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Washington Huskies © |
Southern Cal Trojans |
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Played November 11, 1978 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, California |
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Teams' Belt Records
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Team |
Belt Reigns |
Overall Record |
Home Record |
Away Record |
Neutral Record |
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W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
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| Washington © | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | ||||||||
| Southern Cal | 3 | 15 | 3 | 1 | .816 | 7 | 1 | 1 | .833 | 6 | 2 | 0 | .750 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
Previous Belt Meetings: None
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
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Washington |
3 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
10 |
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Southern Cal |
0 |
21 |
0 |
7 |
28 |
In their first road game as Belt holder, the 19th ranked, 6-3 Washington Huskies of coach Don James battled coach John Robinson’s 5th ranked, 7-1 Southern Cal Trojans. Earlier in the season, Southern Cal had dropped The Belt to Arizona State. In the 3 games since, the Trojans had outscored their opponents 93-31. The Trojans were led QB Paul McDonald, All-American RB Charles White, & All-American OG Pat Howell. In a constant rain that turned the Coliseum turf into a mud pit, McDonald threw 2 touchdown passes while the Trojans’ power running game helped Southern Cal re-claim The Belt with a 28-10 victory over the Huskies. Things started slowly for the Trojans as they seemed to take their time in dealing with the mud & wet ball. Washington's LB Bruce Harrell recovered a fumble from White late in the 1st quarter that set-up a 43-yard field goal by Huskies' PK Mike Lansford giving Washington a 3-0 lead. Early in the 2nd quarter, Southern Cal's S Dennis Smith intercepted Huskies' QB Tom Porras & returned the pass 15 yards to the Washington 34-yard line. McDonald’s 10-yard touchdown pass to White came four plays later & gave the Trojans a 7-3 advantage. Midway through the quarter, Southern Cal drove 87 yards in 8 plays with McDonald connecting with All-Pac10 WR Kevin Williams on the 19-yard touchdown pass. Southern Cal's LB Garry Cobb recovered a fumble by Porras at the Washington 30-yard line that set-up the next score for the Trojans. Southern Cal's RB Dwight Ford finished the 4-play drive with a 4-yard touchdown run that gave the Trojans a 21-3 lead they held at halftime. Early in the 3rd quarter, Porras threw a 72-yard touchdown pass to WR Spider Gaines but that big play was the exception for the Huskies offense on the rain-soaked field. White finished the scoring with an 8-yard touchdown run finishing a 64-yard drive coming just 55 seconds into the 4th quarter. McDonald finished with 192 yards passing with 2 touchdowns while RB Lynn Cain helped control the clock with 128 yards rushing. Porras threw for 176 yards with a touchdown as well as an interception while Gaines added 3 catches for 117 yards to his score. With this win, Southern Cal started one of the longest title reigns in Belt history. The Huskies finished the season 7-4 while the Trojans finished 12-1, Pac-10 Champions & ranked 2nd nationally. Washington would play for The Belt again in 1979.
