Ex-Trojan Davis Gets Call for Hall of Fame

Former USC running back Anthony Davis, a unanimous All-American in 1974, will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in December, the National Football Foundation announced Wednesday.

Davis, 52, is part of a Hall of Fame class of 11 players and two coaches. Davis is the 27th USC player to be voted into the Hall of Fame, which is located in South Bend, Ind.

“It’s always an honor to me to be acknowledged,” Davis said in a telephone interview. “I don’t care if I’m 22 or 52.”

Davis, a member of USC’s 1972 and 1974 national champions, rushed for more than 1,000 yards in a season three times and returned six kickoffs for touchdowns.

He finished second to Ohio State’s Archie Griffin in the 1974 Heisman Trophy voting, and gained fame as Notre Dame’s arch-nemesis. Davis scored six touchdowns against the Fighting Irish in 1972 and ignited the Trojans’ famed 55-24 comeback victory over Notre Dame in 1974 by returning the second-half kickoff for a touchdown.

The Hall of Fame class also includes linebacker Cornelius Bennett, who played for Alabama in 1983-86; defensive back Tom Curtis of Michigan (1967-69); offensive tackle Keith Dorney of Penn State (1975-78); end Jim Houston of Ohio State (1957-59); Heisman Trophy winning quarterback John Huarte of Notre Dame (1962-64); fullback Roosevelt Leaks of Texas (1972-74); offensive tackle Mark May of Pittsburgh (1977-80); running back Joe Washington of Oklahoma (1972-75); defensive tackle Paul Wiggin of Stanford (1954-56); and wide receiver David Williams of Illinois (1983-85).

Coaches Pat Dye, who accumulated a record of 153-62-5 at East Carolina, Wyoming and Auburn, and Don Nehlen, who was 202-128-8 at Bowling Green and West Virginia, also will be inducted during a Dec. 6 ceremony in New York. The class will be enshrined in August 2006.