1953 USC Trojans football team

1953 USC Trojans football

Conference	Pacific Coast Conference
1953 record	6–3–1 (4–2–1 PCC)
Head coach	Jess Hill (3rd year)
Captain	George Bozanic
Captain	Tom Nickoloff
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

1953 PCC football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#5 UCLA $	6	–	1	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
#19 Stanford	5	–	1	–	1	6	–	3	–	1
USC	4	–	2	–	1	6	–	3	–	1
California	2	–	2	–	2	4	–	4	–	2
Washington State	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Oregon State	3	–	5	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Washington	2	–	4	–	1	3	–	6	–	1
Oregon	2	–	5	–	1	4	–	5	–	1
Idaho	0	–	3	–	0	1	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1953 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1953 college football season. In their third year under head coach Jess Hill, the Trojans compiled a 6–3–1 record (4–2–1 against conference opponents), finished in third place in the Pacific Coast Conference, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 199 to 161.^[1] The team's home attendance of 413,617 in six games was the highest in the country during the 1953 season. The total attendance of 561,389 in 10 games was the second highest in the nation.^[2]

George Bozanic led the team in passing yardage with 15 of 34 passes completed for 278 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. Aramis Dandoy led the team in rushing with 113 carries for 578 yards and six touchdowns. Tom Nickoloff was the leading receiver with 16 catches for 214 yards and two touchdowns.^[3]

Three Trojans received honors from the Associated Press (AP), the United Press (UP), or Tide Water (TW) on the 1953 All-Pacific Coast Conference football team: back Aramis Dandoy (AP-1); tackle Mario Da Re (TW); and guard George Timberlake (AP-1; UP-1; TW).^[4]^[5]^[6]

Schedule

Date	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	Result	Attendance
September 19	at Washington State	No. 8	Rogers Field • Pullman, Washington	W 29–13	20,000
September 26	Minnesota*	No. 8	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, California	W 17–7	66,698
October 2	Indiana*	No. 7	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, California	W 27–14	49,598
October 10	at Washington	No. 7	Husky Stadium • Seattle, Washington	T 13–13	31,816
October 17	Oregon State	No. 13	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, California	W 37–0	34,988
October 24	at California	No. 11	California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, California	W 32–20	78,000
October 31	vs. Oregon	No. 7	Multnomah Stadium • Portland, Oregon	L 7–13	17,772
November 7	No. 11 Stanford	No. 17	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, California	W 23–20	79,015
November 21	No. 5 UCLA	No. 9	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, California (Battle for the Victory Bell)	L 0–13	85,366
November 29	No. 2 Notre Dame*	No. 20	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, California (Notre Dame – USC rivalry)	L 14–48	97,952
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll.

Players

The following players were members of the 1953 USC football team.^[7]

Mickey Artenian, left guard, #63, Los Angeles, 6'0", 190 pounds
Al Baldock, left end, #83, Santa Monica, California, 6'3", 200 pounds
Al Barry, 6'2", 221 pounds, right tackle (offense and defense), #79, 200 pounds
George Bozanic, blocking back, #38, Lander, Wyoming, 6'2", 205 pounds (co-captain)
Bob Buckley, wingback, #33, Brooklyn, New York, 5'9-1/2", 180 pounds
Leon Clarke, right end, #81, Los Angeles, Commerce, California, 6'4", 210 pounds
Jim Contratto, quarterback, #12, Compton, California, 5'9", 180 pounds
Lindon Crow, wingback, #36, Corcoran, California, 6'1", 190 pounds ("a stand out on defense")
Aramis Dandoy, tailback, #27, Torrance, California, 5'11", 180 pounds
Mario Da Re, left tackle, #74, Crockett, California, 6'2-1/2", 215 pounds
Jim "Triple" Decker, tailback, #21, San Pedro, California, 5'10", 190 pounds
Landon Exley, quarterback, #35, Santa Monica, California, 6'0", 180 pounds
Orlando Ferrante, right guard, #61, Los Angeles, 5'11", 192 pounds
Ed Fouch, tackle, #49, Santa Ana, California, 6'3", 225 pounds (benched by a knee injury)
George Galli, left guard, #60, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 5'10-1/2", 195 pounds
Harold Han, fullback, #46, Honolulu, Hawaii, 5'9", 185 pounds
Addison Hawthorne, fullback, #23, Los Angeles, 5'10", 195 pounds
Des Koch, tailback, #43, Shelton, Washington, 6'1", 208 pounds (led the nation in punts)
John Miller, right tackle, #79, Compton, California, 6'1-1/2", 191 pounds
Ron Miller, left end, #88, Los Angeles, 6'4", 205 pounds
Tom Nickoloff, right end, #80, Los Angeles, 6'3-1/2", 220 pounds (co-captain, "a standout both on offense and defense" for three years)
Frank Pavich, left tackle, #75, San Francisco, California, 6'0", 213 pounds
Dick Petty, center, #54, Auburn, California, 6'0", 196 pounds
Ed Pucci, left guard, #64, Canton, Ohio, 6'0", 215 pounds (invited to play in East-West game)
Bill Riddle, blocking back, #52, El Centro, California, 6'0", 200 pounds (started season as 3rd-string quarterback, then moved to fullback)
Vern Sampson, center, #53, Sacramento, California, 6'0", 205 pounds
Leon Sellers, fullback, #44, Ontario, California, 6'0", 190 pounds
Ken Thompson, right tackle, #78, Phoenix, Arizona, 6'2", 216 pounds
George Timberlake, right guard, #56, Long Beach, California, 6'0", 210 pounds
Sam Tsagalakis, aka "Sad Sam" and "The Toe", placekicker, #31, Los Angeles, 5'7-1/2", 165 pounds (kicked game-winning field goal against Stanford)
Tom Weber, left tackle, #73, Canton, Ohio

Coaches and other staff

Head coach: Jess Hill^[8]
Assistant coaches: Mel Hein (line coach), George Ceithaml (backfield coach), Don Clark (line coach), Bill Fisk (end coach), Nick Pappas (backfield coach), Jess Mortensen (freshman coach)^[9]
Senior manager: Bob Laughlin^[10]

References

↑ "Southern California Yearly Results (1950-1954)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
↑ 1954 "El Rodeo" (USC yearbook), p. 219.
↑ "1953 Southern California Trojans Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
↑ "Shaw, Pheister Gain All-Coast Spots". The News Review (Oregon). November 23, 1953. p. 6.
↑ "UCLA, Stanford Head Coast All-Star Pick". Nevada State Journal, Reno, Nevada. November 26, 1953. p. 13.
↑ "Shaw, Pheister Gain Unofficial All-Coast Spots". The News Review (Oregon). November 23, 1953. p. 6. (Tide Water)
↑ 1954 "El Rodeo", pp. 220-239.
↑ 1954 "El Rodeo", p. 216.
↑ 1954 "El Rodeo", p. 217.
↑ 1954 "El Rodeo", p. 218.

USC Trojans football

Venues	Athletic Park (1895–98) Fiesta Park (1897–98, 1904–06, 1916) Chutes Park (1900) Prager Park (1903) Bovard Field (1904–10, 1914–15, 1917–22) 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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