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2007 USC

11–⁠2 (7–⁠2 Pac-10), coached by Pete Carroll, finished No. 3 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

USC in 2007, game by game: won vs. Idaho 38–10; won at No. 14 Nebraska 49–31; won vs. Washington State 47–14; won at Washington 27–24; lost vs. Stanford 23–24; won vs. Arizona 20–13; won at Notre Dame 38–0; lost at No. 5 Oregon 17–24; won vs. Oregon State 24–3; won at No. 24 California 24–17; won at No. 7 Arizona State 44–24; won vs. UCLA 24–7; won vs. No. 15 Illinois 49–17+38−7Won 38–10 vs. Idaho+28IdahoWon 49–31 at No. 14 Nebraska+18No. 14 NebraskaWon 47–14 vs. Washington State+33Washington StateWon 27–24 at Washington+3WashingtonLost 23–24 vs. Stanford-1StanfordWon 20–13 vs. Arizona+7ArizonaWon 38–0 at Notre Dame+38Notre DameLost 17–24 at No. 5 Oregon-7No. 5 OregonWon 24–3 vs. Oregon State+21Oregon StateWon 24–17 at No. 24 California+7No. 24 CaliforniaWon 44–24 at No. 7 Arizona State+20No. 7 Arizona StateWon 24–7 vs. UCLA+17UCLAWon 49–17 vs. No. 15 Illinois+32No. 15 Illinois
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsIdahoW 38–⁠1091%
Sep 15at14NebraskaW 49–⁠3157%
Sep 22vsWashington StateW 47–⁠1483%
Sep 29atWashingtonW 27–⁠2478%
Oct 6vsStanfordL 23–⁠2493%
Oct 13vsArizonaW 20–⁠1386%
Oct 20atNotre DameW 38–⁠076%
Oct 27at5OregonL 17–⁠2458%
Nov 3vsOregon StateW 24–⁠379%
Nov 10at24CaliforniaW 24–⁠1758%
Nov 22at7Arizona StateW 44–⁠2458%
Dec 1vsUCLAW 24–⁠784%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs15IllinoisRose BowlW 49–⁠1777%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Illinois 49–⁠17 in the Rose Bowl; No. 3 in the final AP poll; Pac-10 champions.

In program history: The 8th-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: 2
  7. Wk 7: 10
  8. Wk 8: 13
  9. Wk 9: 9
  10. Wk 10: 13
  11. Wk 11: 12
  12. Wk 12: 11
  13. Wk 13: 11
  14. Wk 14: 8
  15. Final: 3

Pac-10 champions7–⁠2 in the conference, shared with Arizona State

John Mackey AwardFred Davis, TE

Consensus All-AmericanSedrick Ellis, DT

Record
11–⁠2
Conference
7–⁠2 shared first in Pac-10
AP final
No. 3 peak No. 1
Points
424–⁠208
Coach
Pete Carroll
Elo
1824 +102 this season
SP+ rating
32.0 No. 1 of 120; offense No. 13, defense No. 1, special teams No. 38
SRS
19.3 No. 2 of 119 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 2
Offensive coordinator
Steve Sarkisian
Defensive coordinator
Nick Holt
Captains
Sam Baker, John David Booty, Lawrence Jackson and Keith Rivers
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense39th of 119
  • Defense4th of 119
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0645%0.8339th of 119
Defense-0.0634%0.924th 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
Offense0.0own 353% allowed
Defense0.0own 302% 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 2007 class

Joe McKnight RB★★★★★No. 1
Chris Galippo ILB★★★★★No. 6
Marc Tyler RB★★★★★No. 7
Everson Griffen SDE★★★★★No. 9
Ronald Johnson CB★★★★★No. 16
Aaron Corp PRO★★★★★No. 19
Marshall Jones S★★★★No. 37
Kristofer O’Dowd OG★★★★No. 41

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

The 2007 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks15.00.988
Running backs34.70.970
Offensive line24.00.978
Defensive line34.30.965
Linebackers15.00.998
Defensive backs24.50.987
Whole class124.50.977

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 2008

The 2008 draft
Rd 1Sedrick Ellis DTNew Orleans Saints
Rd 1Keith Rivers OLBCincinnati Bengals
Rd 1Sam Baker OTAtlanta Falcons
Rd 1Lawrence Jackson DESeattle Seahawks
Rd 2Chilo Rachal OGSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 2Fred Davis TEWashington Redskins
Rd 2Terrell Thomas CBNew York Giants
Rd 5John David Booty QBMinnesota Vikings
Rd 5Thomas Williams OLBJacksonville Jaguars
Rd 7Chauncey Washington RBJacksonville Jaguars

All-Pac-10

8 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2007 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2007 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
USC7–⁠211–⁠23
Arizona State7–⁠210–⁠316
Oregon State6–⁠39–⁠425
Oregon5–⁠49–⁠423
UCLA5–⁠46–⁠7
Arizona4–⁠55–⁠7
California3–⁠67–⁠6
Washington State3–⁠65–⁠7
Stanford3–⁠64–⁠8
Washington2–⁠74–⁠9

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