CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1998 USC

8–⁠5 (5–⁠3 Pac-10), coached by Paul Hackett.

Schedule and results

USC in 1998, game by game: won vs. Purdue 27–17; won vs. San Diego State 35–6; won vs. Oregon State 40–20; lost at No. 10 Florida State 10–30; won vs. Arizona State 35–24; lost vs. California 31–32; won at Washington State 42–14; lost at No. 12 Oregon 13–17; won vs. Washington 33–10; won at Stanford 34–9; lost at No. 3 UCLA 17–34; won vs. No. 9 Notre Dame 10–0; lost vs. TCU 19–28+29−20Won 27–17 vs. Purdue+10PurdueWon 35–6 vs. San Diego State+29San Diego StateWon 40–20 vs. Oregon State+20Oregon StateLost 10–30 at No. 10 Florida State-20No. 10 Florida StateWon 35–24 vs. Arizona State+11Arizona StateLost 31–32 vs. California-1CaliforniaWon 42–14 at Washington State+28Washington StateLost 13–17 at No. 12 Oregon-4No. 12 OregonWon 33–10 vs. Washington+23WashingtonWon 34–9 at Stanford+25StanfordLost 17–34 at No. 3 UCLA-17No. 3 UCLAWon 10–0 vs. No. 9 Notre Dame+10No. 9 Notre DameLost 19–28 vs. TCU-9TCU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsPurdueW 27–⁠1747%
Sep 12vsSan Diego StateW 35–⁠673%
Sep 19vsOregon StateW 40–⁠2075%
Sep 26at10Florida StateL 10–⁠3029%
Oct 3vsArizona StateW 35–⁠2456%
Oct 10vsCaliforniaL 31–⁠3273%
Oct 17atWashington StateW 42–⁠1452%
Oct 24at12OregonL 13–⁠1739%
Oct 31vsWashingtonW 33–⁠1054%
Nov 7atStanfordW 34–⁠976%
Nov 21at3UCLAL 17–⁠3427%
Nov 28vs9Notre DameW 10–⁠055%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvsTCUSun BowlL 19–⁠2879%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to TCU 28–⁠19 in the Sun Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 63rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 2: 22
  2. Wk 3: 18
  3. Wk 4: 18
  4. Wk 5: 21
  5. Wk 6: 19

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 1998.

Butkus AwardChris Claiborne, LB

Consensus All-AmericanChris Claiborne, LB

Record
8–⁠5
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Pac-10
AP final
Unranked peak No. 18
Points
346–⁠241
Coach
Paul Hackett
Elo
1629 +80 this season
SP+ rating
17.8 No. 19 of 112; offense No. 37, defense No. 13
SRS
13.6 No. 22 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Hue Jackson
Defensive coordinator
Bill Young
Captains
Adam Abrams, Chris Claiborne, Billy Miller and Chad Morton
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1999

The 1999 draft
Rd 1Chris Claiborne LBDetroit Lions
Rd 3Daylon McCutcheon DBCleveland Browns
Rd 4Larry Parker WRKansas City Chiefs
Rd 6Rashard Cook DBChicago Bears
Rd 7Billy Miller WRDenver Broncos

1998 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
UCLA8–⁠010–⁠28
Arizona7–⁠112–⁠14
Oregon5–⁠38–⁠4
USC5–⁠38–⁠5
Washington4–⁠46–⁠6
Arizona State4–⁠45–⁠6
California3–⁠55–⁠6
Oregon State2–⁠65–⁠6
Stanford2–⁠63–⁠8
Washington State0–⁠83–⁠8

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