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2012 USC

7–⁠6 (5–⁠4 Pac-12), coached by Lane Kiffin.

Schedule and results

USC in 2012, game by game: won vs. Hawai’i 49–10; won vs. Syracuse 42–29; lost at No. 21 Stanford 14–21; won vs. California 27–9; won at Utah 38–28; won at Washington 24–14; won vs. Colorado 50–6; lost at Arizona 36–39; lost vs. No. 2 Oregon 51–62; won vs. Arizona State 38–17; lost at No. 17 UCLA 28–38; lost vs. No. 1 Notre Dame 13–22; lost vs. Georgia Tech 7–21+44−14Won 49–10 vs. Hawai’i+39Hawai’iWon 42–29 vs. Syracuse+13SyracuseLost 14–21 at No. 21 Stanford-7No. 21 StanfordWon 27–9 vs. California+18CaliforniaWon 38–28 at Utah+10UtahWon 24–14 at Washington+10WashingtonWon 50–6 vs. Colorado+44ColoradoLost 36–39 at Arizona-3ArizonaLost 51–62 vs. No. 2 Oregon-11No. 2 OregonWon 38–17 vs. Arizona State+21Arizona StateLost 28–38 at No. 17 UCLA-10No. 17 UCLALost 13–22 vs. No. 1 Notre Dame-9No. 1 Notre DameLost 7–21 vs. Georgia Tech-14Georgia Tech
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsHawai’iW 49–⁠1078%
Sep 8vsSyracuseW 42–⁠2977%
Sep 15at21StanfordL 14–⁠2139%
Sep 22vsCaliforniaW 27–⁠977%
Oct 4atUtahW 38–⁠2861%
Oct 13atWashingtonW 24–⁠1461%
Oct 20vsColoradoW 50–⁠692%
Oct 27atArizonaL 36–⁠3964%
Nov 3vs2OregonL 51–⁠6242%
Nov 10vsArizona StateW 38–⁠1773%
Nov 17at17UCLAL 28–⁠3855%
Nov 24vs1Notre DameL 13–⁠2240%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvsGeorgia TechSun BowlL 7–⁠2163%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Georgia Tech 21–⁠7 in the Sun Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Pac-12.

In program history: The 71st-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: 2
  3. Wk 3: 2
  4. Wk 4: 13
  5. Wk 5: 13
  6. Wk 6: 13
  7. Wk 7: 11
  8. Wk 8: 11
  9. Wk 9: 10
  10. Wk 10: 18
  11. Wk 11: 21
  12. Wk 12: 21

Heisman voteMarqise Lee, fourth

Led the nationMarqise Lee: receptions (118 catches)

Biletnikoff AwardMarqise Lee, WR

Wuerffel TrophyMatt Barkley, QB

Consensus All-AmericanMarqise Lee, WR

Record
7–⁠6
Conference
5–⁠4 tied for 5th in Pac-12
AP final
Unranked peak No. 1
Points
417–⁠316
Coach
Lane Kiffin
Elo
1602 −40 this season
SP+ rating
21.9 No. 12 of 124; offense No. 14, defense No. 22, special teams No. 78
SRS
11.7 No. 21 of 124 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 8
Offensive coordinator
Kennedy Polamalu
Defensive coordinator
Ed Orgeron
Captains
Matt Barkley, Khaled Holmes, T.J. McDonald and Nickell Robey
Offense
West Coast
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense76th of 124
  • Defense52nd of 124
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted74th of 124
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted45th of 124
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0441%1.0076th of 124
Defense0.0544%0.8452nd of 124
Opponent-adjusted0.05 off
0.05 def		42% off
43% def		—74th off
45th 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-0.1own 333% allowed
Defense-0.3own 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 QB3,273 yds
Passing touchdownsMatt Barkley QB36 TD
Rushing yardsSilas Redd 905 yds
Rushing touchdownsSilas Redd 9 TD
Receiving yardsMarqise Lee WR1,721 yds
Receiving touchdownsMarqise Lee WR14 TD
InterceptionsDion Bailey LB4 INT

Top recruits in the 2012 class

Nelson Agholor ATH★★★★★No. 30
Leonard Williams SDE★★★★No. 51
Jabari Ruffin OLB★★★★No. 60
Zach Banner OT★★★★No. 62
Max Tuerk OT★★★★No. 61
Jordan Simmons OG★★★★No. 70
Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick TE★★★★No. 103
Darreus Rogers WR★★★★No. 104

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

The 2012 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs13.00.880
Receivers24.00.953
Offensive line43.80.934
Defensive line14.00.976
Linebackers24.00.958
Defensive backs43.50.875
Athletes and specialists15.00.985
Whole class153.80.927

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 2013

The 2013 draft
Rd 2Robert Woods WRBuffalo Bills
Rd 3T.J. McDonald SSt. Louis Rams
Rd 4Matt Barkley QBPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 4Khaled Holmes CIndianapolis Colts

Roster 118

The 2012 roster

118 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2012 line; 34 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Pac-12

6 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 2012 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2012 Pac-12 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oregon8–⁠112–⁠12
Stanford8–⁠112–⁠27
Oregon State6–⁠39–⁠420
UCLA6–⁠39–⁠5
Arizona State5–⁠48–⁠5
USC5–⁠47–⁠6
Washington5–⁠47–⁠6
Arizona4–⁠58–⁠5
Utah3–⁠65–⁠7
California2–⁠73–⁠9
Washington State1–⁠83–⁠9
Colorado1–⁠81–⁠11

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