CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1991 USC

3–⁠8 (2–⁠6 Pac-10), coached by Larry Smith.

Schedule and results

USC in 1991, game by game: lost vs. Memphis 10–24; won vs. No. 5 Penn State 21–10; lost vs. Arizona State 25–32; won at Oregon 30–14; won at Washington State 34–27; lost vs. Stanford 21–24; lost at No. 5 Notre Dame 20–24; lost at No. 10 California 30–52; lost vs. No. 2 Washington 3–14; lost at Arizona 14–31; lost vs. No. 25 UCLA 21–24+16−22Lost 10–24 vs. Memphis-14MemphisWon 21–10 vs. No. 5 Penn State+11No. 5 Penn StateLost 25–32 vs. Arizona State-7Arizona StateWon 30–14 at Oregon+16OregonWon 34–27 at Washington State+7Washington StateLost 21–24 vs. Stanford-3StanfordLost 20–24 at No. 5 Notre Dame-4No. 5 Notre DameLost 30–52 at No. 10 California-22No. 10 CaliforniaLost 3–14 vs. No. 2 Washington-11No. 2 WashingtonLost 14–31 at Arizona-17ArizonaLost 21–24 vs. No. 25 UCLA-3No. 25 UCLA
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2vsMemphisL 10–⁠2479%
Sep 14vs5Penn StateW 21–⁠1043%
Sep 21vsArizona StateL 25–⁠3268%
Sep 28atOregonW 30–⁠1440%
Oct 12atWashington StateW 34–⁠2762%
Oct 19vsStanfordL 21–⁠2471%
Oct 26at5Notre DameL 20–⁠2423%
Nov 2at10CaliforniaL 30–⁠5236%
Nov 9vs2WashingtonL 3–⁠1428%
Nov 16atArizonaL 14–⁠3156%
Nov 23vs25UCLAL 21–⁠2446%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to UCLA 24–⁠21; unranked in the final AP poll; 8th in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 95th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 16
  2. Wk 2: 16
  3. Wk 4: 22

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 1991.

Record
3–⁠8
Conference
2–⁠6 8th in Pac-10
AP final
Unranked peak No. 16
Points
229–⁠276
Coach
Larry Smith
Elo
1509 −107 this season
SP+ rating
11.2 No. 26 of 104; offense No. 30, defense No. 37
SRS
8.1 No. 32 of 107 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Matt Gee

Drafted in 1992

The 1992 draft
Rd 2Kurt Barber LBNew York Jets
Rd 7Calvin Holmes DBWashington Redskins

All-Pac-10

2 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • David WebbDTCoaches-2
  • Kurt BarberLBCoaches-2
  • Ron DalePCoaches-2

From Wikipedia’s 1991 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1991 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Washington8–⁠012–⁠02
California6–⁠210–⁠28
UCLA6–⁠29–⁠319
Stanford6–⁠28–⁠422
Arizona State4–⁠46–⁠5
Washington State3–⁠54–⁠7
Arizona3–⁠54–⁠7
USC2–⁠63–⁠8
Oregon1–⁠73–⁠8
Oregon State1–⁠71–⁠10

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