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2004 USC

13–⁠0 (8–⁠0 Pac-10), coached by Pete Carroll, finished No. 1 in the AP poll. Officially 11–⁠0: the NCAA vacated one regular-season win and the 2005 Orange Bowl win.

From the season’s Wikipedia article: “Since the vacated games included the Trojans’ Orange Bowl win, the Trojans were later stripped of the 2004 BCS title in June 2011.”

Schedule and results

USC in 2004, game by game: won vs. Virginia Tech 24–13; won vs. Colorado State 49–0; won at BYU 42–10; won at Stanford 31–28; won vs. No. 7 California 23–17; won vs. No. 15 Arizona State 45–7; won vs. Washington 38–0; won at Washington State 42–12; won at Oregon State 28–20; won vs. Arizona 49–9; won vs. Notre Dame 41–10; won at UCLA 29–24; won vs. No. 2 Oklahoma 55–19+49Won 24–13 vs. Virginia Tech+11Virginia TechWon 49–0 vs. Colorado State+49Colorado StateWon 42–10 at BYU+32BYUWon 31–28 at Stanford+3StanfordWon 23–17 vs. No. 7 California+6No. 7 CaliforniaWon 45–7 vs. No. 15 Arizona State+38No. 15 Arizona StateWon 38–0 vs. Washington+38WashingtonWon 42–12 at Washington State+30Washington StateWon 28–20 at Oregon State+8Oregon StateWon 49–9 vs. Arizona+40ArizonaWon 41–10 vs. Notre Dame+31Notre DameWon 29–24 at UCLA+5UCLAWon 55–19 vs. No. 2 Oklahoma+36No. 2 Oklahoma
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 28vsVirginia TechBca ClassicW 24–⁠1371%
Sep 11vsColorado StateW 49–⁠083%
Sep 18atBYUW 42–⁠1082%
Sep 25atStanfordW 31–⁠2878%
Oct 9vs7CaliforniaW 23–⁠1773%
Oct 16vs15Arizona StateW 45–⁠778%
Oct 23vsWashingtonW 38–⁠092%
Oct 30atWashington StateW 42–⁠1275%
Nov 6atOregon StateW 28–⁠2074%
Nov 13vsArizonaW 49–⁠995%
Nov 27vsNotre DameW 41–⁠1085%
Dec 4atUCLAW 29–⁠24vacated77%
Jan 4Bowls & playoffvs2OklahomaOrange BowlW 55–⁠19vacated52%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Oklahoma 55–⁠19 in the Orange Bowl; No. 1 in the final AP poll; first in the Pac-10.

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

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 1
  2. Wk 3: 1
  3. Wk 4: 1
  4. Wk 5: 1
  5. Wk 6: 1
  6. Wk 7: 1
  7. Wk 8: 1
  8. Wk 9: 1
  9. Wk 10: 1
  10. Wk 11: 1
  11. Wk 12: 1
  12. Wk 13: 1
  13. Wk 14: 1
  14. Wk 15: 1
  15. Final: 1

National championsNo. 1 in the final AP poll, and a title the school claims

Heisman voteReggie Bush, fifth

Heisman TrophyMatt Leinart, QB; also the Walter Camp and Manning

4 consensus All-AmericansMatt Leinart, QB; Shaun Cody, DL; Matt Grootegoed, LB; Reggie Bush, RB

Record
13–⁠0
Conference
8–⁠0 first in Pac-10
AP final
No. 1 peak No. 1
Points
496–⁠169
Coach
Pete Carroll
Elo
1884 +152 this season
SP+ rating
32.3 No. 1 of 120; offense No. 5, defense No. 4
SRS
29.1 No. 1 of 119 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 2
Offensive coordinator
Norm Chow
Captains
Shaun Cody, Matt Grootegoed and Matt Leinart
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense22nd of 118
  • Defense16th of 118
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0239%0.9922nd of 118
Defense-0.1233%0.9616th of 118
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 371% allowed
Defense-0.1own 263% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Top recruits in the 2004 class

Keith Rivers ILB★★★★★No. 7
Jeff Byers OC★★★★★No. 9
Jeff Schweiger WDE★★★★★No. 10
Fred Davis WR★★★★★No. 13
Thomas Herring OT★★★★★No. 33
Dwayne Jarrett WR★★★★★No. 38
Scott Ware S★★★★No. 87
Dale Thompson TE★★★★No. 93

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2004 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers44.50.970
Offensive line34.70.968
Defensive line15.00.996
Linebackers15.00.997
Defensive backs14.00.967
Whole class104.60.975

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2005

The 2005 draft
Rd 1Mike Williams WRDetroit Lions
Rd 1Mike Patterson DTPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 2Shaun Cody DEDetroit Lions
Rd 2Lofa Tatupu LBSeattle Seahawks
Rd 7Matt Cassel QBNew England Patriots

All-Pac-10

7 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2004 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2004 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
USC8–⁠013–⁠01
California7–⁠110–⁠29
Arizona State5–⁠39–⁠319
Oregon State5–⁠37–⁠5
UCLA4–⁠46–⁠6
Oregon4–⁠45–⁠6
Washington State3–⁠55–⁠6
Stanford2–⁠64–⁠7
Arizona2–⁠63–⁠8
Washington0–⁠81–⁠10

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