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1987 USC Trojans football team

1987 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 9 UCLA + 7 – 1 – 0 10 – 2 – 0
No. 18 USC + 7 – 1 – 0 8 – 4 – 0
Washington 4 – 3 – 1 7 – 4 – 1
No. 20 Arizona State 3 – 3 – 1 7 – 4 – 1
Oregon 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Stanford 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Arizona 2 – 3 – 3 4 – 4 – 3
California 2 – 3 – 2 3 – 6 – 2
Washington State 1 – 5 – 1 3 – 7 – 1
Oregon State 0 – 7 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1987 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their first year under head coach Larry Smith, the Trojans compiled an 8–4 record (7–1 against conference opponents), won the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) championship, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 321 to 229.[1]

The Trojans lost their inaugural game of Larry Smith's tenure to Michigan State in the first night game ever played at Spartan Stadium. USC secured a Rose Bowl berth by tying UCLA for the Pacific-10 championship and winning the head-to-head match. They faced Michigan State again and lost 20–17.

Quarterback Rodney Peete led the team in passing, completing 197 of 332 passes for 2,709 yards with 21 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Steven Webster led the team in rushing with 239 carries for 1,109 yards and six touchdowns. Erik Affholter led the team in receiving yards with 44 catches for 640 yards and four touchdowns.[2]

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 75:00 p.m.at No. 17 Michigan State*No. 19
ABCL 13–2777,922[3]
September 1912:30 p.m.No. 19 Boston College*
ABCW 23–1746,205
September 261:00 p.m.at California
W 31–1462,000
October 36:30 p.m.Oregon State
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 48–1447,979
October 101:00 p.m.at Oregon
L 27–3439,587
October 1712:30 p.m.at Washington
ABCW 37–2371,678
October 2412:30 p.m.at No. 10 Notre Dame*
CBSL 15–2659,075
October 311:30 p.m.Washington State
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 42–724,834
November 712:30 p.m.Stanforddagger
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)
ABCW 39–2458,922
November 141:30 p.m.Arizona
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 12–1051,428
November 2112:30 p.m.No. 5 UCLA
ABCW 17–1392,516
January 1, 19882:00 p.m.vs. No. 8 Michigan State*No. 16
NBCL 17–20103,847[4]
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Rankings

Further information: 1987 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Game summaries

Arizona

1 2 3 4 Total
Arizona 7 0 3 0 10
USC 3 3 0 6 12

[5]

UCLA

No. 5 UCLA at USC
1 234Total
No. 5 Bruins 7 330 13
• Trojans 0 0314 17
See also: 1987 UCLA Bruins football team and Victory Bell (UCLA–USC)

USC clinched berth in the Rose Bowl with the win.[6]

Roster

1987 USC Trojans football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
WR 42 Erik Affholter Jr
WR 88 Gene Arrington Jr
RB Aaron Emanuel So
RB 34 Ricky Ervins Fr
TE 86 Scott Galbraith So
TE 17 Paul Green Jr
OT John Guerrero  Jr
RB 39 Leroy Holt So
QB 4 Pat O'Hara Fr
C 63 Brad Leggett So
RB 40 Scott Lockwood Fr
QB 16 Rodney Peete Jr
G 75 Mark Tucker Fr
WR 83 Gary Wellman Fr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
S 7 Mark Carrier Fr
CB 2 Chris Hale Jr
DT 93 Pat Harlow Fr
DT 90 Dan Owens So
LB 35 Scott Ross Fr
DT 99 Tim Ryan So
LB 55 Junior Seau Fr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 11 Quin Rodriguez Fr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
  • John Matsko
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

References

  1. ^ "Southern California Yearly Results (1985-1989)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
  2. ^ "1987 Southern California Trojans Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  3. ^ Jack Ebling (September 8, 1987). "Celebrate: MSU whips Southern Cal, 27-13". Lansing State Journal. pp. 1C, 4C – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Mal Florence (January 2, 1988). "A Simple Snap and a Wave End Big Ten Jinx: Michigan State Beats USC and Pac-10, 20-17". Los Angeles Times. pp. 1, 7 (part III) – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Gainesville Sun. 1987 November 15. Retrieved 2019-January-06.
  6. ^ "Southern Cal takes roses from UCLA." Gainesville Sun. 1987 November 22.