The history of college football is more than 150 years long. There’s a very lengthy list of “what-ifs” in this sport’s twisting, turning, tide-changing existence. The transfer portal, which is such an equation-changing aspect of modern college football, could have overturned so many aspects of the sport in past eras. What if specific superstar players changed programs with the frequency we see today? USC has obviously benefited enormously from the portal. Without Caleb Williams transferring from Oklahoma, the Men of Troy aren’t in a position to contend for conference and national championships in 2023.
Here’s one very big “what if” from the transfer portal: What if the portal existed in 1979 and 1980? An elite running back might have thought about transferring to USC.
The day was January 1, 1980. USC, Anthony Munoz, and Charles White played No. 1 and unbeaten Ohio State in the 1980 Rose Bowl. Munoz talked about this game and many other subjects in his recent conversation at Trojan Conquest Live with co-hosts Rick Anaya and Tim Prangley.
On this Anthony Munoz show, Rick Anaya mentioned that John Jackson — the USC receiver who was an important part of the late-1980s Rose Bowl teams under then-coach Larry Smith — was just 12 years old on New Year’s Day of 1980. Jackson told Anaya that he attended the 1980 Rose Bowl in person. Who was sitting next to him? None other than SMU running back Eric Dickerson, who played his freshman season with the Mustangs in 1979.
Imagine if Dickerson had the transfer portal as a realistic option back then. He would have seen Munoz opening up gaping holes for Charles White on that final 83-yard touchdown drive which delivered USC a 17-16 victory. He would have seen White run for 247 yards in his last game as a Trojan.
You don’t think Dickerson would have been interested in playing for USC after seeing that game in person?
It’s quite a “what if.”
Here’s the other “what if” of this story: Marcus Allen and Charles White shared the backfield at USC. Imagine Dickerson and Allen sharing the backfield under John Robinson in the early 1980s. Oh, my goodness.
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