Jeff Bregel, a name familiar to older USC fans but not necessarily younger ones, made another appearance on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot. Bregel returned to the ballot this cycle after making the ballot a year ago. He joins Mark Carrier and Reggie Bush as one of three Trojans on the 2023 Hall of Fame ballot.
Bregel is an important USC Trojan because he was a significant part of the 1984 team which provided fans sweet relief in the middle of a difficult stretch for the program. After the dynastic period of the 1960s and 1970s under iconic coaches John McKay and John Robinson, USC fell on hard times under Ted Tollner in the mid-1980s. The one Tollner team which rose above mediocrity was that 1984 team. It won the Pac-10 championship and secured a Rose Bowl berth by stunning a Washington team which ended the season No. 2 in the country. It’s safe to say that USC denied coach Don James a national championship, seven years before his 1991 team crossed the threshold and earned a split title with Miami.
We remembered that 1984 Washington win, which joins the 1985 Rose Bowl victory over Ohio State as one of Jeff Bregel’s biggest USC triumphs.
There is no perfect game in the USC-UW series, a game which stands way above the crowd. I arrive at 1984 as the best, but you could make a reasonable argument for the games listed above.
Why do I choose 1984? Like 2016 and 1959, USC dealt Washington its only regular-season loss of the year. Unlike 2016 and 1959, USC won its conference due to a win over the Huskies. USC beat an elite opponent and gained an elite prize — a conference championship — as a result. The Trojans won the 1985 Rose Bowl under coach Ted Tollner and finished No. 10 in the polls.
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