CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2010 USC

8–⁠5 (5–⁠4 Pac-10), coached by Lane Kiffin.

Schedule and results

USC in 2010, game by game: won at Hawai’i 49–36; won vs. Virginia 17–14; won at Minnesota 32–21; won at Washington State 50–16; lost vs. Washington 31–32; lost at No. 16 Stanford 35–37; won vs. California 48–14; lost vs. No. 1 Oregon 32–53; won vs. Arizona State 34–33; won at No. 18 Arizona 24–21; lost at Oregon State 7–36; lost vs. Notre Dame 16–20; won at UCLA 28–14+34−29Won 49–36 at Hawai’i+13Hawai’iWon 17–14 vs. Virginia+3VirginiaWon 32–21 at Minnesota+11MinnesotaWon 50–16 at Washington State+34Washington StateLost 31–32 vs. Washington-1WashingtonLost 35–37 at No. 16 Stanford-2No. 16 StanfordWon 48–14 vs. California+34CaliforniaLost 32–53 vs. No. 1 Oregon-21No. 1 OregonWon 34–33 vs. Arizona State+1Arizona StateWon 24–21 at No. 18 Arizona+3No. 18 ArizonaLost 7–36 at Oregon State-29Oregon StateLost 16–20 vs. Notre Dame-4Notre DameWon 28–14 at UCLA+14UCLA
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2atHawai’iW 49–⁠3665%
Sep 11vsVirginiaW 17–⁠1479%
Sep 18atMinnesotaW 32–⁠2165%
Sep 25atWashington StateW 50–⁠1685%
Oct 2vsWashingtonL 31–⁠3283%
Oct 9at16StanfordL 35–⁠3746%
Oct 16vsCaliforniaW 48–⁠1469%
Oct 30vs1OregonL 32–⁠5348%
Nov 6vsArizona StateW 34–⁠3378%
Nov 13at18ArizonaW 24–⁠2146%
Nov 20atOregon StateL 7–⁠3662%
Nov 27vsNotre DameL 16–⁠2061%
Dec 4atUCLAW 28–⁠1463%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat UCLA 28–⁠14; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 66th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 14
  2. Wk 2: 16
  3. Wk 3: 18
  4. Wk 4: 20
  5. Wk 5: 18
  6. Wk 9: 24
  7. Wk 12: 20
Record
8–⁠5
Conference
5–⁠4 tied for 3rd in Pac-10
AP final
Unranked peak No. 14
Points
403–⁠347
Coach
Lane Kiffin
Elo
1620 −9 this season
SP+ rating
15.2 No. 23 of 120; offense No. 15, defense No. 45, special teams No. 88
SRS
11.6 No. 21 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 3
Offensive coordinator
Kennedy Pola
Defensive coordinator
Ed Orgeron
Captains
Matt Barkley, Stanley Havili, Michael Morgan, Malcolm Smith and Shareece Wright
Offense
West Coast
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense26th of 120
  • Defense104th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted27th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted104th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0945%0.9426th of 120
Defense0.1044%0.98104th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.08 off
0.08 def		45% off
43% def		—27th off
104th 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
Offense0.0own 323% allowed
Defense-0.2own 273% 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 QB2,791 yds
Passing touchdownsMatt Barkley QB26 TD
Rushing yardsMarc Tyler 913 yds
Rushing touchdownsMarc Tyler 9 TD
Receiving yardsRobert Woods WR792 yds
Receiving touchdownsRonald Johnson WR8 TD
InterceptionsT.J. McDonald S3 INT

Top recruits in the 2010 class

Robert Woods ATH★★★★★No. 3
Kyle Prater WR★★★★★No. 11
Xavier Grimble TE★★★★★No. 20
George Uko DT★★★★★No. 24
Dillon Baxter APB★★★★★No. 30
Markeith Ambles WR★★★★No. 41
D.J. Morgan APB★★★★No. 51
Jesse Scroggins PRO★★★★No. 77

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

The 2010 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.965
Running backs34.30.950
Receivers54.40.966
Offensive line14.00.914
Defensive line15.00.986
Defensive backs34.00.941
Athletes and specialists34.30.936
Whole class174.30.951

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 2011

The 2011 draft
Rd 1Tyron Smith OTDallas Cowboys
Rd 3Jurrell Casey DTTennessee Titans
Rd 3Shareece Wright CBSan Diego Chargers
Rd 4Jordan Cameron TECleveland Browns
Rd 6Ronald Johnson WRSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 6Allen Bradford RBTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 7Stanley Havili FBPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 7David Ausberry WROakland Raiders
Rd 7Malcolm Smith OLBSeattle Seahawks

Roster 107

The 2010 roster

107 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2010 line; 31 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Pac-10

3 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2010 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2010 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oregon9–⁠012–⁠13
Stanford8–⁠112–⁠14
USC5–⁠48–⁠5
Washington5–⁠47–⁠6
Arizona4–⁠57–⁠6
Arizona State4–⁠56–⁠6
Oregon State4–⁠55–⁠7
California3–⁠65–⁠7
UCLA2–⁠74–⁠8
Washington State1–⁠82–⁠10

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