Arizona State Sun Devils	Southern Cal Trojans ©
Played October 4, 1980 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, California

  

 

Teams' Belt Records

 

Team	Belt Reigns	Overall Record				Home Record				Away Record				Neutral Record
		W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT
Arizona State	1	1	2	0	.333	1	1	0	.500	0	1	0	.000
Southern Cal ©	4	34	3	2	.897	14	1	2	.882	16	2	0	.889	4	0	0	1.000

 

 

Coach Darryl Rogers, in his first season at Arizona State, brought his 2-1 Sun Devils to Los Angeles hoping to reclaim some of the glory of the previous season.  In 1979, Arizona State had to forfeit 5 games due to NCAA violations.  The 4^th ranked Southern Cal Trojans of coach John Robinson stood 3-0 as they readied for their 1980 Homecoming game.  The Sun Devils were the last team to defeat the Trojans having won the 1978 game to claim The Belt; Southern Cal had not been beaten in the 23 games since.  Southern Cal got 3 field goals from PK Eric Hipp & withstood a 2^nd half rally from the Sun Devils which included a failed 72-yard field goal attempt as time expired to retain The Belt with a 23-21 victory.  Midway through the 1^st quarter, Southern Cal’s All-Pac 10 S Dennis Smith recovered a fumble from Arizona State's RB Gerald Riggs.  The Trojans took the turnover & drove 82 yards in 10 plays with All-Pac 10 RB Marcus Allen scoring the touchdown on a 2-yard run.  Arizona State tied the game at 7-7 in the 2^nd quarter after LB John Sprein recovered a fumble by Southern Cal's RB Doug MacKenzie & the Sun Devils drove 79 yards in 13 plays.  Sun Devils' QB Mike Pagel threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to WR John Mistler for the score.  The Trojans responded with a 33-yard field goal from Hipp to take a 10-7 lead.  Southern Cal then took advantage of excellent field position following a short punt from Arizona State’s All-Pac 10 P Mike Black which gave the Trojans the ball at the Sun Devils’ 32-yard line.  Southern Cal's QB Gordon Adams finished the short drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass to WR Jeff Simmons giving the Trojans a 17-7 lead.  Hipp’s 43-yard field goal as time expired in the 1^st half sent the teams to their locker rooms with Southern Cal leading 20-7.  In the 3^rd quarter, Arizona State’s All-Pac 10 RB Willie Gittens slipped tackle attempts by Trojans' LB Riki Gray & Smith, then exploded down the sideline for a 59-yard touchdown run to keep the Sun Devils within 6 points at 20-14.  Southern Cal’s All-Pac 10 LB Chip Banks recovered a fumble from Pagel which set-up Hipp’s third field goal, this one from 27 yards, as the Trojans took a 23-14 lead entering the final quarter.  With 4:30 to play in the game, Pagel finished a 9-play, 72-yard drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass to TE Ron Wetzel but the Sun Devils still trailed 23-21.  Southern Cal drove to the Arizona State 25-yard line before Hipp missed a 48-yard field goal attempt giving the ball back to the Sun Devils but with less than a minute to play they were forced to try a 72-yard field goal attempt from PK Scott Lewis.  The kick was well short as time expired.  Adams finished with 226 yards passing with a touchdown while Allen added 132 yards rushing but 2 fumbles with his score.  Pagel threw for 160 yards with 2 touchdowns in the loss.  Southern Cal finished the season 8-2-1; ranked 11^th nationally while the Sun Devils finished 7-4.  Arizona State would play for The Belt again in 1982.