right Tommy Trojan Tribute to Troy Athletics scandal 1967 "Game of the Century" "Bush Push" 2007 Stanford game So This Is College
People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks NFL draftees Statistical leaders
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National championship seasons in bold