CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1943 USC

8–⁠2 (4–⁠0 Pacific Coast Conference), coached by Jeff Cravath.

Schedule and results

USC in 1943, game by game: won at UCLA 20–0; won at California 7–0; won vs. Saint Mary’s (CA) Pre-Flight 13–0; won at San Francisco 34–0; won vs. No. 6 Pacific 6–0; won vs. No. 20 California 13–0; lost at San Diego Navy 7–10; lost vs. No. 15 March Field 0–35; won vs. UCLA 26–13; won vs. No. 11 Washington 29–0+34−35Won 20–0 at UCLA+20UCLAWon 7–0 at California+7CaliforniaWon 13–0 vs. Saint Mary’s (CA) Pre-Flight+13Saint Mary’s (C…Won 34–0 at San Francisco+34San FranciscoWon 6–0 vs. No. 6 Pacific+6No. 6 PacificWon 13–0 vs. No. 20 California+13No. 20 CaliforniaLost 7–10 at San Diego Navy-3San Diego NavyLost 0–35 vs. No. 15 March Field-35No. 15 March FieldWon 26–13 vs. UCLA+13UCLAWon 29–0 vs. No. 11 Washington+29No. 11 Washington
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 25atUCLAW 20–⁠036%
Oct 2atCaliforniaW 7–⁠044%
Oct 9vsSaint Mary’s (CA) Pre-FlightW 13–⁠068%
Oct 16atSan FranciscoW 34–⁠071%
Oct 23vs6PacificW 6–⁠084%
Oct 30vs20CaliforniaW 13–⁠077%
Nov 6atSan Diego NavyL 7–⁠1086%
Nov 13vs15March FieldL 0–⁠3566%
Nov 27vsUCLAW 26–⁠1380%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs11WashingtonRose BowlW 29–⁠051%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Washington 29–⁠0 in the Rose Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; Pacific Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The 77th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 10
  2. Wk 2: 8
  3. Wk 3: 7
  4. Wk 4: 5
  5. Wk 5: 4
  6. Wk 6: 9

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1943.

Pacific Coast Conference champions4–⁠0 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanRalph Heywood, E

Record
8–⁠2
Conference
4–⁠0 first in Pacific Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 4
Points
155–⁠58
Coach
Jeff Cravath
Elo
1583 +81 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
17.0 No. 13 of 76 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1944

The 1944 draft
Rd 3Ralph Heywood EDetroit Lions
Rd 3Earl Audet OTWashington Redskins
Rd 6Mickey McCardle BGreen Bay Packers

All-Pacific Coast

3 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

  • Howard CallananRBAP-2; UP-2
  • Pete McPhailEAP-2
  • Dick JamisonOGAP-2
  • Mark GarzoniOGAP-3; UP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1943 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1943 Pacific Coast Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
USC4–⁠08–⁠2
California2–⁠24–⁠6
Washington0–⁠01–⁠112
UCLA0–⁠41–⁠8

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.