Coaches No. 1 1962 record 11–0 (4–0 AAWU) Captain Marv Marinovich | AP No. 1 Head coach John McKay (3rd year) | |
Conference Athletic Association of Western Universities | ||
The 1962 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1962 college football season. 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 (AAWU or Big 6) championship, defeated Wisconsin 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 and UPI Coaches Poll.
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Pete Beathard was the team's quarterback, completing 54 of 107 passes for 989 yards with ten touchdown passes and only one interception. (Bill Nelsen also completed 36 of 80 passes for 682 yards and eight touchdowns passes with two interceptions.) Willie Brown was the team's leading rusher with 574 rushing yards (and 291 receiving yards). Hal Bedsole 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 in 2012.
Two USC players were selected by the Associated Press (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.
Players
The following players were members of the 1962 USC football team.