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2009 USC

9–⁠4 (5–⁠4 Pac-10), coached by Pete Carroll, finished No. 22 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

USC in 2009, game by game: won vs. San José State 56–3; won at No. 8 Ohio State 18–15; lost at Washington 13–16; won vs. Washington State 27–6; won at No. 24 California 30–3; won at No. 25 Notre Dame 34–27; won vs. Oregon State 42–36; lost at No. 10 Oregon 20–47; won at Arizona State 14–9; lost vs. No. 25 Stanford 21–55; won vs. UCLA 28–7; lost vs. Arizona 17–21; won vs. Boston College 24–13+53−34Won 56–3 vs. San José State+53San José StateWon 18–15 at No. 8 Ohio State+3No. 8 Ohio StateLost 13–16 at Washington-3WashingtonWon 27–6 vs. Washington State+21Washington StateWon 30–3 at No. 24 California+27No. 24 CaliforniaWon 34–27 at No. 25 Notre Dame+7No. 25 Notre DameWon 42–36 vs. Oregon State+6Oregon StateLost 20–47 at No. 10 Oregon-27No. 10 OregonWon 14–9 at Arizona State+5Arizona StateLost 21–55 vs. No. 25 Stanford-34No. 25 StanfordWon 28–7 vs. UCLA+21UCLALost 17–21 vs. Arizona-4ArizonaWon 24–13 vs. Boston College+11Boston College
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsSan José StateW 56–⁠388%
Sep 12at8Ohio StateW 18–⁠1551%
Sep 19atWashingtonL 13–⁠1687%
Sep 26vsWashington StateW 27–⁠693%
Oct 3at24CaliforniaW 30–⁠358%
Oct 17at25Notre DameW 34–⁠2767%
Oct 24vsOregon StateW 42–⁠3678%
Oct 31at10OregonL 20–⁠4751%
Nov 7atArizona StateW 14–⁠975%
Nov 14vs25StanfordL 21–⁠5580%
Nov 28vsUCLAW 28–⁠781%
Dec 5vsArizonaL 17–⁠2171%
Dec 26Bowls & playoffvsBoston CollegeEmerald BowlW 24–⁠1362%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Boston College 24–⁠13 in the Emerald Bowl; No. 22 in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 37th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 4
  2. Wk 2: 3
  3. Wk 3: 3
  4. Wk 4: 12
  5. Wk 5: 7
  6. Wk 6: 7
  7. Wk 7: 6
  8. Wk 8: 4
  9. Wk 9: 4
  10. Wk 10: 12
  11. Wk 11: 11
  12. Wk 12: 22
  13. Wk 13: 24
  14. Wk 14: 20
  15. Final: 22
Record
9–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠4 tied for 5th in Pac-10
AP final
No. 22 peak No. 3
Points
344–⁠258
Coach
Pete Carroll
Elo
1694 −40 this season
SP+ rating
16.6 No. 22 of 120; offense No. 22, defense No. 25, special teams No. 98
SRS
8.6 No. 25 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 2
Offensive coordinator
John Morton
Defensive coordinator
Rocky Seto
Captains
Jeff Byers, Taylor Mays, Josh Pinkard and Damian Williams
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense26th of 120
  • Defense58th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted25th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted63rd of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0941%0.9526th of 120
Defense0.0441%0.9458th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.08 off
0.05 def		42% off
42% def		—25th off
63rd def
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. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.2own 312% allowed
Defense-0.1own 303% 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.

Leaders

Passing yardsMatt Barkley QB2,735 yds
Passing touchdownsMatt Barkley QB15 TD
Rushing yardsJoe McKnight 1,014 yds
Rushing touchdownsAllen Bradford 8 TD
Receiving yardsDamian Williams WR1,010 yds
Receiving touchdownsDamian Williams WR6 TD
InterceptionsWill Harris S4 INT

Top recruits in the 2009 class

Matt Barkley PRO★★★★★No. 1
Devon Kennard WDE★★★★★No. 12
T.J. McDonald S★★★★★No. 32
Patrick Hall ATH★★★★No. 42
Kevin Graf OT★★★★No. 46
Jarvis Jones OLB★★★★No. 49
John Martinez OG★★★★No. 60
Byron Moore S★★★★No. 64

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

The 2009 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks15.00.999
Running backs13.00.846
Receivers14.00.909
Offensive line24.00.973
Defensive line15.00.993
Linebackers34.00.958
Defensive backs44.30.948
Athletes and specialists24.00.946
Whole class154.10.950

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 2010

The 2010 draft
Rd 2Taylor Mays SSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 2Charles Brown OTNew Orleans Saints
Rd 3Damian Williams WRTennessee Titans
Rd 3Kevin Thomas CBIndianapolis Colts
Rd 4Everson Griffen DEMinnesota Vikings
Rd 4Joe McKnight RBNew York Jets
Rd 6Anthony McCoy TESeattle Seahawks

Roster 107

The 2009 roster

107 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2009 line; 31 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Pac-10

4 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2009 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2009 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oregon8–⁠110–⁠311
Oregon State6–⁠38–⁠5
Arizona6–⁠38–⁠5
Stanford6–⁠38–⁠5
USC5–⁠49–⁠422
California5–⁠48–⁠5
Washington4–⁠55–⁠7
UCLA3–⁠67–⁠6
Arizona State2–⁠74–⁠8
Washington State0–⁠91–⁠11

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