The best college team ever

 

            The best college football team I’ve seen was the 1972 USC club. It’s the best team you’ve ever seen, too. An absolutely dominant football team. Unbelievable.

          That Trojan team went undefeated, won every game except one by double figures, sent its backup quarterback to the NFL and had its best receiver win four Super Bowls on his way to Pro Football’s Hall of Fame. If memory serves, the ’72 SC team trailed in only one game, the season opener against Arkansas.

          John McKay was the coach and this was his best team. McKay won several national championships at Southern Cal but he said in his autobiography that the 1972 squad was special. He was right.

          Mike Rae was the starting quarterback and Pat Haden, who later played for the Rams, was the backup. McKay’s teams always ran first and SC had a great fullback in All-American Sam Cunningham. Anthony Davis, who scored six touchdowns against Notre Dame in ‘72, was the starting tailback by the midway point in the season. Lynn Swann, who is now in the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, was one wide out and the other guy, a speed burner named Edesel Garrison, seldom gets the credit he should.

          The offensive line included All-American tackle Pete Adams and another All-American, tight end Charles Young. This was a dominant offensive front. A three-yard run in the first half was a five-yarder in the third quarter and a 20-yarder in the fourth. They just wore opponents down.

          The defense was kind of scary, really. I thought the key guy was the nose tackle, Monte Doris. Tackle John Grant and linebacker Richard Wood both made All-American lists but Doris jammed the middle and forced the opposition to run wide or throw.

          There were three games that stick out in my mind, the last three against UCLA, Notre Dame and Ohio State. These were supposed to be tough games but they ended up being blowout wins.

          The UCLA game is always special because of the rivalry between the schools, but this game was supposed to be extra-special. The winner would go to the Rose Bowl.

USC had this amazing team and UCLA was supposed to have a tremendous team as well. The Bruins had won some big games and had a very productive offensive backfield. Mark Harmon, now a TV and movie star, was the quarterback and they had two running backs dubbed Thunder and Lightning.

          My recollection is that Doris, the SC nose tackle, stuffed the UCLA offense. I know he had a big game. USC won 24-7.

          Notre Dame was next and the Irish got their first dose of Davis. He returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and got the LA Memorial Coliseum rocking. The Trojans built a 25-10 lead but Notre Dame had a quality team and fought back to make it close at 25-23 late in the game.

          At that point the Notre Dame coaching staff must have taken leave of its collective senses because, after scoring a touchdown to get close, the Irish kicked deep to Davis again.

          That was dumb. Davis went up the left sideline and got to midfield where he saw one defender between himself and a touchdown. Davis juked and wiggled his shoulder pads and the defender fell flat on his back without touching Davis. This produced the loudest roar I ever heard in the Coliseum and it was blowout time again. The final: USC 45, Notre Dame 23.

          That left the Rose Bowl game against Ohio State. The Buckeyes were ranked third going into the game and they played well for a half. The score was 7-7 at the intermission, but the game was really over as soon as the break ended. USC led 28-14 after three quarters and won 42-17.

          In the final three games, all against high-quality teams, USC outscored its opponents 111-47.

          Through the years, some college teams have had dominant offenses and others, like the 2011 Alabama team, have had dominant defenses. But no team has had such powerful production on both sides of the ball as did that 1972 Trojans team.

          It must be said that McKay’s coaching job was masterful. While his offense was always run-oriented, McKay recognized the stretch-the-field capability his quarterback and receivers gave him in '72, so he turned them loose. And the halftime adjustments the USC coaching staff made were amazing all season long.

          It was fun to watch those guys play the game. They had the best college team I’ve ever seen.

          Thanks for reading.