CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1996 USC

6–⁠6 (3–⁠5 Pac-10), coached by John Robinson.

Schedule and results

USC in 1996, game by game: lost vs. No. 11 Penn State 7–24; won at Illinois 55–3; won vs. Oregon State 46–17; won at Houston 26–9; lost vs. California 15–22; won vs. Arizona 14–7; lost at No. 4 Arizona State 35–48; won at Washington State 29–24; lost vs. No. 21 Washington 10–21; lost at Stanford 20–24; lost at UCLA 41–48; won vs. No. 10 Notre Dame 27–20+52−17Lost 7–24 vs. No. 11 Penn State-17No. 11 Penn StateWon 55–3 at Illinois+52IllinoisWon 46–17 vs. Oregon State+29Oregon StateWon 26–9 at Houston+17HoustonLost 15–22 vs. California-7CaliforniaWon 14–7 vs. Arizona+7ArizonaLost 35–48 at No. 4 Arizona State-13No. 4 Arizona StateWon 29–24 at Washington State+5Washington StateLost 10–21 vs. No. 21 Washington-11No. 21 WashingtonLost 20–24 at Stanford-4StanfordLost 41–48 at UCLA-7UCLAWon 27–20 vs. No. 10 Notre Dame+7No. 10 Notre Dame
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 25vs11Penn StateL 7–⁠2444%
Sep 7atIllinoisW 55–⁠351%
Sep 14vsOregon StateW 46–⁠1788%
Sep 21atHoustonW 26–⁠975%
Oct 5vsCaliforniaL 15–⁠2273%
Oct 12vsArizonaW 14–⁠765%
Oct 19at4Arizona StateL 35–⁠4839%
Oct 26atWashington StateW 29–⁠2453%
Nov 2vs21WashingtonL 10–⁠2157%
Nov 9atStanfordL 20–⁠2463%
Nov 23atUCLAL 41–⁠4848%
Nov 30vs10Notre DameW 27–⁠2038%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Notre Dame 27–⁠20; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 76th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 7
  2. Wk 2: 17
  3. Wk 3: 19
  4. Wk 4: 16
  5. Wk 5: 15
  6. Wk 6: 15
  7. Wk 7: 17

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 1996.

Record
6–⁠6
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 5th in Pac-10
AP final
Unranked peak No. 7
Points
325–⁠267
Coach
John Robinson
Elo
1591 −31 this season
SP+ rating
14.7 No. 24 of 111; offense No. 34, defense No. 30
SRS
12.6 No. 22 of 111 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Mike Riley
Defensive coordinator
Keith Burns
Captains
John Allred and Sammy Knight

Drafted in 1997

The 1997 draft
Rd 1Darrell Russell DTOakland Raiders
Rd 2John Allred TEChicago Bears
Rd 7Matt Keneley DTNew York Giants
Rd 7Chris Miller WRGreen Bay Packers

All-Pac-10

3 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1996 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1996 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Arizona State8–⁠011–⁠14
Washington7–⁠19–⁠316
Stanford5–⁠37–⁠5
UCLA4–⁠45–⁠6
Oregon3–⁠56–⁠5
USC3–⁠56–⁠6
California3–⁠56–⁠6
Arizona3–⁠55–⁠6
Washington State3–⁠55–⁠6
Oregon State1–⁠72–⁠9

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