STEVE WADIAK Running Back 1948 / 1951 Chicago, IL

Biography

After serving in the Navy “Wadiak the Cadillac” picked USC over Purdue. Wadiak was a hit as a freshman, with a two touchdown game against Tulsa including a 67-yard touchdown run, and earned All-State honors for his work. He continued to earn a name for himself as a sophomore, earning honorable mention All-Southern Conference honors and making the Southern Conference All-Sophomore team. He had a touchdown run in the win over Clemson that year. Wadiak became a dominant force in 1950, just missing the 1,000 yard rushing mark and being named the Southern Conference Player of the Year. He averaged over 13 yards a carry in racking up 256 yards and two touchdowns against Clemson in 1950. He also had 182 against George Washington (including a 95-yard touchdown run) and went over 100 yards rushing against Furman and Marquette. He also scored the only touchdown in a 7-0 win over Georgia Tech. Wadiak closed his career as a senior leading a 21-6 comeback win over Wake Forest in which he scored twice. He went over 100 yards against Furman and George Washington. Despite being slowed some by a broken rib in the first half of the season he repeated as an All-Southern Conference member, while being named second team All-America by the Helms Foundation and Paul Williamson. He was named All-State by both The Associated Press and United Press International and played in both the Blue-Gray Game and the Senior Bowl. Wadiak tragically died in a car accident in March of 1952 near Aiken, South Carolina. He was inducted into the USC Sports Hall of Fame in 1967.

Prior Schools
School	Location

Roster Listings
Year	Roster	Num	Pos	Ht	Wt	Yr	Gms	GS
1948	Fill 1948	37	HB	5-10	193	Fr	3	3
1949	Program vs Georgia Tech	37	HB	5-10	185	So	9	9
1950	Game Program vs. Georgia Tech	37	HB	5-10	190	Jr	8	8
1951	Game Program vs. The Citadel	37	HB	5-9	185	Sr	7	7
9999	Gamecock Archives All-Time By #	37	RB				0	0

Depth Chart Appearances
Description	Position	Rank

Honors
Award	Year
1950	All-Southern Conference
1951	All-America 2nd Team (Helms Foundation)
1951	All-America 2nd Team (Paul Williamson)
1951	All-Southern Conference
1951	Blue-Gray Game
1952	Senior Bowl

Passing
Year	Att	Com	Pct	Yds	YPA	TD	Int	I%	3D Att	3D Conv%	NEWS	Rtg
1950	5	1	20.0	11	2.20
Tot

Rushing
Year	Att	Yds	Avg	TD
1948	51	420	8.2
1949	152	775	5.1
1950	162	998	6.2
1951		685
Tot	365	2878	7.9

Receiving
Year	Rec	Yds	Avg	TD	Com%	1D	CDT	CD%	BP%
1950	12	83	6.9
1951	12	117	9.8
Tot	24	200	8.3

Games Started
Date	Opponent	Position
1948-10-30	West Virginia	Fullback
1948-11-13	Tulsa	Left Halfback
1948-11-25	Wake Forest	Left Halfback
1949-09-24	Baylor	Left Halfback
1949-09-30	Furman	Left Halfback
1949-10-08	North Carolina	Right Halfback
1949-10-20	Clemson	Left Halfback
1949-11-05	Marquette	Left Halfback
1949-11-11	Miami (Fla.)	Left Halfback
1949-11-19	Georgia Tech	Left Halfback
1949-11-23	Wake Forest	Left Halfback
1949-12-03	Citadel	Left Halfback
1950-09-23	Duke	Left Halfback
1950-09-30	Georgia Tech	Left Halfback
1950-10-06	Furman	Left Halfback
1950-10-19	Clemson	Left Halfback
1950-11-03	Marquette	Left Halfback
1950-11-11	Citadel	Left Halfback
1950-11-18	North Carolina	Left Halfback
1950-11-25	Wake Forest	Left Halfback
1951-09-22	Duke	Left Halfback
1951-09-29	Citadel	Left Halfback
1951-10-06	Furman	Left Halfback
1951-10-13	North Carolina	Left Halfback
1951-10-25	Clemson	Left Halfback
1951-11-03	George Washington	Left Halfback
1951-11-17	Virginia	Left Halfback

Single Game Rushing Stats
Season	Game Date	Opponent	Att	Yds	TD
1948	1948-09-24	Newberry	5	60	1
	1948-10-01	Furman	4	2	0
	1948-10-09	Tulane	2	2	0
	1948-10-21	Clemson	10	91	0
	1948-10-30	West Virginia	12	57	0
	1948-11-06	Maryland	8	102	1
	1948-11-13	Tulsa	10	107	2
1949	1949-10-20	Clemson	20	88	1
	1949-11-05	Marquette	17	68	0
	1949-11-11	Miami (Fla.)	18	83	1
1950	1950-09-23	Duke	16	68	0
	1950-09-30	Georgia Tech	21	91	1
	1950-10-06	Furman	14	109	1
	1950-10-19	Clemson	19	256	2
	1950-10-27	George Washington	24	182	2
	1950-11-03	Marquette		108	0
	1950-11-11	Citadel	17	96	0
	1950-11-25	Wake Forest	15	26
1951	1951-09-22	Duke	18	26	0
	1951-09-29	Citadel		81	2
	1951-10-06	Furman	23	147	2
	1951-10-13	North Carolina	12	22	0
	1951-11-03	George Washington		109
	1951-11-24	Wake Forest		73	2

Scoring Plays
Date	Opponent	Qtr	Time	USC	Opp	Play
1948-09-24	Newberry			40	0	Steve Wadiak run
1948-10-30	West Virginia	4		12	28	Steve Wadiak, 6-yd pass from Ed Pasky
1948-11-13	Tulsa	1		7	0	Steve Wadiak, 4-yd run (Bayard Pickett kick)
1948-11-13	Tulsa	2		21	0	Steve Wadiak, 67-yd run (Bayard Pickett kick)
1949-10-20	Clemson	3		7	14	Safety, John Boyle fumbles ball out of end zone
1949-10-20	Clemson	2		13	13	Steve Wadiak, 2-yd run (Bill Killoy kick)
1949-11-11	Miami (Fla.)	4		7	13	Steve Wadiak, 3-yd run (Bill Killoy kick)
1949-11-23	Wake Forest	3		21	0	Steve Wadiak, 4-yd run (conversion good)
1949-12-03	Citadel	2		21	0	Steve Wadiak, 4-yd run (Bill Killoy kick)
1949-12-03	Citadel	3		28	0	Steve Wadiak, 9-yd run (Bill Killoy kick)
1949-12-03	Citadel	4		35	0	Steve Wadiak, 13-yd run (Bill Killoy kick)
1950-09-30	Georgia Tech	4		7	0	Steve Wadiak, 1-yd run (Bill Killoy kick)
1950-10-06	Furman	3		14	6	Steve Wadiak, 35-yd run (Bill Killoy kick)
1950-10-19	Clemson	1		7	0	Steve Wadiak, 5-yd run (Bill Killoy kick)
1950-10-19	Clemson	3		14	7	Steve Wadiak, 73-yd run (Bill Killoy kick)
1950-10-27	George Washington	2		14	7	Steve Wadiak, 2-yd run
1950-10-27	George Washington	4		21	7	Steve Wadiak, 96-yd run
1950-10-27	George Washington	4		34	13	Bishop Strickland, 11-yd pass from Steve Wadiak
1951-09-29	Citadel	1		7	0	Steve Wadiak, 1-yd run (Chuck Prezioso kick)
1951-09-29	Citadel	1		14	0	Steve Wadiak, 13-yd run (Chuck Prezioso kick)
1951-11-10	West Virginia	2		13	7	Steve Wadiak, 1-yd run (Chuck Prezioso kick)
1951-11-17	Virginia	4		27	28	Steve Wadiak, 1-yd run (Chuck Prezioso kick faied)
1951-11-24	Wake Forest	3	00:30	14	6	Steve Wadiak, 3-yd run (Chuck Prezioso kick)
1951-11-24	Wake Forest	4		21	6	Steve Wadiak, 6-yd run (Chuck Prezioso kick)