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Washington State Cougars |
Southern Cal Trojans © |
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Played October 6, 1979 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 State | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 | ||||||||
| Southern Cal © | 4 | 24 | 3 | 1 | .875 | 10 | 1 | 1 | .875 | 11 | 2 | 0 | .846 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
Previous Belt Meetings
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Washington State |
35 | 9/30/1977 |
Washington State |
7 | |
| Southern Cal © | 46 | Southern Cal © | 41 |
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
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Washington State |
0 |
14 |
0 |
7 |
21 |
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Southern Cal |
16 |
27 |
7 |
0 |
50 |
Washington State coach Jim Walden brought his 1-3 Cougars to Los Angeles for the battle with the top-ranked, 4-0 Southern Cal Trojans of coach John Robinson. Southern Cal's All-Pac 10 QB Paul McDonald threw 2 touchdown passes while Heisman Trophy winning, All-American RB Charles White & RB Marcus Allen each added 2 rushing touchdowns as the Trojans crushed the Cougars 50-21 to retain The Belt. Southern Cal opened the scoring with a 4-yard touchdown pass from McDonald to TE Vic Rakhshani & followed with an 11-yard touchdown run from Allen. After holding the Cougars on their next three downs, Southern Cal's LB Byron Darby blocked the Washington State punt out of the end zone for a safety giving the Trojans a 16-0 midway through the 1st quarter. Midway through the 2nd quarter Washington State got into the end zone with a 2-yard touchdown run by QB Steve Grant but Southern Cal quickly responded with a 1-yard touchdown run from Allen giving the Trojans a 22-7 lead. The on-slaught continued as Southern Cal got a 4-yard touchdown pass from McDonald to All-Pac 10 TE Hoby Brenner & Allen’s second touchdown came on another 1-yard run. These scores sandwiched the Cougars’ 11-yard touchdown run by RB Tim Harris. The final points of the 1st half came when White scored from 1 yard with just 0:01 left before intermission giving Southern Cal a 43-14 halftime lead. The only points of the 3rd quarter came when Southern Cal's CB Herb Ward intercepted Grant & returned it 47 yards for a touchdown. Washington State’s final score came late in the 4th quarter on a 5-yard touchdown run by RB Harold Gillum. McDonald finished with 212 yards passing with his 2 touchdowns while White added 142 yards rushing to his 2 scores. For the Cougars, Grant threw for 54 yards with an interception & RB Tali Ena had 100 yards rushing in the loss. Southern Cal finished the season 11-0-1; Pac-10 Champions & ranked 2nd nationally while the Cougars finished 5-6 which included forfeits from both Arizona State & Oregon for NCAA violations. Washington State would play for The Belt again in 1980.
