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Oregon State vs. USC

Oregon State and USC have 79 meetings on file, the first in 1916; USC leads the series 64–⁠11–⁠4 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s USC 7–⁠3.

Oregon State wins
11
USC wins
64
Ties
4
Earliest on file
1916
Longest streak
26 USC
Current streak
1 USC
Last 10 meetings
USC 7–⁠3
Most recent
2022

The series at a glance

’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1910s1–⁠0
1920s0–⁠7
1930s1–⁠6–⁠3
1940s1–⁠4–⁠1
1950s1–⁠7
1960s2–⁠5
1970s0–⁠9
1980s0–⁠7
1990s0–⁠8
2000s3–⁠6
2010s1–⁠4
2020s1–⁠1
Both ranked
5 meetings: Oregon State 1, USC 4
Average margin
19 points; 20 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Oregon State
7–⁠21 Oregon State’s record at home
At USC
43–⁠4–⁠4 USC’s record at home
Shutouts
19

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

  1. Oregon State’s biggest win2010: Oregon State 36, USC 7by 29 points
  2. USC’s biggest win1985: USC 63, Oregon State 0by 63 points
  3. Upset2006: Oregon State 33, USC 31Oregon State had a 22% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Upset1921: USC 7, Oregon State 0USC had a 25% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  5. Upset2021: Oregon State 45, USC 27Oregon State had a 26% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  6. Ranked showdown1968: USC 17, Oregon State 13No. 13 Oregon State at No. 1 USC
  7. Ranked showdown1939: USC 19, Oregon State 7No. 7 USC at No. 11 Oregon State
  8. Ranked showdown1957: Oregon State 20, USC 0No. 19 USC at No. 13 Oregon State

Coach against coach

YearsOregon StateSeriesUSC
1925–⁠1932Paul Schissler0–⁠8Howard Jones
1933–⁠1940Lon Stiner1–⁠3–⁠4Howard Jones
1945–⁠1948Lon Stiner1–⁠3Jeff Cravath
1951–⁠1954Kip Taylor0–⁠4Jess Hill
1957–⁠1959Tommy Prothro1–⁠2Don Clark
1965–⁠1975Dee Andros1–⁠9John McKay
1976–⁠1979Craig Fertig0–⁠4John Robinson
1987–⁠1990Dave Kragthorpe0–⁠4Larry Smith
1993–⁠1996Jerry Pettibone0–⁠4John Robinson
2003–⁠2009Mike Riley2–⁠4Pete Carroll

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Oregon State’s side (Schissler 0–⁠8 against Jones). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Oregon State and USC, 1916 on1300150017001900192019401960198020002020

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

Stars of the series

Biggest days

John David Booty USC24 of 39, 406 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT2006 Passing
Steve Smith USC11 catches, 258 yards, 2 TD2006 Receiving

Biggest days: the week’s best individual games by our big-days rule, from box scores (2004 on).

From the newspapers

  • The East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current's story of the 1916 game: 0. A. C. DEFEATS U. OF sc. 16-7 GAME WAS MARRIED BY ROUGH PLAYING ON BOTH SIDES. Washington University Beats CallGOr. mia 70 the Tune Of IA TO 7-U. Of o. Is Victor Over BIultnomah by a q to Score.

    1916 · East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, Oregon, Dec 1, 1916

  • The The Daily Alaska empire's story of the 1928 game: GRID GAMES ON SATURDAY

    1928 · The Daily Alaska empire, Alaska, Oct 8, 1928

  • The Evening star's story of the 1931 game: OREGON STATE LINE WE|GHTY BUT WEAK Southern CALIFORNIA; 800 Victory Fails to Show Real Difference.

    1931 · Evening star, Washington, D.C., Oct 5, 1931

  • The The Daily Alaska empire's story of the 1932 game: OREGON STATE LOSES CAME TO so. CALIFORNIA

    1932 · The Daily Alaska empire, Oct 10, 1932

  • The The Daily Alaska empire's story of the 1934 game: OREGON STATE, so. CALIFORNIA FIGHT s TO s TIE Both Elevens Try for Come Back Before Forty Thousand Fans

    1934 · The Daily Alaska empire, Oct 22, 1934

Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.

Every game

Sep 24, 20227USC 17, Oregon State 14at Oregon State
Sep 25, 2021Oregon State 45, USC 27at USC
Nov 3, 2018USC 38, Oregon State 21at Oregon State
Oct 7, 201714USC 38, Oregon State 10at USC
Sep 27, 201418USC 35, Oregon State 10at USC
Nov 1, 2013USC 31, Oregon State 14at Oregon State
Nov 20, 2010Oregon State 36, 20USC 7at Oregon State
Oct 24, 20094USC 42, Oregon State 36at USC
Sep 25, 2008Oregon State 27, 1USC 21at Oregon State
Nov 3, 200713USC 24, Oregon State 3at USC
Oct 28, 2006Oregon State 33, 3USC 31at Oregon State
Nov 6, 20041USC 28, Oregon State 20at Oregon State
Dec 6, 20032USC 52, Oregon State 28at USC
Sep 28, 200218USC 22, 23Oregon State 0at USC
Nov 3, 2001USC 16, Oregon State 13at USC
Sep 30, 2000Oregon State 31, 8USC 21at Oregon State
Oct 2, 1999USC 37, Oregon State 29at USC
Sep 19, 199818USC 40, Oregon State 20at USC
Nov 15, 1997USC 23, Oregon State 0at Oregon State
Sep 14, 199616USC 46, Oregon State 17at USC
Nov 11, 199512USC 28, Oregon State 10at Oregon State
Oct 8, 1994USC 27, Oregon State 19at Oregon State
Oct 16, 1993USC 34, Oregon State 9at USC
Nov 10, 199023USC 56, Oregon State 7at Oregon State
Nov 4, 19899USC 48, Oregon State 6at USC
Oct 29, 19883USC 41, Oregon State 20at Oregon State
Oct 3, 1987USC 48, Oregon State 14at USC
Oct 5, 1985USC 63, Oregon State 0at USC
Sep 17, 198314USC 33, Oregon State 10at Oregon State
Oct 23, 198212USC 38, Oregon State 0at USC
Oct 3, 19811USC 56, Oregon State 22at Oregon State
Sep 15, 19791USC 42, Oregon State 5at Oregon State
Oct 21, 19787USC 38, Oregon State 7at USC
Sep 17, 19772USC 17, Oregon State 10at Oregon State
Oct 23, 19767USC 56, Oregon State 0at USC
Sep 19, 19754USC 24, Oregon State 7at USC
Oct 26, 19746USC 31, Oregon State 10at USC
Oct 6, 19734USC 21, Oregon State 7at Oregon State
Sep 16, 19721USC 51, Oregon State 6at USC
Oct 3, 19705USC 45, Oregon State 13at USC
Oct 4, 19695USC 31, Oregon State 7at Oregon State
Nov 16, 19681USC 17, 13Oregon State 13at USC
Nov 11, 1967Oregon State 3, 1USC 0at Oregon State
Oct 1, 19665USC 21, Oregon State 0at Oregon State
Oct 1, 1965USC 26, Oregon State 12at USC
Nov 15, 1963USC 28, Oregon State 22at USC
Sep 16, 1960Oregon State 14, 6USC 0at USC
Sep 19, 1959USC 27, Oregon State 6at Oregon State
Sep 19, 1958USC 21, 12Oregon State 0at USC
Sep 21, 195713Oregon State 20, 19USC 0at Oregon State
Sep 28, 19566USC 21, Oregon State 13at USC
Oct 30, 195413USC 34, Oregon State 0at USC
Oct 17, 195313USC 37, Oregon State 0at USC
Oct 18, 19527USC 28, Oregon State 6at Oregon State
Oct 13, 195114USC 16, 18Oregon State 14at USC
Sep 24, 1948USC 21, Oregon State 6at USC
Oct 18, 194711USC 48, Oregon State 6at USC
Oct 12, 1946Oregon State 6, USC 0at Oregon State
Nov 24, 1945USC 34, Oregon State 7at USC
Sep 27, 1941USC 13, Oregon State 7at USC
Oct 5, 1940USC 0, Oregon State 0at USC
Nov 4, 19397USC 19, 11Oregon State 7at Oregon State
Oct 1, 1938USC 7, Oregon State 0at USC
Nov 13, 1937USC 12, Oregon State 12at USC
Sep 26, 1936USC 38, Oregon State 7at USC
Oct 19, 1935Oregon State 13, USC 7at USC
Oct 20, 1934USC 6, Oregon State 6at USC
Oct 21, 1933USC 0, Oregon State 0at USC
Oct 8, 1932USC 10, Oregon State 0at USC
Oct 3, 1931USC 30, Oregon State 0at USC
Oct 4, 1930USC 27, Oregon State 7at USC
Oct 5, 1929USC 21, Oregon State 7at USC
Oct 6, 1928USC 19, Oregon State 0at USC
Oct 8, 1927USC 13, Oregon State 12at USC
Nov 11, 1926USC 17, Oregon State 7at Oregon State
Dec 5, 1925USC 28, Oregon State 0at USC
Oct 18, 1924USC 17, Oregon State 3at Oregon State
Nov 26, 1921USC 7, Oregon State 0at USC
Nov 30, 1916Oregon State 16, USC 7at USC

Every game is listed as played on the field.