1978 USC-ASU: Leftovers
November 19th, 2007, 9:54 am · 2 Comments · posted by Dan Zeiger
ASU quarterback Mark Malone takes off toward the sideline during the Sun Devils’ upset of Southern California in 1978.
I had a lot of fun putting together the feature on Arizona State’s 1978 victory against Southern California that appeared in Monday’s Tribune, especially when comparing it to the 1996 upset of Nebraska that is generally considered the biggest regular-season win in school history.
Is the Nebraska game more significant? Absolutely. The Cornhuskers were the two-time defending national champions — the 1995 squad might be the best college team ever — and brought a 26-game winning streak to Tempe. The 19-0 ASU victory propelled it to a 11-0 regular season and the brink of a national championship.
But what ASU achieved in 1978 against a USC squad that went on to win the national title deserves more love.
In the two years before and after they suffered memorable losses at ASU, Nebraska won three national titles (1994, ’95 and ’97), USC one. That is the most important yardstick, but in others, the ’78 Trojans hold their own against those dominant Cornhuskers.
The ’78 USC squad featured 37 future NFL players, the ’96 Nebraska team had 30.
“They had guys who were second-teamers that got drafted,” said John Mistler, a Sun Devils receiver who caught a touchdown pass against USC in ’78. “They had the largest line in the world, larger than a lot of NFL lines. They had (future Heisman Trophy winner) Charles White at running back. But we took away their stars.”
The Trojans went 26-0-2 in their next 28 games, not losing again until Nov. 15, 1980, against Washington. The Cornhuskers went 19-1 in their next 20 games, with the loss in the ’96 Big 12 championship game against Texas.
A handful of longtime Sun Devil football followers — including a certain Tribune columnist who was then an ASU student and celebrated the win by parading through downtown Tempe with a traffic cone on his head — have told me that the crowd of 71,738 is perhaps the loudest they have ever heard.
“The crowd was electric,” said Bryan Caldwell, then a freshman backup defensive end. “It was like an Oregon crowd (at Autzen Stadium), only larger. It was an epic evening. For anyone that was there, it was a special night that put ASU on the map, as far as the national scene is concerned.”
November 26th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
Dan,
Great article, I was at that game. The comment about being the loudest crowd is true. It’s the only ASU game that everyone stood for the whole game.
I’ve been a season ticket holder for 29 years and a student prior, I’ve seem all the modern era games and you absoluetly correct, the ‘78 USC game should be ranked as one of the greats.
I’ve been looking for years for a tape/film of that game, did you come across any when you did your reasearch?. I love to get a copy.
Thanks,
Dave Granillo
November 27th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
Dave,
Wish I could say I saw a tape of the game, but I didn’t. I relied on the memory of the guys I interviewed and a file from ASU’s sports information office that contained the roster/depth chart flip card, statistics packet and newspaper clippings about the game. I’m sure the film reel is somewhere in the ASU football office.
The next time I see Frank Kush, I might ask him if he has a copy. I too would love to see it.