The 1962 USC Trojans football team represented the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

(USC) in the

1962 NCAA University Division football season The 1962 NCAA University Division football season was played by American football teams representing 140 colleges and universities recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as major programs. The remaining 370 colleges a ...

. In their third year under head coach John McKay, the Trojans compiled an 11–0 record (4–0 against conference opponents), won the

Athletic Association of Western Universities The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

(AAWU or Big 6) championship, defeated

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

in the 1963 Rose Bowl, outscored their opponents by a combined total of 261 to 92, and finished the season ranked #1 in both the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

and

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Coaches Poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officially ...

Pete Beathard Peter Falconer Beathard ( ;

was the team's quarterback, completing 54 of 107 passes for 989 yards with ten touchdown passes and only one interception. (

Bill Nelsen William Keith Nelsen (January 29, 1941 – April 11, 2019) was a football player who played quarterback collegiately for the University of Southern California and professionally for both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns. He was known ...

also completed 36 of 80 passes for 682 yards and eight touchdown passes with two interceptions.) Willie Brown was the team's leading rusher with 574 rushing yards (and 291 receiving yards).

Hal Bedsole Harold Jay "Hal" Bedsole (December 21, 1941 – December 22, 2017) was an American football player. He played as a tight end and end early in his career during the single platoon days. High school career Bedsole prepped at Reseda High School ...

was the team's leading receiver with 33 catches for 827 yards and 11 touchdowns. Bedsole was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

in 2012. Two USC players were selected by the

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(AP) as first-team players on the 1962 All-Pacific Coast football team. They were end Hal Bedsole and linebacker Damon Bame. Bedsole was also a consensus first-team All-American in 1962, while Bame received first-team All-America honors from the AP.

Schedule

Game summaries

Duke

SMU

Statistics *Receiving:

4 receptions, 112 yards, 2 TD2012 USC football media supplement.

California

Statistics *Receiving:

6 receptions, 201 yards, 2 TD

Players

The following players were members of the 1962 USC football team.1963 "El Rodeo" (USC yearbook), pages 206-209. *

Damon Bame Damon may refer to: Places in the United States * Damon, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Damon, Missouri, a ghost town * Damon, Texas, a census-designated place * Damon, Virginia, an unincorporated community * Lake Damon, Florida * Damon M ...

, linebacker *

Pete Beathard Peter Falconer Beathard ( ;

, quarterback *

, end * Willie Brown, halfback * John Brownwood, end * Ron Butcher * Mac Byrd * Jay Clark * Ken Del Conte, halfback *

Craig Fertig Craig Fertig (May 7, 1942 – October 4, 2008) was an American football player and coach. He was the head football coach at Oregon State University from 1976 to 1979, compiling a record of 10–34–1 () in four seasons. Playing career Fertig att ...

, quarterback * Bill Fisk * Mike Gale * Stan Gonta * Ron Heller * Fred Hill * Gary Hill * Phil Hoover * Hudson Houck * Loran Hunt * Tom Johnson * Ernie Jones * Randy Jones * Gary Kirner, tackle * Pete Lubisich, guard * Tom Lupo *

Marv Marinovich Marvin Jack Marinovich (August 6, 1939 — December 3, 2020) was an American college and professional football player who became a strength and conditioning coach. He played college football as a two-way lineman for the USC Trojans and was ...

, guard * Rich McMahon *

, quarterback * Gary Potter * Ernie Pye * John Ratliff, guard * Lynn Reade * Larry Sagouspe * Armando Sanchez * Denny Schmidt * Ron Smedley * Bob Svihus, tackle * Toby Thurlow * Gary Winslow * Ben Wilson, fullback

Coaching staff and administration

* Head coach: John McKay * Assistant coaches:

Mel Hein Melvin Jack Hein (August 22, 1909 – January 31, 1992), sometimes known as "Old Indestructible", was an American football player and coach. In the era of one-platoon football, he played as a center (then a position on both offense and defense) ...

, Mike Giddings,

Raymond George Raymond Edward George (January 7, 1918 – January 12, 1995) was an American football player and coach. He played college football at the University of Southern California (USC) and professionally in the National Football League (NFL) with the De ...

, Dave Levy, Charlie Hall,

Marv Goux Marv may refer to: Initialism *Maneuverable reentry vehicle (MARV), a type of missile warhead *Marburg virus (MARV), a virus of humans and non-human primates *M.A.R.V., otherwise known as the Mammoth Armed Reclamation Vehicle, a fictional tank fro ...

, and Joe Margucci1963 "El Rodeo", page 211. * Athletic director:

Jess Hill Jesse Terrill Hill (January 20, 1907 – August 31, 1993) was an American athlete, coach, and college athletics administrator who was best known for his tenure as a coach and athletic director at the University of Southern California (USC). His c ...

1963 "El Rodeo", page 202. * Senior manager: Mike Leddel