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1951 USC

7–⁠3 (4–⁠2 Pacific Coast Conference), coached by Jess Hill.

Schedule and results

USC in 1951, game by game: won vs. Washington State 31–21; won vs. San Diego Navy 41–7; won at No. 12 Washington 20–13; won vs. No. 18 Oregon State 16–14; won at No. 1 California 21–14; won vs. TCU 28–26; won at Army 28–6; lost vs. No. 7 Stanford 20–27; lost vs. UCLA 7–21; lost vs. Notre Dame 12–19+34−14Won 31–21 vs. Washington State+10Washington StateWon 41–7 vs. San Diego Navy+34San Diego NavyWon 20–13 at No. 12 Washington+7No. 12 WashingtonWon 16–14 vs. No. 18 Oregon State+2No. 18 Oregon StateWon 21–14 at No. 1 California+7No. 1 CaliforniaWon 28–26 vs. TCU+2TCUWon 28–6 at Army+22ArmyLost 20–27 vs. No. 7 Stanford-7No. 7 StanfordLost 7–21 vs. UCLA-14UCLALost 12–19 vs. Notre Dame-7Notre Dame
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 22vsWashington StateW 31–⁠2159%
Sep 29vsSan Diego NavyW 41–⁠780%
Oct 6at12WashingtonW 20–⁠1330%
Oct 13vs18Oregon StateW 16–⁠1460%
Oct 20at1CaliforniaW 21–⁠1422%
Oct 27vsTCUW 28–⁠2661%
Nov 3atArmyW 28–⁠650%
Nov 10vs7StanfordL 20–⁠2754%
Nov 24vsUCLAL 7–⁠2160%
Dec 1vsNotre DameL 12–⁠1950%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Notre Dame 19–⁠12; unranked in the final AP poll; 4th in the Pacific Coast Conference.

In program history: The 88th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 14
  2. Wk 4: 11
  3. Wk 5: 6
  4. Wk 6: 7
  5. Wk 7: 6
  6. Wk 8: 11
  7. Wk 9: 11
  8. Wk 10: 20

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 1951.

Record
7–⁠3
Conference
4–⁠2 4th in Pacific Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 6
Points
224–⁠168
Coach
Jess Hill
Elo
1554 +71 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
11.5 No. 22 of 116 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1952

The 1952 draft
Rd 1Frank Gifford RBNew York Giants

All-Pacific Coast

3 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

  • Bob Van DorenOTAP-2
  • Elmer WilhoiteOGAP-2; UP-3
  • Albert SanbranoOGAP-2
  • Lou WelshCAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1951 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1951 Pacific Coast Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Stanford6–⁠19–⁠27
UCLA4–⁠1–⁠15–⁠3–⁠117
California5–⁠28–⁠212
USC4–⁠27–⁠3
Washington State4–⁠37–⁠318
Oregon State3–⁠54–⁠6
Washington1–⁠5–⁠13–⁠6–⁠1
Oregon1–⁠62–⁠8
Idaho0–⁠32–⁠7

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