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1987 USC

8–⁠4 (7–⁠1 Pac-10), coached by Larry Smith, finished No. 18 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

USC in 1987, game by game: lost at Michigan State 13–27; won vs. Boston College 23–17; won at California 31–14; won vs. Oregon State 48–14; lost at Oregon 27–34; won at Washington 37–23; lost at No. 10 Notre Dame 15–26; won vs. Washington State 42–7; won vs. Stanford 39–24; won vs. Arizona 12–10; won vs. No. 5 UCLA 17–13; lost vs. No. 8 Michigan State 17–20+35−14Lost 13–27 at Michigan State-14Michigan StateWon 23–17 vs. Boston College+6Boston CollegeWon 31–14 at California+17CaliforniaWon 48–14 vs. Oregon State+34Oregon StateLost 27–34 at Oregon-7OregonWon 37–23 at Washington+14WashingtonLost 15–26 at No. 10 Notre Dame-11No. 10 Notre DameWon 42–7 vs. Washington State+35Washington StateWon 39–24 vs. Stanford+15StanfordWon 12–10 vs. Arizona+2ArizonaWon 17–13 vs. No. 5 UCLA+4No. 5 UCLALost 17–20 vs. No. 8 Michigan State-3No. 8 Michigan State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 7atMichigan StateL 13–⁠2742%
Sep 19vsBoston CollegeW 23–⁠1745%
Sep 26atCaliforniaW 31–⁠1461%
Oct 3vsOregon StateW 48–⁠1481%
Oct 10atOregonL 27–⁠3449%
Oct 17atWashingtonW 37–⁠2335%
Oct 24at10Notre DameL 15–⁠2634%
Oct 31vsWashington StateW 42–⁠774%
Nov 7vsStanfordW 39–⁠2470%
Nov 14vsArizonaW 12–⁠1061%
Nov 21vs5UCLAW 17–⁠1338%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs8Michigan StateRose BowlL 17–⁠2048%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Michigan State 20–⁠17 in the Rose Bowl; No. 18 in the final AP poll; Pac-10 champions.

In program history: The tied 61st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 19
  2. Wk 13: 17
  3. Wk 14: 17
  4. Wk 15: 16
  5. Final: 18

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 1987.

Pac-10 champions7–⁠1 in the conference, shared with UCLA

Consensus All-AmericanDave Cadigan, OT

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in Pac-10
AP final
No. 18 peak No. 16
Points
321–⁠229
Coach
Larry Smith
Elo
1633 +82 this season
SP+ rating
17.9 No. 16 of 101; offense No. 17, defense No. 20
SRS
13.5 No. 18 of 104 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Chuck Stobart
Captains
Dave Cadigan and Greg Coauette

Drafted in 1988

The 1988 draft
Rd 1Dave Cadigan OGNew York Jets
Rd 2Marcus Cotton LBAtlanta Falcons

All-Pac-10

3 first team, 6 second team

First team

  • Steven WebsterRBCoaches-1
  • Paul GreenTECoaches-1
  • Dave CadiganOTCoaches-1

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1987 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1987 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
UCLA7–⁠110–⁠29
USC7–⁠18–⁠418
Washington4–⁠3–⁠17–⁠4–⁠1
Oregon4–⁠46–⁠5
Stanford4–⁠45–⁠6
Arizona State3–⁠3–⁠17–⁠4–⁠120
Arizona2–⁠3–⁠34–⁠4–⁠3
California2–⁠3–⁠23–⁠6–⁠2
Washington State1–⁠5–⁠13–⁠7–⁠1
Oregon State0–⁠72–⁠9

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