1975 USC Football: John McKay’s Bittersweet Last Ride

John McKay came to USC in 1960. Over the next fifteen seasons, the great head coach took the Trojans to the Rose Bowl eight times and won five of those games. He won three outright national championships and also took home the UPI coaches poll in 1974. McKay churned out wins, talent, and titles. But the NFL was beckoning, and he was ready to take over the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneer franchise. The 1975 USC football season was McKay’s last ride in college. It was, unfortunately for Trojan fans, a less than fitting finale.

RICKY BELL STEPS UP

It seemed like the challenge would be replacing their great running back Anthony Davis. As it turned out that was the easy part—Ricky Bell stepped in, ran for almost 1,900 yards, and finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting. Bell got support from Mosi Tatupu, a future pro, who added over 400 yards of his own. Bell and Tatupu both ran behind a line anchored by All-Conference tackle Marvin Powell.

Throwing the football would prove to be the problem. While passing games across the college game were far from what they are today, and Vince Evans was a future NFL starter, the USC passing game in 1975 was still pretty bad. Evans completed just 29 percent of his passes. Randy Simmrin, with 23 catches, could stretch the field, but he was the only receiver to make any kind of an impact. USC’s offense finished just 62^nd nationally for points scored.

The Trojan defense was still steady. They had All-Conference performers at every level, with defensive end Gary Jeter, linebacker Kevin Bruce, and defensive back Danny Reece. USC ranked 18^th nationally in points allowed. That defense kept them in every game, and kept their season’s hopes alive until November.

CONSUMING CUPCAKES EARLY

Ranked #5 in the preseason polls, USC opened the season at home with mediocre Duke. Any questions about Bell’s ability to fill Davis’ shoes were quickly dispelled—Bell went off for a school-record 256 rushing yards on 34 carries. The Trojans ran for over 400 yards as a team and won 35-14.

They opened play in what was then called the Pac-8 Conference the following week. USC beat a horrible Oregon State team 24-7. The Trojans returned to non-conference action against a couple of bad Big Ten teams. USC beat Purdue 19-6 and Iowa 27-16.

The soft early schedule continued with games against lowly Washington State and Oregon, both at home. The Trojans got wins of 28-10 and 17-3, respectively.

USC was 6-0, but they had yet to face a good team. Perhaps even more telling was that they hadn’t dropped a major beatdown on any of the cupcakes who had thus far made up the schedule. A visit to #14 Notre Dame was next, offering the first real test of this 1975 season.

STATEMENT IN SOUTH BEND

The Trojan defense suffered an early lapse, giving up a touchdown after a reverse, and they trailed the Irish 14-7 at the half. What USC was doing was pounding the football with Bell. He got 40 carries and gained 165 yards. The Trojans pulled even 14-14. After falling behind 17-14 early in the fourth quarter, they took over the line of scrimmage, scored the game’s final ten points and left South Bend with a big 24-17 win.

USC might not have looked like a powerhouse, but they were 7-0, they now had a notable win and the games against all the Pac-8 contenders were ahead in November.

NOVEMBER COLLAPSE

Cal had one of the better teams in their otherwise spotty football history. Golden Bear running back Chuck Muncie had a bright NFL future ahead of him and he won Pac-8 Player of the Year honors this season. Wesley Walker was the prime target at receiver and also had a good NFL career. Joe Roth was the quarterback and was the conference’s most prolific passer. USC went to Berkeley and was handed a 28-14 loss.

That loss was a big blow to any hopes of sending McKay to the pros with a national championship, but the Rose Bowl was still out there. Five teams—USC, Cal, Stanford, Washington, and UCLA all had one league loss. There was much left to be decided.

But it wouldn’t be decided in a way favorable to the Trojans. The offensive shortcomings came home to roost over the next two weeks. Stanford came to the L.A. Coliseum. The USC defense did a good job against an attack that featured future Dallas Cowboys receiver Tony Hill. But the Trojans lost 13-10. A road trip to Seattle to Washington resulted in an 8-7 loss.

By the time the grudge match finale with UCLA arrived, USC was unranked and out of the Rose Bowl picture. They could still hope to spoil the Bruin chances. The intracity rivalry game played on Black Friday would determine if UCLA or Cal went to Pasadena. The Trojans played well early and took a 14-6 lead. But this time their defense faltered, and the regular season ended with a 25-22 loss.

THE LIBERTY BOWL: REDEMPTION & FAREWELL

Normally, this would have been the end of the story. However, the Pac-8 had decided prior to this season that teams could accept invites to bowls other than the Rose. USC’s brand got them an invitation to the Liberty Bowl.

The opponent was Texas A&M. The Aggies were ranked #2 in the nation, although it does have to be pointed out that A&M had lost a game in early December, after the final regular season polls were released. They really weren’t in the national championship picture when USC went to Memphis on December 22. But the Aggies still had the nation’s best rushing defense, and the Trojans were here to end their season, and McKay’s tenure, on a good note.

Playing in temperatures that were in the mid-30s, USC found some offense. In the second quarter, Evans hit Simmrin on a 65-yard strike that set up a short TD run by Tatupu. Later in that same period, Evans tossed a screen pass to Bell that turned into a 76-yard touchdown play.

Evans completed six of his 13 passes, and those six completions produced 174 yards. Even with Bell being held to 82 yards on the ground, USC coasted to a 20-0 win and finished #17 in the polls. It was a much more fitting conclusion to the McKay era than the November collapse had been.

NEW BEGINNINGS

There were a lot of good things ahead for both the coach and the program. While McKay went through some hard growing pains his first two years in Tampa Bay, including a winless season, he got the franchise on its feet and made the NFC Championship Game by 1979.

As for USC, they turned the reins over to John Robinson and kept winning. Over the next four years, the Trojans went to three more Rose Bowls, won them all, and captured a share of the national title in 1978.