2009 USC Trojans football team

2009 USC Trojans football
Emerald Bowl Champions
Conference Pac-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches #20
AP #22
2009 record 9–4 (5–4 Pac-10)
Head coach Pete Carroll
Offensive coordinator John Morton
Offensive scheme Multiple
Defensive coordinator Rocky Seto
Base defense 4-3
Home stadium Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Capacity: 93,607, grass)
2009 Pacific-10 football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
#11 Oregon $   8 – 1         10 – 3  
Arizona   6 – 3         8 – 5  
Oregon State   6 – 3         8 – 5  
Stanford   6 – 3         8 – 5  
#22 USC   5 – 4         9 – 4  
California   5 – 4         8 – 5  
Washington   4 – 5         5 – 7  
UCLA   3 – 6         7 – 6  
Arizona State   2 – 7         4 – 8  
Washington State   0 – 9         1 – 11  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2009 USC Trojans football team (variously "Trojans" or "USC") represented the University of Southern California during the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team played their home games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and was coached by Pete Carroll, who was in his ninth and final season at USC. They finished the season 9–4, 5–4 in Pac-10 play and won the Emerald Bowl over Boston College 24–13.

Before the season

Pre-season outlook

Recruiting class

The Trojans signed a top-5 recruiting class.[1][2]

Schedule

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance
September 5 12:30 PM San Jose State* #4 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA FSN W 56–3   84,325
September 12 5:00 PM[3] at #8 Ohio State* #3 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH ESPN W 18–15   106,033
September 19 12:30 PM at Washington #3 Husky Stadium • Seattle, WA ABC L 16–13   61,889
September 26 7:15 PM Washington State #12 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA FSN W 27–6   75,216
October 3 5:00 PM at #24 California #7 California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA ABC W 30–3   71,799
October 17 12:30 PM at #25 Notre Dame* #6 Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN (Rivalry) NBC W 34–27   80,795
October 24 5:00 PM Oregon State #7 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA ABC W 42–36   89,718
October 31 5:00 PM at #10 Oregon #5 Autzen Stadium • Eugene, OR ABC/ESPN2 L 47-20   59,592
November 7 5:00 PM at Arizona State #12 Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ ABC W 14–9   55,282
November 14 12:00 PM #25 Stanforddagger #9 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA FSN L 55-21   90,071
November 28 7:00 PM UCLA #20 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA (Battle for the Victory Bell) FSN W 28–7   85,713
December 5 12:30 PM Arizona #18 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA ABC L 21-17   83,753
December 26 5:00 PM vs. Boston College* #24 AT&T Park • San Francisco, CA (Emerald Bowl) ESPN W 24–13   40,121
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Pacific Time.

Roster

Name Yr. Ht./Wt.

Quarterback

Running Back

Wide Receiver

Tight End

Offensive Line

Defensive Line

Linebacker

Defensive Back

Kickers/Punters

Game notes

San Jose State

1 2 3 4 Total
Spartans 3 0 0 0 3
#4 Trojans 0 28 14 14 56

The #4 Trojans opened their season against the lightly regarded San Jose Spartans. Though the Spartans outscored USC 3-0 in the 1st quarter of play, the Trojans quickly recovered, scoring 56 consecutive points for a 53-point victory.

Ohio State

1 2 3 4 Total
#3 Trojans 7 3 0 8 18
#8 Buckeyes 7 3 5 0 15

A crowd of 106,033, the largest in Ohio Stadium history, were in attendance as the #3 USC Trojans came to Columbus, Ohio to face the #8 Ohio State Buckeyes. Both teams showed great defense with the game close at the half tied 10–10. After a safety and a field goal, Ohio State led 15–10 with less than five minutes to go. However, Matt Barkley and the Trojans drove down the field to score a touchdown and a two-point conversion to end the game. The final score was USC 18, Ohio State 15, with the Buckeyes losing to the Trojans for the second straight year.

Freshman quarterback Matt Barkley injured his right shoulder.

1st Quarter

2nd Quarter

3rd Quarter

4th Quarter

Washington

1 2 3 4 Total
#3 Trojans 10 0 0 3 13
Huskies 7 3 0 6 16

Quarterback Aaron Corp took over for Matt Barkley.

Ecstatic Huskies fans storm the field in celebration after defeating the No. 3 Trojans in an upset.

The Huskies became the latest Pac-10 team to upset the Trojans, only two Pacific-10 Conference teams have failed to beat USC during the Pete Carroll era: Arizona and Arizona State.[4] Other Pac-10 teams have defeated USC at least once during this period; Oregon State did it twice, 2006 and again in 2008, as did Stanford in 2001 and 2007 (and would do so again in 2009).

1st Quarter

2nd Quarter

3rd Quarter

4th Quarter

Washington State

1 2 3 4 Total
Cougars 0 0 0 6 6
#12 Trojans 20 0 0 7 27

California

1 2 3 4 Total
#7 Trojans 10 10 3 7 30
#24 Golden Bears 0 0 0 3 3
Damian Williams (no. 18) after returning a 66-yard punt for a touchdown.

The Trojans dominated the Bears, scoring the most points since their season opener against San Jose State.

Notre Dame

#6 USC at #25 Notre Dame
1 234Total
• USC 7 6147 34
Notre Dame 7 0713 27

The Trojans marched into South Bend ranked #6 in the nation after a 30-3 beating of #24 Cal. The Fighting Irish lived up to their name, staying with highly ranked USC through two quarters, only trailing by 6 points, 13-7. In the third quarter, the Trojans started to run away with the game, outscoring Notre Dame 14-7. Going into the fourth quarter, USC had a commanding lead, 27-14. USC scored another touchdown early in the fourth quarter to go ahead, 34-14. It looked like Notre Dame would get beat badly by their rivals once again. But, it wasn't to be for the Fighting Irish. Instead of losing by double digits to the Trojans again, they rallied and found themselves down 34-27 with 1 second left at the USC 1-yard-line. Jimmy Clauson fired an incomplete pass and USC extended their winning streak over Notre Dame to 8. The freshman Matt Barkley attempted 29 passes, completing 19, on his way to 380 yards and 2 touchdowns. Clauson went 24-43 with a mere 260 yards and 2 touchdowns. Anthony McCoy led the Trojans (5-1) in receiving yards with 5 catches for 153 yards. Notre Dame's (4-2) leading receiver was Golden Tate with 8 catches for 117 yards.

Oregon State

1 2 3 4 Total
Beavers 6 3 14 13 36
#7 Trojans 7 14 14 7 42

Last year the #1 Trojans went to Corvallis and were upset 27–21. It was the second straight trip to Corvallis for USC that resulted in defeat. Jacquizz Rodgers ran for 187 yards on 37 carries and two touchdowns in the win last year. Oregon State was the second Pac-10 Conference school to have beaten USC twice during the Pete Carroll era in 2006 and 2008 (Stanford was first with victories in 2001 and 2007 (and would do so again in 2009).

The last time Oregon State won against USC in the Coliseum was when Dwight D. Eisenhower was the President of the United States.

USC scored first when quarterback Matt Barkley passed to Anthony McCoy for an 8-yard touchdown. The Beavers got on the scoreboard with two field goal kicks from Justin Kahut (both 48 yards). In the second quarter, Matt Barkley completed a pass to Ronald Johnson for a 22 yards touchdown. On second and goal, Barkley rushed for a 1-yard touchdown for the Trojans. Kahut kicked a 33-yard field goal for Oregon State just before the half.

In the third quarter, Sean Canfield passed to Jacquizz Rodgers for a 6-yard touchdown for the Beavers on a 3:06-drive that took 8 plays for 61 yards. The Trojans countered with a 7-play drive for 70 yards with Allen Bradford rushing for 2 yards for a touchdown. Canfield narrowed Oregon State's gap by completing a 15-yard scoring pass to Damola Adeniji. USC answered with Allen Bradford scoring a 43-yard touchdown.

Oregon State became the first team to score more than 10 points on the Trojans in their last ten home games.

Oregon

1 2 3 4 Total
#5 Trojans 3 14 3 0 20
#10 Ducks 10 14 17 6 47

Prior to the game, USC had lost three in a row in the state of Oregon, but had won four of the last five against the Ducks.[5] The Trojans lost the game 47–20, which was the worst defeat suffered by USC since 1997.[6]

1st Quarter

2nd Quarter

3rd Quarter

4th Quarter

Arizona State

1 2 3 4 Total
#12 Trojans 0 7 7 0 14
Sun Devils 0 3 6 0 9

Stanford

1 2 3 4 Total
#25 Cardinal 14 7 7 27 55
#11 Trojans 0 7 14 0 21

Stanford's 55–21 victory was the highest number of points any team had scored against a USC Trojans football team in the 121-year history of Trojan football.[7] The 34-point loss was the worst defeat USC had suffered since 1966.[8] This was Stanford's third victory against USC in their last five games against each other at the Coliseum (Stanford winning 2001, 2007, and 2009, with USC winning in 2003 and 2005), with USC having defeated every non-Stanford opponent in the Coliseum since 2001, going 47–2 since Stanford's September 29, 2001 victory in the Coliseum.[9][10] It was the first defeat in a November game for the Trojans under Coach Pete Carroll's nine-season tenure.[8] For the first time in since Carroll's first season, USC lost more than two games in one season.[8] For the second time in three weekends, Carroll suffered the worst loss of his USC tenure (the other being the Oregon game).[8] This was the largest margin of victory for Stanford in a Stanford-USC game since the two teams' rivalry began in 1918.[11] Harbaugh became the only coach in college football with a winning record against Carroll, going 2–1 in the three times the two coaches have faced each other.[7] Stanford would eclipse the all-time point spread record it set from the 2007 Stanford vs. Southern California football game, as USC was a 41-point favorite.[12][13]

UCLA

1 2 3 4 Total
Bruins 0 0 0 7 7
#24 Trojans 7 0 7 14 28

UCLA–USC rivalry game for the Victory Bell, which the Trojans retained by defeating the Bruins 28–7. Both teams wore home jerseys, in a tradition that was restarted the previous year, with the Bruins wearing their 1966 throwback powder blue jerseys. The final two minutes of the game proved to be interesting. With the Trojans leading 21–7 after a touchdown with 1:30 in the fourth quarter, and having possession of the ball after UCLA turned it over on downs, Carroll instructed his quarterback to take a knee. Rick Neuheisel then called a timeout to stop the clock. On second down, the Trojans immediately connected on a 48-yard pass play for their fourth touchdown of the game.[14] USC beat UCLA for the 10th time in 11 years, but the late touchdown pass stirred passions in the crosstown rivalry and lead to a benches-clearing incident.

Arizona

1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 7 7 0 7 21
#20 Trojans 0 7 7 3 17

Arizona's defeat of the Trojans gave the Wildcats their first win over USC during the Pete Carroll era. Arizona was also the first non-Stanford team in the Pac-10 to defeat the Trojans in the Coliseum under Carroll (Stanford had defeated Carroll's teams in the Coliseum in 2001, 2007, and 2009). Arizona State is the only Pac-10 team to never beat the Trojans during Carroll's tenure.

Boston College

1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 0 13 0 0 13
Trojans 7 7 3 7 24
Main article: 2009 Emerald Bowl

This marked the first time USC played in the Emerald Bowl. On December 26, 2009 at AT&T Park in San Francisco California, attended by 40,121; the Trojans squared off against the Boston College Eagles from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

This also marked the first time that the Trojans had played in a non-BCS bowl game in seven years. Boston College was making its 11th straight bowl appearance. The Eagles became the first team to play in the Emerald Bowl twice, beating Colorado State 35–21 in the 2003 San Francisco Bowl (the former name of the Emerald Bowl). This was the third meeting between the two schools and the first in a bowl game. USC had won both games in the series, a 23–17 victory in Los Angeles in 1987 and a 34–7 win in Chestnut Hill in 1988.

USC freshman quarterback Matt Barkley threw touchdown passes to Stanley Havili on the Trojans first two possessions and added a touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Barkley finished the game with a total of 350 yards passing. Of his 350 yards, Damian Williams accounted for 189 of them on 12 catches. Williams was named the game's MVP for his efforts. Boston College was led by tailback Montel Harris, who rushed for 102 yards and also added a touchdown run.

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Final 
AP 4 3 3 (1) 12 7 7 6 4 4 12 11 22 24 20 RV 22 
Coaches' 4 (1) 3 (1) 3 (3) 10 7 7 5 4 4 13 10 21 22 19 RV 20 
Harris Not released 7 7 6 4 4 12 10 20 22 19 RV Not released 
BCS Not released 7 5 12 9 19 20 18 24 Not released

After the season

On January 10, 2010, coach Carroll told his players that he will resign his position with the Trojans and become the new head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.[15] Lane Kiffin, formerly with the Trojans, Oakland Raiders, and Tennessee Volunteers, was hired as the new head coach.

References

  1. ↑ "Class of 2009 Team Football Recruiting Rankings". ESPN. February 2009. Retrieved February 5, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Rivals.com 2009 Top 25 class rankings". Rivals. February 5, 2009. Retrieved February 5, 2009.
  3. ↑ "FB: Ohio State and USC to Battle in Prime Time". Ohio State Intercollegiate Athletics. June 2, 2009. Retrieved June 2, 2009.
  4. ↑ Harvey, Steve (September 24, 2009). "College Football - Bottom 10". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
  5. ↑ Klein, Gary (October 30, 2009). "It's a Big Game for Trojans -- and Pete Carroll". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
  6. ↑ "Tenth-ranked Ducks hand Trojans worst loss since '97". ESPN. October 31, 2009. Archived from the original on November 4, 2009. Retrieved October 31, 2009.
  7. 1 2 "College Football Today". The New York Times. November 14, 2009. Retrieved November 15, 2009.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Gerhart fuels Stanford's throttling of No. 9 USC". ESPN. November 14, 2009. Archived from the original on November 18, 2009. Retrieved November 15, 2009.
  9. ↑ Wilner, Jon (November 15, 2009). "Stanford A.D.: Harbaugh's New Contract Should be Completed Soon". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved November 15, 2009.
  10. ↑ "Stanford Stuns U.S.C. Again, This Time With a Rout". The New York Times. November 14, 2009. Archived from the original on November 18, 2009. Retrieved November 15, 2009.
  11. ↑ Rush, Nathan (November 14, 2009). "Smell the Roses". Athlon Sports. Archived from the original on November 17, 2009. Retrieved November 15, 2009.
  12. ↑ "Stanford-Southern Cal Preview". ESPN. November 14, 2009. Retrieved November 14, 2009.
  13. ↑ Klein, Gary (November 14, 2009). "USC's November Reign Ends With Shocking 55-21 Loss to Stanford". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 14, 2009.
  14. ↑ Klein, Gary (November 28, 2009). "Trojans' 28–7 Win Over Bruins Leaves a City Inflamed". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 28, 2009.
  15. ↑ Loumena, Dan (January 10, 2010). "Pete Carroll to Take Seattle Seahawks Coaching Position". Los Angeles Times.

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