1981 USC Trojans football
Fiesta Bowl, L 10–26 vs. Penn State
ConferencePacific-10 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 13
APNo. 14
Record9–3 (5–2 Pac-10)
Head coach
Defensive coordinatorR. C. Slocum (1st season)
Captains
Home stadiumLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
1981 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 10 Washington $ 6 –2 –010 –2 –0
No. 16 Arizona State 5 –2 –09 –2 –0
No. 14 USC 5 –2 –09 –3 –0
Washington State 5 –2 –18 –3 –1
UCLA 5 –2 –17 –4 –1
Arizona 4 –4 –06 –5 –0
Stanford 4 –4 –04 –7 –0
California 2 –6 –02 –9 –0
Oregon 1 –6 –02 –9 –0
Oregon State 0 –7 –01 –10 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1981 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their sixth year under head coach John Robinson, the Trojans compiled a 9–3 record (5–2 against conference opponents), finished in a tie for second place in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10), and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 284 to 170.[1]

Quarterback John Mazur led the team in passing, completing 93 of 194 passes for 1,128 yards with seven touchdowns and five interceptions. Marcus Allen led the team in rushing with 433 carries for 2,427 yards and 22 touchdowns. Jeff Simmons led the team in receiving yards with 28 catches for 543 yards and one touchdown.[2] Allen became the first player in NCAA history to rush for over 2,000 yards in one season. He also gained a total of 2,683 offensive yards, led the nation in scoring, and won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, and Walter Camp Award and was also the Pac-10 player of the year.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 12Tennessee*No. 5
W 43–762,147[3]
September 19at Indiana*No. 2
ONTVW 21–051,167
September 26No. 2 Oklahoma*No. 1
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
ABCW 28–2485,651
October 3at Oregon StateNo. 1
W 56–2233,000
October 10ArizonaNo. 1
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
L 10–1356,315
October 17StanforddaggerNo. 7
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)
W 25–1776,291
October 24at Notre Dame*No. 5
W 14–759,075
October 31No. 14 Washington StateNo. 4
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 41–1760,972
November 7at CaliforniaNo. 3
W 21–374,000
November 14at WashingtonNo. 3
L 3–1347,347
November 21No. 15 UCLANo. 10
ABCW 22–2189,432
January 1, 1982vs. No. 7 Penn State*No. 8
NBCL 10–2671,053
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1981 USC Trojans football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
RB 33 Marcus Allen Sr
WR Brad Anderson
TE Mark Boyer
TE Fred Cornwell
RB Fred Crutcher
G 64 Roy Foster Sr
RB Anthony Gibson
RB John Kamana
RB Zephrini Lee
C 66 Bruce Matthews Jr
QB 11 John Mazur So
RB Bob McClanahan
WR 22 Malcolm Moore So
OT 72 Don Mosebar Jr
QB 7 Sean Salisbury Fr
WR 29 Jeff Simmons Jr
OL Tony Slaton So
RB Todd Spencer
OL 93 Kelly Thomas Jr
QB 15 Scott Tinsley Jr
WR Timmie Ware
WR Timmy White
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
MG George Achica
LB 51 Chip Banks Sr
LB Jeff Brown
S 47 Joey Browner Jr
DL Keith Browner
LB 87 August Curley Jr
DT 94 Byron Darby Jr
LB 52 Jack Del Rio Fr
DL Dennis Edwards
DL John Harvey
LB Neil Hope
LB Tim Sullivan
DB Joe Turner
DL Charles Ussery
DB Troy West
DB Marv Williams
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K 5 Steve Jordan Fr
K Scott Livingston
P Dave Pryor
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Game summaries

Tennessee

Tennessee at #5 USC
1 234Total
Volunteers 0 070 7
• No. 5 Trojans 6 20107 43
Scoring summary
1USCAllen 9-yard run (kick failed)USC 6–0
2USCWhite 50-yard pass from Mazur (run failed)USC 12–0
2USCAllen 12-yard run (Livingston kick)USC 19–0
2USCAllen 4-yard run (Livingston kick)USC 26–0
3USCAllen 55-yard run (Livingston kick)USC 33–0
3USCLivingston 47-yard field goalUSC 36–0
3TENMorris 1-yard pass from Cockrell (Reveiz kick)USC 36–7
4USCBoyer 3-yard pass from Salisbury (Jordan kick)USC 43–7

Marcus Allen 22 Rush, 210 Yds, 4 TD (sat out most of second half)[4]

Indiana

Oklahoma

#2 Oklahoma at #1 USC
1 234Total
No. 2 Sooners 7 1007 24
• No. 1 Trojans 7 7014 28

[6]

  • Marcus Allen 39 rushes, 208 yards [7]

Oregon State

  • Marcus Allen 35 rushes, 233 yards [8]

Washington State

California

  • Marcus Allen 46 rushes, 243 yards [10]

UCLA

#15 UCLA Bruins (7–2–1) vs #10 USC Trojans (8–2)
Period 1 2 34Total
UCLA 7 11 3021
USC 3 9 01022

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California

Game information

George Achica blocked Norm Johnson's game-winning 46-yard field goal attempt in the final seconds to preserve the USC victory.

Vs. Penn State (Fiesta Bowl)

#7 Penn State vs. #8 USC
1 234Total
• No. 7 Nittany Lions 7 1090 26
No. 8 Trojans 7 030 10
  • Source:

Awards and honors

1981 team players in the NFL

References

  1. ↑ "Southern California Yearly Results (1980-1984)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
  2. ↑ "1981 Southern California Trojans Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  3. ↑ "USC puts Tennessee to rout in 43–7 win". The Los Angeles Times. September 13, 1981. Retrieved August 18, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "USC Mauls Vols". The Register-Guard. Eugene. September 13, 1981.
  5. ↑ 2020 USC Media Guide Supplement
  6. ↑ "USC Wins, 28-24, in Final 2 Seconds". The New York Times. September 27, 1981. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  7. ↑ 2020 USC Media Guide Supplement
  8. ↑ 2020 USC Media Guide Supplement
  9. ↑ 2020 USC Media Guide Supplement
  10. ↑ 2020 USC Media Guide Supplement
  11. ↑ Eugene Register-Guard, 1981 Nov 22.
  12. ↑ "Heisman.com - Heisman Trophy". Archived from the original on April 11, 2007. Retrieved April 16, 2007.
  13. ↑ "Football". Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
  14. ↑ "Sports". Archived from the original on December 10, 2008. Retrieved January 30, 2009.
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