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Liberty Bowl 1975
USC 20 Texas A&M 0
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The Trojans' defense handed Texas A&M its first shutout in 52 games, outshining the Aggies' vaunted defense for a 20-0 victory in the Liberty Bowl.
The USC defense held the Aggies to 247 yards in total offense while the A&M defense, ranked No. 1 in the nation, surrendered 315.
All-American running back Ricky Bell, who gained 82 yards in 28 carries, said the Trojans didn't win the game just for McKay, who will coach next year for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, one of the National Football League's two new teams.
"It's not only Coach McKay's last game, it's the seniors' last game, too, and we wanted to win as much for them as for the coach," said Bell, a junior.
A&M Coach Emory Bellard said his Aggies have played better. "They are a good football team, but we've played better than we played tonight. We moved the ball well in spots but couldn't do anything with it.”
Southern Cal quarterback Vince Evans shredded Texas A&M's headhunting defense with two long bombs. Evans set up Mosi Tatupu's one-yard touchdown plunge early in the second quarter with a 65-yard pass play to Randy Simmrin and then hooked up with Bell on a screen pass covering 76 yards for a touchdown later in the period.
The 52-year-old McKay ended his 16-year career at Southern Cal with a record of 127-40-8.
Southern Cal, which had lost its last four regular season games and was unranked in the final Associated Press regular season poll, ended the season 8-4. The Aggies, knocked out of the Cotton Bowl by losing to Arkansas in their regular-season finale two weeks ago, finished 10-2 after a 10-0 start.
A record Liberty Bowl crowd of 52,129 and a national television audience witnessed the game, which was played in chilly mid-30 temperatures.
After Evans' first long pass put the ball at the A&M one-yard line, Tatupu dove across to make the score 10-0. Glen Walker, who kicked a 45-yard field goal in the opening period, added a 40-yarder on the Trojans' next possession after Clint Strozier intercepted a pass at the A&M 19.
The Aggies, who led the country in total defense and rushing defense, allowing just 80 yards a game on the ground, stopped the Trojans in the second half but by then it was far too late.
Texas A&M drove 66 yards to the Southern Cal three-yard line on its second possession of the game but the march stalled when quarterback Mike Jay fumbled and linebacker Dave Lewis recovered for USC. The Aggies, a seven-point favorite, put together another good drive late in the second quarter, moving to the Trojans' 26 before Strozier intercepted another Jay pass at the 13.
The shutout was the first suffered by the Aggies in 52 games dating back to early in the 1971 campaign.
Evans completed six of 13 passes for 174 yards while Bell, the nation's leading rusher, carried 28 times for 82 yards and was named the game’s, Most Valuable Player. During the regular season, Bell gained 1,875 yards, six short of Ed Marinaro's alltime one-season record. Bell also broke O.J. Simpson's school single-season rushing record of 1,88O yards in 1968. The big junior finished the season with 1,957 yards in 12 games.
The halftime bulge could have been even higher, but Southern Cal blew an excellent scoring opportunity in the second period when the Aggies' Eddie Hardin fumbled a kickoff and the Trojans' Vinny Van Dyke recovered at the 27.
After Bell raced 13 yards to the 14, the Aggies' Lester Hayes intercepted an Evans pass at the four and returned it 29 yards. There were no serious scoring threats in the second half.
The victory gave Southern Cal 15 victories in 21 bowl games, more than any other school and breaking a tie with Georgia Tech. |
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Vince Evans leads the USC offense (above) and Mike Jay leads A&M (below). |
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USC heroes, Rickey Bell and Vince Evans. |
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The USC defense stifled A&M. |
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Bell on 76 yard touchdown reception. |
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It was the last game at USC for John McKay. |
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Attendance: 52,129 Passing USC- Evans 6-13-174 Receiving
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MEMPHIS,
Term. (AP) John McKay, renowned for a host of brilliant running backs he
turned out at Southern California, came up with a sterling defense
Monday night to close out his college coaching career successfully.
Evans' screen pass to Bell wound up the
scoring with 5:14 still remaining in the second period. Evans had
completed only 29 of 99 passes during the regular season for a meager 29
percent, 521 yards and only two touchdowns.
