1956 USC Trojans football team

1956 USC Trojans football

Conference	Pacific Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	#15
AP	#18
1956 record	8–2 (5–2 PCC)
Head coach	Jess Hill (6th year)
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

1956 PCC football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#10 Oregon State $	6	–	1	–	1	7	–	3	–	1
#18 USC	5	–	2	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
UCLA	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Washington	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Oregon	3	–	3	–	2	4	–	4	–	2
Stanford	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Washington State	2	–	5	–	1	3	–	6	–	1
California	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Idaho	0	–	4	–	0	2	–	7	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1956 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1956 college football season. In their sixth and final year under head coach Jess Hill, the Trojans compiled an 8–2 record (5–2 against conference opponents), finished in a tie for second place in the Pacific Coast Conference, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 218 to 126.^[1] The team was ranked #15 in the final United Press Coaches Poll and #18 in the final AP Poll. Total attendance for all 10 games was 469,762.^[2]

Frank Hall led the team in passing with 10 of 23 passes completed for 196 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. C. R. Roberts led the team in rushing with 120 carries for 775 yards and five touchdowns. Tony Ortega was the leading receiver with seven catches for 223 yards and one touchdown. Ernie Zampese rushed for 500 yards and passed for 166 yards.^[3]

Two Trojans received first-team honors from the Associated Press or the United Press (UP) on the 1956 All-Pacific Coast Conference football team: backs C. R. Roberts (AP-1; UP-1 [fullback]) and Jon Arnett, USC (UP-1 [halfback]).^[4]^[5]

Players

The following players were members of the 1956 USC football team.^[6]

Fabian Abram, tackle, 6'3", 215 pounds, Redondo Beach, California
George Belotti, tackle, 6'3", 253 pounds, Oxnard, California
Ron Fletcher, tackle, 6'3", 215 pounds, Los Angeles
Walt Gurasich, guard, 6'1", 219 pounds, Sherman Oaks, California
Frank Hall, quarterback, 6'0", 175 pounds, San Francisco, California
Mike Henry, tackle, 6'2", 212 pounds, Los Angeles
Don Hickman, halfback, 5'10", 170 pounds, Monterey Park, California
Hillard Hill, end, 6'1", 188 pounds, Pasadena, California
Ells Kissinger, quarterback, 5'10, 183 pounds, York, Pennsylvania
Ben Lardizabal, guard, 5'11", 210 pounds, Los Angeles
Chuck Leimbach, end, 6'4", 193 pounds, Los Angeles
C. R. Roberts, fullback, 6'1", 206 pounds, Oceanside, California
Bob Rosendahl, end, 6'1", 178 pounds, Lynwood, California
Karl Rubke, center, 6'4", 225 pounds, Lynwood, California
Laird Willott, guard, 6'0", 205 pounds, Glendale, California
Ernie Zampese, halfback, 5'9", 166 pounds, Santa Barbara, California

Schedule

Date	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	Result	Attendance
September 22	at Texas*	#15	Texas Memorial Stadium • Austin, Texas	W 44–20	47,000
September 28	Oregon State	#6	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, California	W 21–13	53,714
October 6	at Wisconsin*	#10	Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, Wisconsin	W 13–6	52,944
October 20	Washington	#9	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, California	W 35–7	44,749
October 27	at Stanford	#6	Stanford Stadium • Stanford, California	L 19–27	70,000
November 3	at Washington State	#20	Rogers Field • Pullman, Washington	W 28–12	13,000
November 10	California	#16	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, California	W 20–7	41,628
November 17	vs. Oregon	#14	Multnomah Stadium • Portland, Oregon	L 0–7	14,480
November 24	at UCLA		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, California (Battle for the Victory Bell)	W 10–7	63,709
December 1	Notre Dame*	#17	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, California (Notre Dame – USC rivalry)	W 28–20	64,538
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll.

Coaching staff

Head coach: Jess Hill
Assistant coaches: Nick Pappas (back coach), Mel Hein (line coach), George Ceithaml (back coach), Bill Fisk (end coach), Joe Margucci (JV coach), Don Clark (line coach), Bob Titchenal (freshman)^[7]
Senior football manager: Mike O'Dell^[8]

References

↑ "Southern California Yearly Results (1955-1959)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
↑ 1957 "El Rodeo" (USC yearbook), page 252.
↑ "1956 Southern California Trojans Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
↑ "All-Pacific Coast Team Choices Reflect a Season of Upsets". Independent Journal, San Rafael, California. December 4, 1956. p. 12.
↑ "United Press Announces All-PCC Team". Independent Journal, San Rafael, California. December 4, 1956. p. 12.
↑ 1957 "El Rodeo", pages 253-265.
↑ 1957 "El Rodeo" (USC yearbook), pages 251 and 266.
↑ 1957 "El Rodeo", page 251.

USC Trojans football

Venues	Bovard Field (?–1922) Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (1923–present) Howard Jones Field (practice)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Notre Dame (Jeweled Shillelagh) UCLA (Victory Bell) Stanford

Culture & lore	Traveler George Tirebiter Giles Pellerin "Fight On" Spirit of Troy Student Body Right Tommy Trojan Athletics scandal 1967 "Game of the Century" "Bush Push" 2007 Stanford game

People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks NFL draftees Statistical leaders

Seasons	1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

National championship seasons in bold

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