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2002 USC Trojans football team

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2002 USC Trojans football
National champion
(Dunkel, Matthews, Sagarin)
Pac-10 co-champion
Orange Bowl champion
Orange Bowl, W 38–17 vs. Iowa
ConferencePacific-10 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 4
APNo. 4
Record11–2 (7–1 Pac-10)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorNorm Chow (2nd season)
Captains
Home stadiumLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum (c. 92,000, grass)
Seasons
← 2001
2003 →
2002 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 10 Washington State $+   7 1     10 3  
No. 4 USC  %+   7 1     11 2  
Arizona State   5 3     8 6  
UCLA   4 4     8 5  
Oregon State   4 4     8 5  
California   4 4     7 5  
Washington   4 4     7 6  
Oregon   3 5     7 6  
Arizona   1 7     4 8  
Stanford   1 7     2 9  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2002 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California in the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season. USC ended the regular season ranked #5 in both the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll. Trojans quarterback Carson Palmer won the 2002 Heisman Trophy as the best college football player in America. During the bowl games, USC had a convincing 38–17 win over #3 Iowa in the Orange Bowl. USC became #4 in the final AP Poll and Coaches' Poll. Other notable players for the USC Trojans in 2002 include WR#2 Kareem Kelly, RB#21 Malaefou Mackenzie, QB#10 Matt Cassel, RB#4 Sultan McCullough, RB#34 Hershel Dennis (FR) RB#25 Justin Fargas, RB#39 Sunny Byrd, RB#34 Chad Pierson, S#43 Troy Polamalu, WR#44 Gregg Guenther, TE#86 Dominique Byrd, WR#83 Keary Colbert, WR#1 Mike Williams, WR#7 Sandy Fletcher, WR#82 Donald Hale, TE#88 Doyal Butler, and WR#87 Grant Mattos.

The team was named national champion by the Dunkel System, Matthews Grid Ratings, and Sagarin Ratings, all NCAA-designated major selectors,[1]: 115  although none are claimed by the university.

Recruiting

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USC was ranked highly (#12 by Scout, #13 by Rivals) for getting Darnell Bing, Manuel Wright, Winston Justice, Fred Matua, Tom Malone, Jason Mitchell, Hershel Dennis, Kyle Williams, Dominique Byrd, Dallas Sartz, Justin Wyatt, Chris McFoy, Mike Williams, LaJuan Ramsey, Oscar Lua and Brandon Hancock among others.

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 25:00 p.m.Auburn*No. 20ABCW 24–1763,269[2]
September 1412:30 p.m.at No. 18 Colorado*No. 17ABCW 40–353,119[2]
September 214:00 p.m.at No. 25 Kansas State*No. 11TBSL 20–2749,276[2]
September 283:30 p.m.No. 23 Oregon StateNo. 18
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
FSNW 22–056,417[2]
October 54:00 p.m.at No. 17 Washington StateNo. 18TBSL 27–30 OT36,861[2]
October 123:30 p.m.CaliforniaNo. 20
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
FSNW 30–2863,113[2]
October 1912:30 p.m.No. 22 WashingtonNo. 19
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
ABCW 41–2152,961[2]
October 2612:30 p.m.at No. 14 OregonNo. 15ABCW 44–3356,754[2]
November 95:00 p.m.at StanfordNo. 10ABCW 49–1744,950[2]
November 164:00 p.m.Arizona StatedaggerNo. 8
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
TBSW 34–1373,923[2]
November 2312:30 p.m.at No. 25 UCLANo. 7ABCW 52–2191,084[2]
November 305:00 p.m.No. 7 Notre Dame*No. 6
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)
ABCW 44–1391,432[2]
January 2, 20035:00 p.m.vs. No. 3 Iowa*No. 5ABCW 38–1775,971[2]
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Pacific time

Roster

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2002 USC Trojans football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
WR 31 Will Buchanon Fr
TE 88 Doyal Butler Jr
RB 39 Sunny Byrd So
WR 19 Greig Carlson Fr
TE 86 Dominique Byrd Fr
QB 10 Matt Cassel So
WR 83 Keary Colbert Jr
RB 25 Justin Fargas Sr
TE 44 Gregg Guenther Fr
TE 81 Alex Holmes Jr
C 62 Norm Katnik Jr
WR 2 Kareem Kelly Sr
RB 37 David Kirtman Fr
QB 11 Matt Leinart Fr
FB 21 Malaefou MacKenzie Sr
RB 4 Sultan McCullough Sr
QB 3 Carson Palmer Sr
OT 77 Jacob Rogers Jr
G 78 Lenny Vandermade So
RB 35 Lee Webb So
WR 1 Mike Williams Fr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
CB 8 Marcell Allmond Jr
LB 59 Collin Ashton Fr
DT 84 Shaun Cody Fr
LB 6 Matt Grootegoed So
DB 27 Jason Leach So
DT 99 Mike Patterson So
S 43 Troy Polamalu Sr
DT 93 Bernard Riley Sr
LB 42 Dallas Sartz Fr
DE 94 Kenechi Udeze So
CB 24 Justin Wyatt Fr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 16 Ryan Killeen Fr
P 14 Tom Malone Fr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2004-05-13

Game summaries

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Auburn

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Auburn at No. 20 USC
1 234Total
Tigers 7 703 17
No. 20 Trojans 7 737 24

at No. 18 Colorado

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No. 17 USC at No. 18 Colorado
1 234Total
No. 17 Trojans 14 6020 40
No. 18 Buffaloes 0 030 3

at No. 25 Kansas State

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No. 11 USC at No. 25 Kansas State
1 234Total
No. 11 Trojans 0 6014 20
No. 25 Wildcats 0 1278 27

[3]

Statistics USC KSU
First downs 16 19
Total yards 276 347
Rushing yards 90 188
Passing yards 186 159
Turnovers 1 5
Time of possession 29:37 30:23

No. 23 Oregon State

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No. 23 Oregon State at No. 18 USC
1 234Total
No. 23 Beavers 0 000 0
No. 18 Trojans 0 1363 22

at No. 17 Washington State

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No. 18 USC at No. 17 Washington State
1 234OTTotal
No. 18 Trojans 7 07130 27
No. 17 Cougars 10 07103 30

California

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California at No. 20 USC
1 234Total
Golden Bears 14 707 28
No. 20 Trojans 3 1476 30

No. 22 Washington

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#22/17 Washington at #19/20 USC
1 234Total
No. 22 Huskies 7 0014 21
No. 19 Trojans 7 10177 41

at No. 14 Oregon

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No. 15 USC at No. 14 Oregon
1 234Total
No. 15 Trojans 14 02010 44
No. 14 Ducks 13 6014 33

at Stanford

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No. 10 USC at Stanford
1 234Total
No. 10 Trojans 14 71414 49
Cardinal 7 307 17

Arizona State

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Arizona State at No. 8 USC
1 234Total
Sun Devils 3 730 13
No. 8 Trojans 10 10014 34

[4]

at No. 25 UCLA

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No. 7 USC at No. 25 UCLA
1 234Total
No. 7 Trojans 21 71410 52
No. 25 Bruins 0 7014 21
  • Date: November 23
  • Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena
  • Game start: 3:30 p.m. EST
  • Elapsed time: 3:26
  • Game attendance: 91,084
  • Television network: ABC
       

[5]

No. 7 Notre Dame

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1 234Total
No. 7 Fighting Irish 6 700 13
No. 6 Trojans 0 171314 44
  • Date: November 30
  • Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
  • Game start: 8:00 p.m. EST
  • Elapsed time: 3:26
  • Game attendance: 91,432
  • Game weather: Cloudy; 60 °F (16 °C); wind variable
  • Referee: Chuck McFerrin
  • Television network: ABC
       

[6] [7]

vs. No. 3 Iowa (Orange Bowl)

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#3/5 Iowa Hawkeyes at #5/4 USC Trojans
1 234Total
No. 3 Hawkeyes 10 007 17
No. 5 Trojans 7 31414 38

USC played third ranked Iowa in the Orange Bowl. The matchup featured the top two finalists for that season's Heisman Trophy; Trophy winner Carson Palmer and runner up Brad Banks.[9] Banks was the quarterback for the Hawkeyes. The Hawkeyes had only lost one game all year and it was to their rival Iowa State. Iowa opened the play up with a bang and set an Orange Bowl record when C.J. Jones returned the opening kickoff of the game 100 yards for a touchdown. USC responded with a touchdown run on from running back Justin Fargas. Iowa regained the lead with a field goal from Nate Kaeding. USC would kick a field goal in the second quarter to even the score 10-10 at the half. USC came out in the second half and separated themselves from Iowa scoring twice in the third quarter to take a 24-10 lead. The first score was a pass from Palmer to Mike Williams and the second was another run from Fargas. USC ended the third quarter with the ball and scored quickly in the fourth quarter giving them a 31-10 lead. The lead grew when Iowa continued to be unable to do anything with the ball and USC took advantage on a rushing touchdown from fan favorite Sunny Byrd to make the score 38-10. Iowa would score off a touchdown pass from Banks however it was too late. USC would end up winning 38-17.

The Trojans dominated time of possession in the game, having control of the ball for 38:06 seconds. This allowed for the Trojans defense to rest while keeping the Iowa defense out on the field and making them tired. USC's defense did not give up a touchdown to Iowa until the fourth quarter of the game and forced Banks to throw his first interception since October 19.[10]

Statistics IOWA USC
First downs 18 30
Total yards 323 550
Rushing yards 119 247
Passing yards 204 303
Turnovers 2 0
Time of possession 21:54 38:06

2002 team players in the NFL

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References

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  1. ^ 2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). Indianapolis: National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2018. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Cumulative Season Statistics". University of Southern California Department of Athletics. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
  3. ^ Plaschke, Bill (September 22, 2002). "Palmer's Legacy Hangs in Balance". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  4. ^ "Trojans Focus Is Unrivaled". The Los Angeles Times. November 17, 2002. Retrieved December 10, 2002.
  5. ^ [1]. Retrieved 2017-Feb-14.
  6. ^ "Palmer's Offense Boosts U.S.C. over Notre Dame". The New York Times. December 1, 2002. Retrieved December 10, 2002.
  7. ^ "Southern Cal's Palmer Captures the Heisman". The New York Times. December 15, 2002. Retrieved December 10, 2002.
  8. ^ "BCS GAME RESULTS - OrangeBowl.org The Official Site of The FedEx Orange Bowl Championship". www.orangebowl.org. Archived from the original on June 2, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  9. ^ "2002 Heisman Trophy Voting".
  10. ^ "Iowa vs. USC - Game Recap - January 2, 2003 - ESPN". Archived from the original on January 24, 2013.