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2013 USC

10–⁠4 (6–⁠3 Pac-12), coached by Lane Kiffin, then Ed Orgeron (interim), then Clay Helton (interim), finished No. 19 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

USC in 2013, game by game: won at Hawai’i 30–13; lost vs. Washington State 7–10; won vs. Boston College 35–7; won vs. Utah State 17–14; lost at Arizona State 41–62; won vs. Arizona 38–31; lost at Notre Dame 10–14; won vs. Utah 19–3; won at Oregon State 31–14; won at California 62–28; won vs. No. 5 Stanford 20–17; won at Colorado 47–29; lost vs. No. 22 UCLA 14–35; won vs. No. 21 Fresno State 45–20+34−21Won 30–13 at Hawai’i+17Hawai’iLost 7–10 vs. Washington State-3Washington StateWon 35–7 vs. Boston College+28Boston CollegeWon 17–14 vs. Utah State+3Utah StateLost 41–62 at Arizona State-21Arizona StateWon 38–31 vs. Arizona+7ArizonaLost 10–14 at Notre Dame-4Notre DameWon 19–3 vs. Utah+16UtahWon 31–14 at Oregon State+17Oregon StateWon 62–28 at California+34CaliforniaWon 20–17 vs. No. 5 Stanford+3No. 5 StanfordWon 47–29 at Colorado+18ColoradoLost 14–35 vs. No. 22 UCLA-21No. 22 UCLAWon 45–20 vs. No. 21 Fresno State+25No. 21 Fresno State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 29atHawai’iW 30–⁠1366%
Sep 7vsWashington StateL 7–⁠1081%
Sep 14vsBoston CollegeW 35–⁠772%
Sep 21vsUtah StateW 17–⁠1452%
Sep 28atArizona StateL 41–⁠6244%
Oct 10vsArizonaW 38–⁠3159%
Oct 19atNotre DameL 10–⁠1431%
Oct 26vsUtahW 19–⁠364%
Nov 1atOregon StateW 31–⁠1439%
Nov 9atCaliforniaW 62–⁠2879%
Nov 16vs5StanfordW 20–⁠1739%
Nov 23atColoradoW 47–⁠2979%
Nov 30vs22UCLAL 14–⁠3562%
Dec 21Bowls & playoffvs21Fresno StateLas Vegas BowlW 45–⁠2048%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Fresno State 45–⁠20 in the Las Vegas Bowl; No. 19 in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Pac-12.

In program history: The 49th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 24
  2. Wk 2: 25
  3. Wk 13: 23
  4. Wk 14: 23
  5. Final: 19
Record
10–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠3 tied for 4th in Pac-12
AP final
No. 19 peak No. 19
Points
416–⁠297
Coach
Lane Kiffin, then Ed Orgeron (interim), then Clay Helton (interim)
Elo
1665 +97 this season
SP+ rating
22.5 No. 10 of 125; offense No. 27, defense No. 6, special teams No. 108
SRS
13.8 No. 20 of 125 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 13
Offensive coordinator
Clay Helton
Defensive coordinator
Clancy Pendergast
Captains
Devon Kennard, Marqise Lee, Marcus Martin and Hayes Pullard
Offense
West Coast
Defense
5–⁠2

How good, play by play

  • Offense51st of 125
  • Defense9th of 125
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted47th of 125
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted10th of 125
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1041%1.0051st of 125
Defense0.0037%1.009th of 125
Opponent-adjusted0.10 off
0.02 def		43% off
37% def		—47th off
10th 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-0.4own 303% allowed
Defense-0.4own 284% 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 yardsCody Kessler QB2,968 yds
Passing touchdownsCody Kessler QB20 TD
Rushing yardsJavorius Allen 785 yds
Rushing touchdownsJavorius Allen 14 TD
Receiving yardsNelson Agholor WR918 yds
Receiving touchdownsNelson Agholor WR6 TD
InterceptionsDion Bailey LB5 INT

Top recruits in the 2013 class

Su’a Cravens S★★★★★No. 5
Kenny Bigelow Jr. DT★★★★★No. 9
Max Browne PRO★★★★★No. 11
Leon McQuay III S★★★★★No. 32
Ty Isaac APB★★★★No. 49
Chris Hawkins CB★★★★No. 50
Steven Mitchell Jr. WR★★★★No. 67
Justin Davis RB★★★★No. 95

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

The 2013 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks15.00.994
Running backs24.00.965
Receivers14.00.971
Offensive line24.00.927
Defensive line15.00.995
Linebackers24.00.939
Defensive backs34.70.985
Whole class124.30.965

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 2014

The 2014 draft
Rd 2Marqise Lee WRJacksonville Jaguars
Rd 3Marcus Martin CSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 5Devon Kennard OLBNew York Giants

Roster 110

The 2013 roster

110 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2013 line; 31 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Pac-12

3 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2013 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2013 Pac-12 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Arizona State8–⁠110–⁠421
Oregon7–⁠211–⁠29
Stanford7–⁠211–⁠311
UCLA6–⁠310–⁠316
USC6–⁠310–⁠419
Washington5–⁠49–⁠425
Arizona4–⁠58–⁠5
Oregon State4–⁠57–⁠6
Washington State4–⁠56–⁠7
Utah2–⁠75–⁠7
Colorado1–⁠84–⁠8
California0–⁠91–⁠11

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