Beating USC in ’78 boost for ASU program

It was 4:30 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 15, 1978, when Bryan Caldwell stood on the balcony of his Tempe apartment, the joyous sounds signifying what Arizona State University’s football team accomplished hours before.

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“Car horns were still going off, as far as you could hear,” said Caldwell, then a freshman defensive lineman with the Sun Devils. “I’m sure the goalposts were still being carried around campus. It was a magical night.”

On Thursday, ASU hosts Southern California — a contest that could decide the Pac-10 champion — hoping for fortune similar to that of 29 years ago, when a Sun Devils squad fresh from the Western Athletic Conference hosted the undefeated, second-ranked, talent-rich Trojans.

ASU 20, USC 7.

Afterward, newspapers and wire services called the Sun Devil Stadium press box to make sure that the score was correct. Fans partied into the night. And by taking down the Pac-10’s top dog, the Sun Devils served notice to their new conference that they had arrived.

“We were a bunch of no-names, and we pounded them, play after play,” said John Mistler, a wide receiver who caught a touchdown pass that night. “And I don’t think they were ready for that. It was kind of the perfect storm. They didn’t know us. Who is this fly that just joined our conference?

“I don’t know if they took us seriously. They did after the game.”

Over the years, the victory against the Trojans has been underappreciated by the ASU community. While remembered fondly, the ’78 USC game is rarely mentioned alongside the 1975 Fiesta Bowl, 1987 Rose Bowl or 1996 contest against Nebraska as program-defining moments.

It should be, however, due primarily to the résumé of the Trojans team that was dominated by the Sun Devils.

In ’78, USC went on to win a share of the national title. With a roster that had 37 future NFL players — including Hall of Famers Marcus Allen, Ronnie Lott and Anthony Muñoz — it is considered perhaps the most talented college football team of all time. And the Trojans did not lose again for more than two calendar years, going unbeaten in their next 28 contests.

“The Fiesta Bowl against Nebraska was great, but that game against USC was an eye-opener to a lot of people,” said Frank Kush, ASU’s coach from 1958-79. “I thought that game was the turning point in people recognizing that we had talent to compete with anyone.

“I remember vividly pro scouts saying to me that Arizona State was now there with the big boys.”

The Sun Devils had no shortage of good players, with Mistler, quarterback Mark Malone and defensive end Al Harris among those who went on to the NFL. The biggest star against USC was Malone, a junior who threw for 167 yards and ran for 139, including a 63-yarder on a bootleg that thrilled the crowd of 71,738, then the largest to see a sporting event in the state of Arizona.

“Mark was a unique athlete,” said Caldwell, who played on special teams that night. “Up until that point, I don’t think that even he knew what he was capable of. But that game really got his career going.”

Malone, a TV sports anchor and director in Chicago, did not return phone messages.

ASU had significantly more offensive success than USC, in part because the Sun Devils were able to snap the ball cleanly with regularity. Injuries resulted in the Trojans starting their fourth-string center, Brad Green, who suffered a knee injury in the first quarter.

Coach John Robinson turned to Ray Peters, a nose guard. His cohesiveness with quarterback Paul McDonald improved as the game progressed, but USC still fumbled six snaps, losing four.

“We were recruiting centers on the sideline,” said Robinson, who coached the Trojans from 1976-82 and ’93-97. “It was such a high-intensity game, and ASU had a really aggressive defense. They rushed us hard. That, combined with us having problems with the center, gave us a lot of trouble.”

If not for a touchdown pass in the final minute, the Sun Devils would have shut out the Trojans, who shared the national title with Alabama in one of the more head-scratching poll results in history.

USC was No. 1 in the United Press International (coaches) rankings, but the Associated Press poll went with Alabama, which in September lost to the Trojans. By double digits. In Birmingham.

“We did manage to rebound,” Robinson said. “What helped was that we got the center (situation) solved. But we won the national title, which was obviously a big deal for us, and it makes ASU’s win look even better.”

ASU’s season ended more modestly, with a 9-3 record that included a win against Rutgers in the Garden State Bowl. Perhaps that is why, Mistler said, the USC victory seems to not rate as high on the nostalgia meter as other big ASU wins.

“That game didn’t catapult us to a 12-0 season or the Rose Bowl,” Mistler said. “But I can tell you that it was really special to the players on Arizona State and the people who were in the stadium.”

No. 11 USC at No. 7 Arizona St.

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6 p.m. Thursday, ESPN

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