USC Football honored maybe the greatest team of all time before Week 6

Before USC Football's Week 6 game against the Washington State Cougars, they honored the 1972 undefeated Trojan squad that won the National Championship. This team, led by Head Coach John McKay and star RB Anthony Davis (among many others), is of course considered by MANY to be the greatest team in college football history.

Their case is incredibly convincing, as they not only went undefeated en route to a National Championship, but they absolutely PUMMELED Ohio State in the Rose Bowl that year to top off their remarkable season by a score of 42-17. The team was ranked as the No. 1 team in the country from Week 1 on, and only surrendered 11.2 points per contest on defense.

There was not a single team that ever kept it close against the Trojans that year. Every single game was decided by AT LEAST three scores except one two-score, nine-point road win against Stanford. Nobody in the country could hang with the '72 Trojans. SC played three top 10 teams that year (two top four teams), and beat all of them by AT LEAST 21 points.

The 1972 USC Football squad was quarterbacked by Mike Rae.

Rae averaged 8.8 yards per pass attempt for USC Football, as well as picking up 247 rushing yards on the year. His offense was terrific--averaging 38.9 points per game. The offense scored 42 or more points seven times that year. Pair that with a defense that held opponents to 10 points or less seven times, and you really do have maybe the best college football team of all time.

Heck, the only team that has an argument over them would be the 2004 USC Trojans. That team was ecstatic too, but it was the '72 squad that received their rightful praise on Saturday. They'll never be forgotten.

It's the same team that somehow had a three-headed monster of Davis, Rod McNeill, and Sam Cunningham all running the ball. Not only did Davis have 1,191 rushing yards, but he also had 17 rushing touchdowns. He averaged an absurd 5.8 yards per carry. McNeill chipped in 567 rushing yards and seven rushing TD's. Cunningham added on 349 yards with an insane 13 rushing touchdowns.

They also had a Pro Football Hall of Famer in Lynn Swann as the WR1. They were brutal to defend. Charles Young at Tight End was amazing himself, and he as well as nine other total Trojans from this team went on to play in the NFL.

Maybe SC can get back to this type of football under new head coach Lincoln Riley. They're certainly on the right track, as they are off to a 6-0 start after making the coaching change, as opposed to the 4-8 football they played last year. They paid the perfect tribute to that '72 team on Saturday, too, by winning and securing a top 7 AP Poll ranking before they take on No. 20 Utah in Salt Lake City.