CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1966 USC

7–⁠4 (4–⁠1 Athletic Association of Western Universities), coached by John McKay.

Schedule and results

USC in 1966, game by game: won at Texas 10–6; won vs. Wisconsin 38–3; won at Oregon State 21–0; won vs. Washington 17–14; won at Stanford 21–7; won vs. Clemson 30–0; lost at Miami 7–10; won vs. California 35–9; lost at No. 8 UCLA 7–14; lost vs. No. 1 Notre Dame 0–51; lost vs. No. 7 Purdue 13–14+35−51Won 10–6 at Texas+4TexasWon 38–3 vs. Wisconsin+35WisconsinWon 21–0 at Oregon State+21Oregon StateWon 17–14 vs. Washington+3WashingtonWon 21–7 at Stanford+14StanfordWon 30–0 vs. Clemson+30ClemsonLost 7–10 at Miami-3MiamiWon 35–9 vs. California+26CaliforniaLost 7–14 at No. 8 UCLA-7No. 8 UCLALost 0–51 vs. No. 1 Notre Dame-51No. 1 Notre DameLost 13–14 vs. No. 7 Purdue-1No. 7 Purdue
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 17atTexasW 10–⁠649%
Sep 24vsWisconsinW 38–⁠381%
Oct 1atOregon StateW 21–⁠062%
Oct 8vsWashingtonW 17–⁠1472%
Oct 15atStanfordW 21–⁠767%
Oct 22vsClemsonW 30–⁠082%
Oct 28atMiamiL 7–⁠1064%
Nov 5vsCaliforniaW 35–⁠983%
Nov 19at8UCLAL 7–⁠1446%
Nov 26vs1Notre DameL 0–⁠5147%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvs7PurdueRose BowlL 13–⁠1448%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Purdue 14–⁠13 in the Rose Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; Athletic Association of Western Universities champions.

In program history: The 57th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

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 1966.

Athletic Association of Western Universities champions4–⁠1 in the conference

2 consensus All-AmericansRon Yary, OT; Nate Shaw, DB

Record
7–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠1 first in Athletic Association of Western Universities
AP final
Unranked peak No. 5
Points
199–⁠128
Coach
John McKay
Elo
1641 +16 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
17.8 No. 14 of 119 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Dick Coury
Captains
Nate Shaw and Rod Sherman

Drafted in 1967

The 1967 draft
Rd 4Ray May LBPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 5Don McCall RBNew Orleans Saints
Rd 5Nate Shaw DBLos Angeles Rams

All-Pac-8

8 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1966 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1966 Athletic Association of Western Universities standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
USC4–⁠17–⁠4
UCLA3–⁠19–⁠15
Oregon State3–⁠17–⁠3
Washington4–⁠36–⁠4
California2–⁠33–⁠7
Washington State1–⁠33–⁠7
Oregon1–⁠33–⁠7
Stanford1–⁠45–⁠5

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