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2005 USC

12–⁠1 (8–⁠0 Pac-10), coached by Pete Carroll, finished No. 2 in the AP poll. Officially 0–⁠0: the NCAA vacated 12 regular-season wins and the 2006 Rose Bowl loss.

From the season’s Wikipedia article: “A number of players from the team won national awards, with running back Reggie Bush becoming the school’s seventh Heisman Trophy winner before it was later vacated due to a violation of NCAA rules.”

Schedule and results

USC in 2005, game by game: won at Hawai’i 63–17; won vs. Arkansas 70–17; won at No. 24 Oregon 45–13; won at No. 14 Arizona State 38–28; won vs. Arizona 42–21; won at No. 9 Notre Dame 34–31; won at Washington 51–24; won vs. Washington State 55–13; won vs. Stanford 51–21; won at California 35–10; won vs. No. 16 Fresno State 50–42; won vs. No. 11 UCLA 66–19; lost vs. No. 2 Texas 38–41+53−3Won 63–17 at Hawai’i+46Hawai’iWon 70–17 vs. Arkansas+53ArkansasWon 45–13 at No. 24 Oregon+32No. 24 OregonWon 38–28 at No. 14 Arizona State+10No. 14 Arizona StateWon 42–21 vs. Arizona+21ArizonaWon 34–31 at No. 9 Notre Dame+3No. 9 Notre DameWon 51–24 at Washington+27WashingtonWon 55–13 vs. Washington State+42Washington StateWon 51–21 vs. Stanford+30StanfordWon 35–10 at California+25CaliforniaWon 50–42 vs. No. 16 Fresno State+8No. 16 Fresno StateWon 66–19 vs. No. 11 UCLA+47No. 11 UCLALost 38–41 vs. No. 2 Texas-3No. 2 Texas
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3atHawai’iW 63–⁠17vacated73%
Sep 17vsArkansasW 70–⁠17vacated85%
Sep 24at24OregonW 45–⁠13vacated72%
Oct 1at14Arizona StateW 38–⁠28vacated67%
Oct 8vsArizonaW 42–⁠21vacated93%
Oct 15at9Notre DameW 34–⁠31vacated67%
Oct 22atWashingtonW 51–⁠24vacated91%
Oct 29vsWashington StateW 55–⁠13vacated90%
Nov 5vsStanfordW 51–⁠21vacated91%
Nov 12atCaliforniaW 35–⁠10vacated72%
Nov 19vs16Fresno StateW 50–⁠42vacated78%
Dec 3vs11UCLAW 66–⁠19vacated85%
Jan 4Bowls & playoffvs2TexasRose BowlL 38–⁠4155%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Texas 41–⁠38 in the Rose Bowl; No. 2 in the final AP poll; first in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 2nd-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 2: 1
  3. Wk 3: 1
  4. Wk 4: 1
  5. Wk 5: 1
  6. Wk 6: 1
  7. Wk 7: 1
  8. Wk 8: 1
  9. Wk 9: 1
  10. Wk 10: 1
  11. Wk 11: 1
  12. Wk 12: 1
  13. Wk 13: 1
  14. Wk 14: 1
  15. Final: 2

Heisman voteMatt Leinart, third

Led the nationLenDale White: rushing touchdowns (24 TD), points (156 pts); Dwayne Jarrett: receiving touchdowns (16 TD); Reggie Bush: yards per carry (8.7)

Heisman TrophyReggie Bush, RB; also the Walter Camp and Doak Walker

Johnny Unitas Golden Arm AwardMatt Leinart, QB

3 consensus All-AmericansReggie Bush, RB; Dwayne Jarrett, WR; Taitusi Lutui, OL

Record
12–⁠1
Conference
8–⁠0 first in Pac-10
AP final
No. 2 peak No. 1
Points
638–⁠297
Coach
Pete Carroll
Elo
1869 +113 this season
SP+ rating
34.7 No. 2 of 118; offense No. 1, defense No. 21
SRS
27.9 No. 1 of 119 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 1
Offensive coordinator
Lane Kiffin
Captains
Darnell Bing, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart and Dallas Sartz
Offense
Multiple pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense1st of 119
  • Defense89th of 119
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2450%1.041st of 119
Defense0.1042%1.0489th of 119
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
Offense-0.2own 312% allowed
Defense-0.2own 293% 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 2005 class

Patrick Turner WR★★★★★No. 2
Mark Sanchez PRO★★★★★No. 3
Rey Maualuga ILB★★★★★No. 10
Luthur Brown ILB★★★★★No. 27
Brian Cushing OLB★★★★★No. 30
Averell Spicer SDE★★★★No. 41
Will Harris S★★★★No. 65
Kevin Thomas CB★★★★No. 66

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

The 2005 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks15.00.999
Receivers15.00.999
Defensive line24.00.962
Linebackers44.80.979
Defensive backs34.00.967
Whole class114.50.976

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 2006

The 2006 draft
Rd 1Reggie Bush RBNew Orleans Saints
Rd 1Matt Leinart QBArizona Cardinals
Rd 2Winston Justice OTPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 2Deuce Lutui OGArizona Cardinals
Rd 2LenDale White RBTennessee Titans
Rd 3Frostee Rucker DECincinnati Bengals
Rd 3Dominique Byrd TESt. Louis Rams
Rd 4Darnell Bing LBOakland Raiders
Rd 5David Kirtman RBSeattle Seahawks
Rd 6LaJuan Ramsey DTPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 7Fred Matua OGDetroit Lions

All-Pac-10

9 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2005 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2005 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
USC8–⁠012–⁠12
Oregon7–⁠110–⁠212
UCLA6–⁠210–⁠216
California4–⁠48–⁠425
Arizona State4–⁠47–⁠5
Stanford4–⁠45–⁠6
Oregon State3–⁠55–⁠6
Arizona2–⁠63–⁠8
Washington State1–⁠74–⁠7
Washington1–⁠72–⁠9

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