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2002 USC Trojans football
National champion (Dunkel, Matthews)
Co-national champion (Sagarin)
Pac-10 co-champion
Orange Bowl champion
Orange Bowl, W 38–17 vs. Iowa
ConferencePacific-10 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 4
APNo. 4
2002 record11–2 (7–1 Pac-10)
Head coachPete Carroll (2nd season)
Offensive coordinatorNorm Chow (2nd season)
CaptainCarson Palmer
CaptainTroy Polamalu
Home stadiumLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum (c. 92,000, grass)
Seasons
← 2001
2003 →
2002 Pacific-10 football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
#10 Washington State §   7 1         10 3  
#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 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, 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 both Dunkel and Matthews, and co-champion by Sagarin, all NCAA-designated major selectors.[1]:115

Recruiting[]

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[]

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 25:00 p.m.Auburn*No. 20ABCW 24–1763,269[2]
September 1412:30 p.m.at No. 18 Colorado*No. 18ABCW 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

Game summaries[]

Auburn[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Auburn 7 7 0 3 17
USC 7 7 3 7 24

[3]

Colorado[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
USC 14 6 0 20 40
Colorado 0 0 3 0 3

[4]

Kansas State[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
USC 0 6 0 14 20
Kansas State 0 12 7 8 27

[5]

Oregon State[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Oregon State 0 0 0 0 0
USC 0 13 6 3 22

[6]

Washington State[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 OT Total
USC 7 0 7 13 0 27
Washington State 10 0 7 10 3 30

[7]

California[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
California 14 7 0 7 28
USC 3 14 7 6 30

[8]

Washington[]

#22/17 Washington at #19/20 USC
by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Washington 7 0 0 14 21
USC 7 10 17 7 41

[9]

Oregon[]

Stanford[]

Arizona State[]

UCLA[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
• USC 21 7 14 10 52
UCLA 0 7 0 14 21

[10]

Notre Dame[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Notre Dame 6 7 0 0 13
• USC 0 17 13 14 44

[11]

Orange Bowl[]

#3/5 Iowa Hawkeyes at #5/4 USC Trojans
by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Iowa 10 0 0 7 17
• USC 7 3 14 14 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.[13] 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.[14]

Roster[]

2002 USC Trojans football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
WR 31 Buchanon, WillWill Buchanon Fr
TE 88 Butler, DoyalDoyal Butler Jr
RB 39 Byrd, SunnySunny Byrd So
WR 19 Carlson, GreigGreig Carlson Fr
TE 86 Byrd, DominiqueDominique Byrd Fr
QB 10 Cassel, MattMatt Cassel So
WR 83 Colbert, KearyKeary Colbert Jr
RB 25 Fargas, JustinJustin Fargas Sr
TE 44 Guenther, GreggGregg Guenther Fr
TE 81 Holmes, AlexAlex Holmes Jr
C 62 Katnik, NormNorm Katnik Jr
WR 2 Kelly, KareemKareem Kelly Sr
RB 37 Kirtman, DavidDavid Kirtman Fr
QB 11 Leinart, MattMatt Leinart Fr
FB 21 MacKenzie, MalaefouMalaefou MacKenzie Sr
RB 4 McCullough, SultanSultan McCullough Sr
QB 3 Palmer, CarsonCarson Palmer Sr
T 77 Rogers, JacobJacob Rogers Jr
G 78 Vandermade, LennyLenny Vandermade So
RB 35 Webb, LeeLee Webb So
WR 1 Williams, MikeMike Williams Fr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
CB 8 Allmond, MarcellMarcell Allmond Jr
LB 59 Ashton, CollinCollin Ashton Fr
DT 84 Cody, ShaunShaun Cody Fr
LB 6 Grootegoed, MattMatt Grootegoed So
DB 27 Leach, JasonJason Leach So
DT 99 Patterson, MikeMike Patterson So
S 43 Polamalu, TroyTroy Polamalu Sr
DT 93 Riley, BernardBernard Riley Sr
LB 42 Sartz, DallasDallas Sartz Fr
DE 94 Udeze, KenechiKenechi Udeze So
CB 24 Wyatt, JustinJustin Wyatt Fr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 16 Killeen, RyanRyan Killeen Fr
P 14 Malone, TomTom 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

2002 team players in the NFL[]

References[]

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