1988 USC Trojans football team

The 1988 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their second year under head coach Larry Smith, the Trojans compiled a 10–2 record (8–0 against conference opponents), won the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) championship, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 370 to 184.^[1]

1988 USC Trojans football
Pac-10 champion
Rose Bowl, L 14–22 vs. Michigan
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 9
AP	No. 7
Record	10–2 (8–0 Pac-10)
Head coach	Larry Smith (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Chuck Stobart (2nd season)
Captain	Rodney Peete
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (c. 92,516, grass)
Seasons ← 1987 1989 →

1988 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 7 USC $	8	–	0	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 6 UCLA	6	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 16 Washington State	5	–	3	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Arizona	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Arizona State	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Washington	3	–	5	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Oregon	3	–	5	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
Oregon State	2	–	5	–	1			4	–	6	–	1
Stanford	1	–	5	–	2			3	–	6	–	2
California	1	–	5	–	1			5	–	5	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The Trojans won their first 10 games of the season, running the conference table and beating third-ranked Oklahoma at home. They were ranked second in the nation before their match with number-one ranked Notre Dame. After losing to the Fighting Irish in their final regular-season game, they faced Michigan in the Rose Bowl, losing 14–22.

Quarterback Rodney Peete led the team in passing, completing 223 of 359 passes for 2,812 yards with 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Aaron Emanuel led the team in rushing with 108 carries for 545 yards and eight touchdowns. Erik Affholter led the team in receiving yards with 68 catches for 952 yards and eight touchdowns.^[2]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	4:30 p.m.	at Boston College*	No. 8	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA	ESPN	W 34–7	32,000
September 10	12:30 p.m.	at Stanford	No. 6	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	ABC	W 24–20	59,000
September 24	12:30 p.m.	No. 3 Oklahoma*	No. 4	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	ABC	W 23–7	86,124
October 1	6:30 p.m.	at Arizona	No. 3	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ		W 38–15	52,314
October 8	1:30 p.m.	No. 18 Oregon	No. 3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 42–14	63,452
October 15	12:30 p.m.	No. 16 Washington	No. 3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	ABC	W 28–27	62,974
October 29	1:00 p.m.	at Oregon State	No. 3	Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR		W 41–20	31,117
November 5	3:30 p.m.	California	No. 2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	Prime	W 35–3	73,937
November 12	12:30 p.m.	at Arizona State	No. 2	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	ABC	W 50–0	72,023
November 19	12:30 p.m.	at No. 6 UCLA	No. 2	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Victory Bell)	ABC	W 31–22	100,741
November 26	12:30 p.m.	No. 1 Notre Dame*	No. 2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Jeweled Shillelagh)	ABC	L 10–27	93,829
January 2, 1989	2:00 p.m.	vs. No. 11 Michigan*	No. 5	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	ABC	L 14–22	101,688
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1988 USC Trojans football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 42 Erik Affholter Sr WR 88 Gene Arrington Sr OL Dan Barnes RB Jeff Brown RB 24 Aaron Emanuel Jr RB 34 Ricky Ervins So RB Derrick Gachett TE 86 Scott Galbraith Jr TE 17 Paul Green Sr TE Frank Griffin OT 61 John Guerrero RSr RB Calvin Holmes RB 39 Leroy Holt Jr WR John Jackson C 63 Brad Leggett Jr RB Scott Lockwood QB 13 Todd Marinovich   Fr QB 4 Pat O'Hara So OL Brent Parkinson QB 16 Rodney Peete (C) Sr WR Marc Rodgers G 75 Mark Tucker So WR Marlon Washington RB Steven Webster WR 83 Gary Wellman So	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 98 Kurt Barber Fr S 7 Mark Carrier So LB Delmar Chesley DB Cleveland Colter DL Don Gibson CB 2 Chris Hale Sr DT 93 Pat Harlow So LB Craig Hartsuyker DT 90 Dan Owens Jr LB 35 Scott Ross So DT 99 Tim Ryan Jr LB 55 Junior Seau So DB Ernest Spears LB Brian Tuliau DL Michael Williams	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 11 Quin Rodriguez So P Chris Sperle	Head coach Larry Smith Coordinators/assistant coaches John Matsko Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt

Rankings

Further information: 1988 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	6 (3)	8 (1)	6 (1)	5 (1)	5 (1)	3 (2)	3 (2)	3 (3)	3 (5)	3 (5)	2 (11)	2 (15)	2 (18)	2 (22)	5	5	7
Coaches	8	8	6	5	4	3 (1)	3	3	3 (2)	3	2 (16)	2 (14)	2 (13)	2 (16)	6	5	9

^[3]

Game summaries

at Boston College

See also: 1988 Boston College Eagles football team

^[4]

at Stanford

See also: 1988 Stanford Cardinal football team and Stanford–USC football rivalry

^[5]

Oklahoma

#3 Oklahoma Sooners (2–0) at #5 USC Trojans (2–0)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Oklahoma	0	0	7	0	7
USC	7	13	0	3	23

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California

• Date: September 24, 1988
• Game attendance: 86,124
• TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Bob Griese

Game information

First quarter USC – Aaron Emanuel 5-yard run (Quin Rodriguez kick). USC 7–0. Second quarter USC – Quin Rodriguez 33-yard field goal. USC 10–0. USC – Aaron Emanuel 6-yard run (Quin Rodriguez kick). USC 17–0. USC – Quin Rodriguez 23-yard field goal. USC 20–0. Third quarter OU – Leon Perry 2-yard run (R.D. Lashar kick). USC 20–7. Drive: 4 plays, 80 yards. Fourth quarter USC – Quin Rodriguez 25-yard field goal. USC 23–7. Top passers OU – Jamelle Holieway – 4/9, 96 yards, INT USC – Rodney Peete – 16/34, 198 yards, INT Top rushers OU – Anthony Stafford – 9 rushes, 28 yards USC – Aaron Emanuel – 10 rushes, 46 yards, 2 TD Top receivers OU – Eric Bross – 4 receptions, 84 yards USC – Erik Affholter – 8 receptions, 94 yards

^[6][7][8]

External video
Full game
Game highlights

at Arizona

See also: 1988 Arizona Wildcats football team

Oregon

See also: 1988 Oregon Ducks football team

Washington

at Oregon State

California

at Arizona State

at UCLA

See also: 1988 UCLA Bruins football team and UCLA–USC football rivalry

USC Trojans at UCLA Bruins

	1	2	3	4	Total
USC	7	14	7	3	31
UCLA	3	13	0	6	22

at Rose Bowl • Pasadena, California

• Date: November 19
• Game attendance: 100,741
• Gainesville Sun. 1988 Nov 20.

Game information

UCLA - Velasco 46 yard FG USC - Emanuel 4 yard run (Rodriguez kick) USC - Affholter 29 yard pass from Peete (Rodriguez kick) UCLA - Velasco 27 yard FG UCLA - Velasco 25 yard FG USC - Peete 1 yard run (Rodriguez kick) UCLA - R. Moore 10 yard pass from Aikman (Velasco kick) USC - Emanuel 3 yard run (Rodriguez kick) USC - Rodriguez 21 yard FG UCLA - McCracken 26 yard pass from Aikman (Velasco kick) USC Peete 16/28, 189 Yds, TD Emanuel 27 Rush, 113 Yds, 2 TD Affholter 3 Rec, 60 Yds, TD UCLA Aikman 32/48, 317 Yds, 2 TD, INT B. Brown 12 Rush, 59 Yds M. Farr 9 Rec, 75 Yds

The Measles Game

^[9][10]

Notre Dame

#1 Notre Dame at #2 USC

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 1 Fighting Irish 14 6 0 7 27 No. 2 Trojans 0 7 3 0 10 Date: November 26 Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA Game start: 3:30 EST Game attendance: 93,829 Referee: Bill Richardson TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Bob Griese, and Mike Adamle

Scoring summary 1 10:08 ND Rice 65-yard run (Ho kick) ND 7-0 1 ND Green 2-yard run (Ho kick) ND 14-0 2 2:24 USC Lockwood 1-yard run (Rodriguez kick) ND 14-7 2 0:41 ND Smagala 64-yard interception return (kick failed) ND 20-7 3 USC Rodriguez 36-yard field goal ND 20-10 4 11:55 ND Green 1-yard run (Ho kick) ND 27-10

See also: 1988 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team, Notre Dame–USC football rivalry, and Jeweled Shillelagh

Notre Dame and USC entered the game undefeated and ranked number one and two respectively for the first time ever in their storied series. It was also the 24th time No. 1 faced No. 2 in college football history.^[11] The Trojans were having a great season under head coach Larry Smith and standout quarterback Rodney Peete.^[11] The Irish came into the game as underdogs, but spectacular play of defensive end Frank Stams and cornerback Stan Smagala aided the Irish offense, led by Tony Rice, to an Irish victory. The sellout crowd of 93,829 was the largest in this rivalry since 1955.^[11]

vs. Michigan (Rose Bowl)

Rose Bowl

1 2 3 4 Total • Michigan 3 0 6 13 22 USC 0 14 0 0 14 Date: January 2 Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California Game attendance: 101,688 Referee: Gordon Riese TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Bob Griese

Main article: 1989 Rose Bowl

See also: 1988 Michigan Wolverines football team

Team players drafted into the NFL

The following players were claimed in the 1989 NFL Draft.

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL Club
Erik Affholter	Wide receiver	4	110	Washington Redskins
Rodney Peete	Quarterback	6	141	Detroit Lions
Chris Hale	Defensive back	7	193	Buffalo Bills
Paul Green	Tight end	8	208	Denver Broncos
Derrell Marshall	Tackle	12	332	Buffalo Bills

^[12]

Awards and honors

• Rodney Peete, Second in Heisman Trophy voting
• Rodney Peete, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award^[13]

References

1. . College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
2. "1988 Southern California Trojans Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
3. "USC 1988 AP Football Rankings". collegepollarchive.com. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
4. "Peete, Trojans Roll, 34-7, Over Boston College". Los Angeles Times. September 2, 1988. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
5. "Peete, USC Pass Stanford Near Finish for 24-20 Win". Los Angeles Times. September 11, 1988. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
6. "Oklahoma Feels Crunch of U.S.C." The New York Times. September 25, 1988. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
7. SoonerStats.com - 1988 Oklahoma at USC
8. Gainesville Sun. p. 10C. 1988 Sep 25. Retrieved 2022-Dec-16.
9. "Peete Leads U.S.C. to Rose Bowl Berth". The New York Times. November 20, 1988. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
10. Telander, Rick (November 28, 1988). "On Top in L.A." Sports Illustrated. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
11. (PDF). USC Trojans. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 24, 2008. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
12. . Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2007-12-21.
13. . Archived from the original on 2007-12-16. Retrieved 2008-01-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)