1955 USC Trojans football team

The 1955 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1955 college football season. In their fifth year under head coach Jess Hill, the Trojans compiled a 6–4 record (3–3 against conference opponents), finished in sixth place in the Pacific Coast Conference, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 265 to 158.[1] Attendance at seven home games was 464,104, an average of 66,300. Attendance at all 10 games was 615,196.[2]

1955 USC Trojans football
ConferencePacific Coast Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 12
APNo. 13
1955 record6–4 (3–3 PCC)
Head coachJess Hill (5th season)
Captains
  • Marv Goux
  • George Galli
Home stadiumLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
1955 Pacific Coast Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 4 UCLA $ 6 –0 –0  9 –2 –0
Oregon State 5 –2 –0  6 –3 –0
No. 16 Stanford 3 –2 –1  6 –3 –1
Oregon 4 –3 –0  6 –4 –0
Washington 4 –3 –1  5 –4 –1
No. 13 USC 3 –3 –0  6 –4 –0
California 1 –5 –1  2 –7 –1
Washington State 1 –5 –1  1 –7 –2
Idaho 0 –4 –0  2 –7 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Jim Contratto led the team in passing with 22 of 55 passes completed for 406 yards, five touchdowns and five interceptions.[3] Jon Arnett led the team in rushing with 141 carries for 672 yards and 11 touchdowns. Arnett was also the team's leading punt returners with 16 returns and an average of 17.6 yards per return, including one returned for a touchdown. With three touchdown catches, Arnett also led the team with 15 touchdowns and 105 points scored.[4] Leon Clarke was the leading receiver with 15 catches for 215 yards and two touchdowns.[3]

Two Trojans received first-team honors from the Associated Press on the 1955 All-Pacific Coast Conference football team: back Jon Arnett and guard Orlando Ferrante.[5] Arnett was also a two-time recipient of the W. J. Voit Memorial Trophy as the outstanding football player on the Pacific Coast, winning the award in both 1954 and 1955. He was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001.

Schedule
DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendance
September 17Washington StateNo. 13
W 50–1235,384
September 23vs. OregonNo. 9
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 42–1537,538
September 30Texas*No. 9
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 19–762,033
October 8at No. 18 WashingtonNo. 10
L 0–735,955
October 14No. 6 Wisconsin*No. 16
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 33–2175,114
October 22at CaliforniaNo. 10
W 33–651,000
October 29at Minnesota*No. 10
L 19–2564,592
November 5StanfordNo. 16
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)
L 20–2863,265
November 19No. 5 UCLA
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA (Battle for the Victory Bell)
L 7–1795,878
November 26No. 5 Notre Dame*
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA (Jeweled Shillelagh)
W 42–2094,892
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Players

The following players were members of the 1955 USC football team.[6]

  • Fabian Abram, tackle
  • Jon Arnett, junior tailback #26 ("led the team in total offense, punt returns, kickoff returns, punting, rushing, scoring and in total playing time")[7]
  • George Belotti, tackle
  • Bing Bordier, end
  • Ron Brown, back
  • Leon Clarke, end (the first PCC player to be selected in the 1956 NFL Draft, selected 14th overall by the Los Angeles Rams)
  • Jim Contratto, quarterback
  • Gordon Duvall, back (offense) and linebacker (defense)
  • Dick Eldredge, center
  • Dick Enright, tackle
  • Orlando Ferrante, guard (All-PCC, 62 unassisted tackles, 41 assists)
  • Ron Fletcher, tackle
  • George Galli, guard (co-captain)
  • Marv Goux (co-captain)
  • Frank Hall, quarterback
  • Don Hickman
  • Bob Isaacson
  • Ludwig Keehn, end
  • Ells Kissinger, quarterback
  • Doug Kranz, halfback
  • Chuck Leimbach, end
  • Don McFarland
  • Ernie Merk (set a USC record with a 93-yard punt return against Minnesota)
  • John Miller, guard
  • Chuck Perpich
  • Fred Pierce, left halfback
  • C. R. Roberts, fullback
  • Karl Rubke, center
  • Vern Sampson, lineman
  • Roy Smith, tackle
  • Joe Tisdale
  • Laird Willott, guard
  • Dick Westphal
  • Ernie Zampese, tailback

Coaching staff and other personnel
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References
  1. "Southern California Yearly Results (1955-1959)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
  2. 1956 "El Rodeo" (USC yeabook), page 190.
  3. "1955 Southern California Trojans Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  4. 1956 "El Rodeo", page 190.
  5. Bob Myers (November 23, 1955). "Bruins Dominate PCC Star Team Picked by AP". The Oregon Statesman. p. 9.
  6. 1956 "El Rodeo" (USC yearbook), pages 167-187.
  7. 1956 "El Rodeo", page 176.
  8. 1956 "El Rodeo" (USC yearbook), page 164.
  9. 1956 "El Rodeo", page 165.
  10. 1956 "El Rodeo", page 166.
  11. 1956 "El Rodeo", page 163.
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