FOOTBALL

If It’s Friday, It’s Time For A USC Notes Column

There is a growing belief in coaching circles that if USC does not make the College Football Playoff this season, Lincoln Riley is in trouble and Jen Cohen would move to replace him.

Who are the top candidates? Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer, who was hired by Cohen at Washington and Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham.

Would either take the job? With DeBoer, it would depend on how Alabama fares next season. With Dillingham, would it shatter his legacy at ASU if he went to USC?

  • The USC bookstore cannot move these buttons. Maybe Gary Patterson can buy them in bulk.
  • USC guard Kara Dunn in the past seven games:

25 pts, 12 reb, 5 ast
26 pts, 10 reb, 3 ast
23 pts, 6 reb, 2 blks
29 pts, 5 reb
21 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast
27 pts, 3 ast, 6 stls
21 pts, 9 reb, 4 ast

  • And now for some history:

Can another university claim as many Life magazine covers as USC? On the left, is Payton Jordan, co-captain of the 1939 NCAA championship track team and head coach of the 1968 U.S. Olympic track team; Mel Patton, two-time gold medalist at the 1948 Olympics and three-time winner of the 100-yard dash at the NCAA championships; and Ralph Vaughn, basketball All-American in 1940.

  • Back in the 1950’s, there used to be The Trojan Caravan. What was it? In order to introduce USC to the public, groups of academic leaders would visit towns with the caravan would speak before schools, clubs and professional gatherings.

Here is one meeting below.

  • Look at the busy schedule of Homecoming events for the week of 1956.
  • The Trojan Squires, the sophomore men’s service group, steals the Cal banner during the USC-Cal game in 1956. Comedian Red Skelton (far right) joined them during the stunt.
  • Also in the 1950’s, USC had one of the finest closed-circuit TV stations in the country, KUSC-TV. The equipment was state-of-the-art and students worked behind the scenes in production and also acted in TV shows for the channel.
  • Here is actor Ernest Borgnine, fresh off winning an Academy Award for best actor in “Marty” getting interviewed by USC student Dick Friedman.
  • Actress Agnes Moorehead was a visiting drama instructor at USC. You might remember her from “Citizen Kane” or the TV show, “Bewitched.”
  • This is Jim Sterkel grabbing a rebound for USC in 1955-56. The basketball court at the Galen Center bears his name thanks to a donation from his former classmate, USC’s biggest donor Wayne Hughes.

PICTURES OF THE WEEK

Soledad Miranda

Mylène Demongeot 

44 thoughts on “If It’s Friday, It’s Time For A USC Notes Column”

  1. Scott, thanks for the 1950’s memories. We had some good teams in 1951, 1952, and 1959, and star players Frank Gifford, Jim Sears, Aramis Dandoy, Jon Arnett and CR Roberts. Also, the 1952 team beat Wisconsin with Alan the horse Ameche in the 1953 Rose Bowl game. The first Pacific Coast Conference Rose Bowl win against the Big Ten since the conferences started competing in the Rose Bowl exclusively in 1946. Rudy Bukich was the QB of the 1952 team but wasn’t the star because Jess Hill ran a single wing offense with Jim Sears the featured back and the QB was mainly a blocking back. The 1950’s were really ruled by Red Sanders at UCLA. Fight on, Dan, Class of 1962

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      1. Thanks for completing the 1953 Rose Bowl story. Al Carmichael was a transfer from Santa Ana Junior College, at a time when USC used junior colleges as a way to get around the fact that freshmen could not play on the varsity and were limited to a four game Trobabe schedule. Fight on, Dan, Class of 1962

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    2. IN THAT 1953 ROSE BOWL GAME I CAN STILL SEE RUDY BUKICH PASSING TO AL HOAGY CARMICHAEL.FOR THE ONLY TD IN OUR 7-0 WIN. AMECHE GOT LOOSE FOR A LONG RUN IN THE SECOND HALF BUT WE CAUGHT HIM FROM BEHIND

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  4. Great Friday column – Scott, any chance you can write about Mel Patton, the great USC sprinter from the late 1940s, he ran a 9.2 100 and a 20.2 220 yards (old school). My dad was his USC roommate during that time. My dad said that Mel had a job sweeping concrete floors on campus somewhere, and that he complained of knee pain from the hard floors.

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    1. Michael, thanks for the interest in Jon Arnett. He graduated from Manual Arts HS which is right down the street from the USC campus. He enrolled at USC in 1953 after being the City Section player of the year, but he could not play as a freshman so he only played the four Trobabe games in 1953. In 1954 he backed up Aramis Dandoy, but he flashed real brilliance especially against UCLA and their co-national championship team even though USC lost the game. In 1955 he was the starter, had an outstanding year and was named an All American. He was the favorite for the Heisman Trophy in 1956, but he got caught up in the ticket scalping with Coach Marv Goux and other players; so the penalty was that anyone involved in the scalping could only play in five of the ten games. He chose to play the first five games and CR Roberts played the last five games. He came in secnod in the Heisman vote despite only playing in five games and was named a second team All American. He was a unique football player because he weighed less than 200 pounds, but he was all muscle because he was an outstanding high school gymnast with great balance and good speed (I think that he was a sprinter at Manual Arts, but not at USC).

      I was in high school during his years at USC. I was a rabid USC fan starting in 1948 when my uncle took me to the USC vs. ND game that ended in the 14 to 14 tie that ruined ND’s undefeated season. The USC games were on TV starting in 1951; so, I saw him play and he became my favorite Trojan. Following his five game senior season, I had an opportunity to meet him in person when he came to a neighbor’s house to visit with a mutual friend. I still remember the day, it was a Sunday and I got a call from my neighbor asking me if I wanted to meet Jon Arnett. At first, I thought that he was kidding me, but he said for me to bring my football. Not knowing what to expect, when I arrived next door, not only did I meet him, but he asked if I wanted to throw a few passes which we did. For a skinny 127 pound high school senior to play catch with All American Jon Arnett, that was a day that I will never forget. He wasn’t stuck up or full of himself in any way, just a really nice person In those years, the NFL allowed teams to have draft rights in their home territory. For the Rams that meant that USC and UCLA were in their draft territory for the first round, and the Rams selected Jon Arnett.

      Just a little note, my wife and I have five children, and my oldest son’s name is Jon. Dan, Class of 1962

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      1. Sorry for the tardy response, ambitious. I thoroughly enjoyed your recollections of Jon Arnett. He was the first person I ever saw score a T.D. [it was in a Rams game against the Bears]. I was totally sold on football after that game. And I think I had a copy of every Jon Arnett trading card ever printed.

        So cool that you named your eldest Jon!

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  7. another virtuoso Friday column, wolfman!! you find a way to make SC’s shallow history interesting even to educated people (Bruins)!! i’ve been speaking to some influential Bruin alums and we are very close to making a “coach Savage” offer to you (3 x times current pay) to switch to covering the UCLA beat!

    just think of the material you would have digging into our illustrious archives, wolfman!! you should start right away so you’re on board for the start of the Chesney Administration!! lastly, think of the cheerleaders, wolfman, im talking the Bruin cheerleaders!! you don’t know this, but ever since you knocked up those Oregon cheer gals in the early 2000’s all our cheerleaders have to sign an oath to avoid specifically fraternizing with you, wolfman!!

    looking forward to working with you, wolfman!!!

    #WithThisDoughYouCanMoveToWestwood

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    2. Dear Charlie,

      Where do I start with ucla? I know, i will start with the requirements of ucla, and they are: there aren’t any requirements. ucla alllowed students in that could not read or write. He played football back in 1975. and speaking of that football team, they backed into a 1/2 of a national championship back in 1952. They did not even did not even play in the rose bowl game that year. They were given a 1/2 a natty. ugly also has more sports than SC. They got dyke ball (softball) dyke bars (gymastics). They also have homo ball (men’s soccer). That contributes to the best cheater when he won 10 championships. Don’t forget Deshaun Foster’s handicap card and failure as a coach.

      Scooter will not wait for payment while ucla collects bottles and cans in order to pay him.

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  9. If Lincoln Riley can’t even make the playoffs next season then Nick Satan is coming from the depths of hell to run USC. Kalen DeBoer? With Ryan can’t run the ball as OC? Seriously? 3 national championships at 3 different schools will cement Saban as the greatest college coach AND satisfy his lust in showing up Curt Cignetti, who he feels needs a comeuppance. The egos that run amok around college football nowadays.

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  12. I hope SC hires DeBoer simply to crush Bama egos. SC hiring away the coach of OK and then Bama! The flyover fools would be crushed.

    It’s hard to compete with ND for most hated program but this would be a step in the right direction.

    Maybe we can also force Bama to renounce their 78 title since we beat them at their place.

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    1. I would take Dillingham over DeBoer. It is amazing what he has done with ASU. DeBoer inherited all of Saban’s recruits and still lost big time to our Hoosiers and their old Italian coach. Fight on, Dan, Class of 1962

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  13. Thanks for the reminder about the greatest ranking robbery of all time. We had far and away the best team in 1978 and 1979. Should have been undefeated both years if not for the the injuries to our starting and backup centers in one game and the tie game with Stanford with their Servite HS QB in the other game. Oh well, there is also 2003 with top ranked USC not playing in the BCS championship…..of course in 2004 we did show how overrated OK was. So, thank you AP voters. Fight on, Dan, Class of 1962

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  15. take a knee, wolfman, i GOT this!!!

    “trOXan Killer” Sweet Lou Holtz is on his deathbed, reports say. He tormented the trOXans with a career 9-1-1 record with the Rudys!! he stole the Natty from SC in ’88 by whipping the #2 trOXans on their own field, despite sitting two star players for disciplinary reasons (can ANYONE picture SC sitting star players in the Natty deciding game??? They wouldda played OJ)!!!

    Sweet Lou was known for doing it the RIGHT WAY!! honest and religious, he was the polar opposite of, e.g., Pete Carroll who escaped Dodge one step ahead of massive sanctions!!

    some trOXans sound angry today, hopefully they allow their better angels to win over their bitter, angry bile!!

    #SweetLouNumeroUno

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    1. I’ll always remember what Lou said in that game in South Bend against Larry Smith. USC scored immediately…then got the ball back and went all the way down the field again [but failed to score]. At the half a reporter asked “what were you thinking when it looked like you were gonna be down 0-14 in the first 4 minutes?” Lou laughed and gave the answer all veteran competitors should give: “I was thinking I’ve been here before.”

      Say a prayer for, Lou.

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  16. Larry Smith had given us such promise his first two years as USC head coach. Then he got on the Todd Marinovich bandwagon and forgot how to recruit and coach. Didn’t Rodney Peete have the measles or some other affliction prior to the ND game in 1988.

    When the Big Ten and PCC made their agreement with the Rose Bowl in 1946, the Big Ten had a rule that you couldn’t go to the Rose Bowl in successive years even if you won the conference championship, the the PCC did not have that rule until 1951 after Cal went to the Rosebowl three consecutive years from 1948-50 and lost all three years with their backfield of Jackie Jenson and Johnny Olszewski ( who was from St. Anthony HS in Long Beach). In 1951 the PCC adopted the no repeat rule, too. UCLA went to the Rose Bowl after the 1953 season; so they couldn’t repeat after the 1954 season even though they were co-national champions with Maryland. UCLA vs. Maryland would have been a great Rose Bowl game. Fight on, Dan, Class of 1962

    P.S. Michael, my son Jon was born in 1962, the year I graduated from USC and the year of our first national championship since 1939 coincidently the year that I was born.

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