USC Trojans football

USC Trojans redirects here. This name can also refer to any male athletics team from USC or to USC students in general; the university's female athletics teams are generally known as the Women of Troy.

USC logo

The University of Southern California Trojans football program, established in 1888, is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Pacific Ten Conference, and is currently coached by Pete Carroll. The university has won a total of eleven recognized national championships in the sport, under four different coaches in five decades, and ranks among the top ten college football programs in both all-time victories and winning percentage (732 and .700, through the 2005 season), earning it a place among the most famous and popular teams. The football program is widely regarded as the centerpiece of an athletic program which has won more NCAA men's individual and team titles than any other university.

USC football teams, which have suffered only three losing seasons since 1961, have captured 35 Pac-10 titles – the fourth-most conference championships of any school, and more than twice as many as any other Pac-10 member. USC has also made 44 appearances in bowl games, placing them fourth nationally, and have won 28 bowls, behind only Alabama's 30. USC's 21 victories and 30 appearances in the Rose Bowl are both easily the most of any school in a single bowl. Individual players have also won numerous accolades, with seven winning the Heisman Trophy (tying USC with Notre Dame for the most recipients), 28 earning induction to the College Football Hall of Fame, and over 130 receiving All-American honors.

History and coaching

The USC football program has been a traditional football mainstay in NCAA history, and although going through two decades of play ranging from bad to good during the 1980s and 1990s, has recently achieved renewed football distinction since the 2002 season.

It first achieved prominence under head coach "Gloomy" Gus Henderson in the early 1920s, a tradition that was continued under coach Howard Jones from 1925 to 1940, when the Trojans were a particularly dominant team which won renown as the "Thundering Herd", earning its first four national titles.

USC achieved intermittent success in the years following Jones' tenure. However, the program entered a new golden age upon the arrival of head coach John McKay (1960-1975), a time when the Trojans won 2 Heisman Trophies and four more national championships. The period of excellence was continued under head coach John Robinson (1976-1982), who came to USC as an assistant to McKay. Robinson's teams won an additional national championship in 1978 and two Heisman Trophies.

In the 1980s, USC began a 20-year period of turmoil, but still had good seasons on several occasions under head coaches Ted Tollner (1983-1986) and Larry Smith (1987-1992), winning the Rose Bowl once under each and being recognized among the nation's top ten teams three times. However, many alumni had grown accustomed to the programs' more consistent winning record and stature under McKay and Robinson, creating problems for later teams that were at sometimes good, still were not competing at championship level. In 1993, Robinson was named head coach a second time, eventually leading the Trojans to a victory in the 1996 Rose Bowl over Northwestern.

However, losing streaks of 11 years (1983-1993) to intersectional rival Notre Dame and 8 years (1991-1998) to crosstown rival UCLA were unacceptable to the fan base. In 1998, head coach Paul Hackett took over the team, but posted an even more disappointing 19-18 record in three seasons. By 2000, many fans feared that USC football's glory days were long gone; the football team's record of 37-35 from 1996 to 2001 was their second-worst over any six-year span in history (only the mark of 29-29-2 from 1956-61 was worse), and the period marked the first time USC has been out of the final top 20 teams for more than four straight years.

In 2001, athletic director Mike Garrett (the 1965 Heisman winner) fired Hackett and hired Pete Carroll, a former NFL coach with a mixed record. Carroll went 6-6 in his first year, losing to Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl 10-6.

USC opened 3-2 in 2002, suffering losses to Kansas State and Washington State. However, the Trojans went on to win the rest of their games, completing the regular season 11-2 on the strength of senior quarterback Carson Palmer's breakout performance. In fact, Palmer's performance, particularly in the season-ending rivalry games against Notre Dame and UCLA, impressed so many pundits that he went on to win the Heisman Trophy, carrying every single region of voting and becoming the first USC quarterback to be so honored. Despite having tied for the Pacific-10 Conference title (with Washington State), played the nation's toughest schedule, and fielded the nation's top defense, USC finished the season ranked No. 5 in the BCS rankings. Facing off against BCS No. 3 Iowa in the Orange Bowl, USC defeated the Hawkeyes 38-17.

In 2003, highly touted but unproven redshirt sophomore Matt Leinart took over for Palmer at quarterback. Although his first pass went for a touchdown in a win over Auburn, the Trojans suffered an early season triple-overtime loss to unranked California in Berkeley. Nevertheless, Carroll guided them to wins in their remaining games and they completed the regular season 11-1. Before the postseason, both the coaches' poll and the Associated Press poll ranked USC number #1, but the BCS - which also gave consideration to computer rankings - ranked Oklahoma first, another one-loss team but one that had lost its own Big XII Conference title game 35-7, with USC ranked third. In that year's Sugar Bowl BCS National Championship Game, BCS #2 Louisiana State defeated BCS #1 Oklahoma 21-14. Meanwhile, USC defeated BCS #4 Michigan 28-14 in the Rose Bowl, prompting some to claim a split national title between LSU and USC. LSU, however, holds the BCS championship title for that year.

In 2004, USC was picked #1 in the preseason by the Associated Press, thanks to the return of Leinart as well as sophomore running backs LenDale White and Reggie Bush. The defense—led by All-American defensive tackles Shaun Cody and Mike Patterson, as well as All-American linebackers Lofa Tatupu and Matt Grootegoed—was considered to be among the finest in the nation. Key questions included the offensive line, with few returning starters, and the receiving corps, which had lost last year's senior Keary Colbert and the breakout star of 2003, Mike Williams. Williams had tried to enter the NFL draft a year early during the Maurice Clarrett trial, only to be rebuffed by the NFL and subsequently denied eligibility by the NCAA.

Despite close calls against Stanford and California, the Trojans finished the season undefeated and headed for the 2004 BCS Championship at the Orange Bowl. USC was the second team in NCAA football history to have gone wire-to-wire (ranked first place from preseason to postseason since the AP began releasing preseason rankings); the first was Florida State in 1999 (three other schools went wire-to-wire before the existence of preseason polls - Notre Dame in 1943, Army in 1945 and USC in 1972). Quarterback Leinart won the Heisman Trophy, with running back Bush placing fifth in the vote tally. The Trojans' opponent in the Orange Bowl, Oklahoma, were themselves undefeated and captained by sixth-year quarterback Jason White, who had won the Heisman in 2003; the game marked the first time in NCAA history that two players who had already won the Heisman played against each other. Most analysts expected the game to be close—as USC matched its speed and defense against the Oklahoma running game and skilled offensive line—but the reality proved to be far different. USC scored 38 points by halftime, and won by the score of 55-19. USC won the undisputed national championship, despite the fact that both Auburn and Utah were also undefeated following their bowl games.

The 2005 regular season climaxed with USC defeating cross-town rival UCLA 66-19, and running back Reggie Bush finishing his stellar year with a Heisman trophy win. Several other players also earned accolades, being named All-Americans (AP, Football Coaches, Football Writers, Walter Camp, ESPN.com, SI.com, CBS Sportsline.com, Rivals.com, Collegefootballnews.com). These include QB Matt Leinart, RB Reggie Bush, RB LenDale White, S Darnell Bing, OT Taitusi Lutui, OT Sam Baker, WR Dwayne Jarrett, C Ryan Kalil, OG Fred Matua, and DE Lawrence Jackson.

However, USC's hopes for another national championship were dashed by the University of Texas, led by quarterback Vince Young, in a dramatic 41-38 loss at the 2006 Rose Bowl.

Recent season results

2005

Date	Opponent	USC	Opp.	Notable
September 3	at Hawaii	63	17
September 17	Arkansas	70	17
September 24	at Oregon	45	13
October 1	at Arizona State	38	28	USC was down 21-3 at halftime but won the second half 35-7.
October 8	Arizona	42	21
October 15	at Notre Dame	34	31	The clock appeared to run out, but officials ruled that the ball was dead out of bounds. Two controversial calls followed, the first being that 7 sec were put back on the clock, and the second that the ball was placed on the goal line. After the clock was reset, Leinart scored a controversial touchdown by being pushed ("The Bush Push") into the endzone by teammate Reggie Bush.
October 22	at Washington	51	24	Jarrett makes a one-handed one-footed TD catch inches inside the bounds
October 29	Washington State	55	13	WSU average points 39 per game, held to just 13, George Lucas leads marching band in playing Imperial March
November 5	Stanford	51	21	USC scored 44 points in first half, the most since 1974. Also 5th game this season with 50+ tally.
November 12	at California	35	10	Two rushing TDs for Matt Leinart, his 6th game this season with 300+ passing yards - he didn't have any last season.
November 19	Fresno State	50	42
December 3	UCLA	66	19
January 4, 2006	Texas (Rose Bowl)	38	41	Vince Young passed for 267 yards, ran for 200 yards, and scored two touchdowns in the final four and a half minutes (one at 0:19) to lead the Longhorns, from a 12-point deficit, to victory over the top-ranked Trojans, snapping their 34 game win streak and toppling their hopes of a repeat national championship.

Pageantry

Team Colors: Cardinal and Gold
Fight Songs: Fight On and Conquest (played at the start of each half and after each score)
Nickname: Trojans
Mascot: Traveler VII (horse)
Marching Band: Trojan Marching Band, also known as "The Spirit of Troy". Only collegiate marching band to release a hit single on the pop charts, a collaboration with Fleetwood Mac called "Tusk"

Current consecutive win streaks

Category	Wins	Type of Record
Home Games:	27	Pac-10 record
Pac-10 Games:	23	Pac-10 record
Road Games:	15	School record
Wins vs. UCLA:	7	School record

Awards

USC claims to have won a total of 11 national championships but this can be a bit confusing. The NCAA does not conduct a playoff in Division 1-A football and therefore does not recognize any champion. Most historians beleive SC has a right to claim 9 national champions. The claims of titles in 1928 and 1939 are based solely on winning the Dickinson poll, a mathematic system devised by a University of Illinois professor.

Here are the championships SC claims to have won:

1928 (Most sports historians consider Georgia Tech to have won the National Championship this year)
1931 Consensus National Champion
1932 Consensus National Champion
1939 (Most sports historians consider Texas A&M to have won the National Championship this year)
1962 Consensus National Champion
1967 Consensus National Champion
1972 Undisputed National Champion
1974 UPI National Champion. Oklahoma won AP National Championship.
1978 UPI National Champion. Alabama won AP National Championship
2003 AP National Champion (LSU won the BCS National Championship)
2004 Undisputed National Champion

Heisman Trophy winners

Seven USC players have won the prestigious Heisman Trophy award, tied with the University of Notre Dame for the most number of Heisman Trophy winners. USC's Heisman Trophy winners include:

Notable former players

Preferred terminology

Outside of the Los Angeles area, fans and sports writers frequently use the nickname "Southern Cal" to refer to USC, and in the past USC commonly referred to itself as "Southern Cal." As recently as the 1970s, football programs published by USC refered to the school on the cover as "Southern Cal." It is not clear why – perhaps to dissuade any idea that USC has some connection with the University of California, commonly referred to as "Cal" – but at some point the school decided it no longer endorsed the use of this term. According to the football media guide [1] (2005 edition), the university prefers that this name not be used:

Note to the media: In editorial references to athletic teams of the University of Southern California, the following are preferred: USC, Southern California, So. California, Troy and Trojans for men's or women's teams, and Women of Troy for women's teams. PLEASE do not use Southern Cal (it's like calling San Francisco "Frisco" or North Carolina "North Car."). The usage of "Southern Cal" on licensed apparel and merchandise is limited in scope and necessary to protect federal trademark rights.