USC v. ASU: one day to go

It is, at this moment, well to remember the first meeting between the same schools as Pac-10 rivals, 29 years ago this fall. USC had come in the 1978 season off what, for the Trojans at the time, was a dreadful '77 campaign, an 8-4 season salvaged only by a thrilling victory over UCLA (this pushed UCLA from the Rose Bowl all the way out of the bowl picture altogether, while sending Washington--featuring quarterback Warren Moon--to the Rose Bowl, in which they defeated Michigan in a wild New Year's Day that sent number five Notre Dame, led by quarterback Joe Montana, all the way to number one); followed by a victory in something called the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, a tilt not long for this world.

Arizona State's status, at that moment, was best appreciated by taking in their previous three years. In 1975 they had pulled off the sort of season that followers of college teams wait 25 years for: an undefeated regular season (featuring a classic victory over a hated archrival--how'd JJ's catch taste, Bear Downers?), followed by a bowl victory over a heavily favored, historically powerful power (a 17-14 thriller over Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl, a game that ranks among a half-dozen in influencing the course of college football in the 20th century). Sun Devil Stadium (then the host of the Fiesta Bowl) was only a single deck in those days, and held a mere 52,000 or so fans, the Fiesta Bowl had been a sellout, of course (one Phoenix sports anchor memorably described the attending faithful thus: "52,000 fans paid for seats they didn't use much today"), and the rabid nature of the Sun Devil faithful attracted the attention of the nation generally, and the Pac-8 (as was) specifically. This was the game that led to the invitation of Arizona State and Arizona (keeping things even, keeping rivalries intact, etc.) to the Pac, making it the Pac-10.

Understand: this was the first major invite of its kind involving football since the major conferences were formed. The Big 10 had ten teams; the Big 8, eight. The SWC, nine teams from Texas, plus Arkansas. The SEC, Bear Bryant and a bunch of pretenders.

So: this invite was a major thing. To take effect in 1978.

Okay. In 1976, off their Fiesta Bowl win, ASU enters the season number three in the country (the highest pre-season ranking ever, I'm assuming), loses to UCLA 28-10 in a game that deflates the whole season in a way that defies explanation, and finishes 4-7.

1977: In its last year as a Western Athletic Conference (WAC) representative, ASU wins the conference championship, only to meet up with Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl. Penn State pulls off a number of special teams plays and wins 42-30.

Which brings us to 1978. Arizona State is now part of the Pac-10. They have suffered one loss, that to Washington State (Jack Thompson, the Throwin' Samoan), and therefore are 4-1.

USC is undefeated and number two in the country.

USC holds a number of All-Americans at several positions. Anthony Munoz, at left tackle, future NFL Hall-of-Famer. Charles White, tailback, who was just (at this moment) awarded the Heisman. Paul McDonald, quraterback, on his way to a good payday.

And. And. A true freshman named Ronnie Lott is at safety.

And my brothers and I are high in section 219, row 17, seats 1, 2 and 3--the first season my father sprung for season tickets for the entire family.

And? And. Improbably, ASU wins 20-7, in the biggest upset of the season. This would be only loss that USC would suffer in a two-season span, during which time it would go 21-1-1 and get only half of one national championship that year, 1978.

ASU would go on to something called the Garden State Bowl and defeat Rutgers.

And all this I was thinking about today, as we head into maybe the most consequential ASU-USC meeting of all.