CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1990 USC

8–⁠4–⁠1 (5–⁠2–⁠1 Pac-10), coached by Larry Smith, finished No. 20 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

USC in 1990, game by game: won vs. Syracuse 34–16; won vs. Penn State 19–14; lost at No. 21 Washington 0–31; won at No. 15 Ohio State 35–26; won vs. Washington State 30–17; won at Stanford 37–22; lost vs. Arizona 26–35; won at Arizona State 13–6; tied vs. California 31–31; won at Oregon State 56–7; won at UCLA 45–42; lost vs. No. 7 Notre Dame 6–10; lost vs. No. 22 Michigan State 16–17+49−31Won 34–16 vs. Syracuse+18SyracuseWon 19–14 vs. Penn State+5Penn StateLost 0–31 at No. 21 Washington-31No. 21 WashingtonWon 35–26 at No. 15 Ohio State+9No. 15 Ohio StateWon 30–17 vs. Washington State+13Washington StateWon 37–22 at Stanford+15StanfordLost 26–35 vs. Arizona-9ArizonaWon 13–6 at Arizona State+7Arizona StateTied 31–31 vs. California0CaliforniaWon 56–7 at Oregon State+49Oregon StateWon 45–42 at UCLA+3UCLALost 6–10 vs. No. 7 Notre Dame-4No. 7 Notre DameLost 16–17 vs. No. 22 Michigan State-1No. 22 Michigan State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31vsSyracuseW 34–⁠1662%
Sep 15vsPenn StateW 19–⁠1472%
Sep 22at21WashingtonL 0–⁠3154%
Sep 29at15Ohio StateW 35–⁠2653%
Oct 6vsWashington StateW 30–⁠1780%
Oct 13atStanfordW 37–⁠2270%
Oct 20vsArizonaL 26–⁠3575%
Oct 27atArizona StateW 13–⁠673%
Nov 3vsCaliforniaT 31–⁠3178%
Nov 10atOregon StateW 56–⁠786%
Nov 17atUCLAW 45–⁠4264%
Nov 24vs7Notre DameL 6–⁠1050%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvs22Michigan StateJohn Hancock BowlL 16–⁠1753%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Michigan State 17–⁠16 in the John Hancock Bowl; No. 20 in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 45th-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: 7
  3. Wk 3: 6
  4. Wk 4: 5
  5. Wk 5: 18
  6. Wk 6: 15
  7. Wk 7: 16
  8. Wk 8: 15
  9. Wk 9: 21
  10. Wk 10: 21
  11. Wk 11: 23
  12. Wk 12: 19
  13. Wk 13: 18
  14. Wk 14: 21
  15. Wk 15: 21
  16. Final: 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 1990.

Record
8–⁠4–⁠1
Conference
5–⁠2–⁠1 2nd in Pac-10
AP final
No. 20 peak No. 5
Points
348–⁠274
Coach
Larry Smith
Elo
1675 +3 this season
SP+ rating
14.9 No. 22 of 104; offense No. 23, defense No. 30
SRS
12.6 No. 20 of 107 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Don Gibson

Drafted in 1991

The 1991 draft
Rd 1Pat Harlow OTNew England Patriots
Rd 1Todd Marinovich QBLos Angeles Raiders
Rd 3Ricky Ervins RBWashington Redskins
Rd 5Gary Wellman WRHouston Oilers
Rd 7Mark Tucker CAtlanta Falcons

All-Pac-10

5 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1990 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1990 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Washington7–⁠110–⁠25
USC5–⁠2–⁠18–⁠4–⁠120
Oregon4–⁠38–⁠4
California4–⁠3–⁠17–⁠4–⁠1
Arizona5–⁠47–⁠5
UCLA4–⁠45–⁠6
Stanford4–⁠45–⁠6
Arizona State2–⁠54–⁠7
Washington State2–⁠63–⁠8
Oregon State1–⁠61–⁠10

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