1990 USC Trojans football team

1990 USC Trojans football
John Hancock Bowl, L 16–17 vs. Michigan State
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 22
AP	No. 20
Record	8–4–1 (5–2–1 Pac-10)
Head coach	Larry Smith (4th season)
Captain	Don Gibson
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Seasons ← 1989 1991 →

1990 Pacific-10 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 Washington $	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 20 USC	5	–	2	–	1			8	–	4	–	1
Oregon	4	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
California	4	–	3	–	1			7	–	4	–	1
Arizona	5	–	4	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
UCLA	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Stanford	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Arizona State	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Washington State	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Oregon State	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1990 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1990 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fourth year under head coach Larry Smith, the Trojans compiled an 8–4–1 record (5–2–1 against conference opponents), finished in second place in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10), and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 348 to 274.^[1]

USC began the season by beating Syracuse in the eighth Kickoff Classic. They also won non-conference games against Penn State and Ohio State, the latter of which was suspended with 2:36 remaining because of severe thunderstorms. The Trojans would finish second in the Pac-10 and lost to Michigan State in their bowl game in an outcome reminiscent of their 1987 season.

Quarterback Todd Marinovich led the team in passing, completing 196 of 322 passes for 2,423 yards with 13 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Mazio Royster led the team in rushing with 235 carries for 1,168 yards and eight touchdowns. Gary Wellman led the team in receiving with 66 catches for 1,015 yards and five touchdowns.^[2]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	4:30 p.m.	vs. Syracuse*	No. 9	Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ (Kickoff Classic)	Raycom	W 34–16	57,293
September 15	12:30 p.m.	Penn State*	No. 6	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	ABC	W 19–14	70,594
September 22	3:30 p.m.	at No. 21 Washington	No. 5	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	Prime	L 0–31	72,617
September 29	12:30 p.m.	at No. 12 Ohio State*	No. 18	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	ABC	W 35–26	89,422
October 6	7:30 p.m.	Washington State	No. 15	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	Prime	W 30–17	59,357
October 13	12:30 p.m.	at Stanford	No. 16	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	ABC	W 37–22	62,000
October 20	3:30 p.m.	Arizona	No. 15	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	Prime	L 26–35	68,212
October 27	12:30 p.m.	at Arizona State	No. 21	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	ABC	W 13–6	64,717
November 3	3:30 p.m.	California	No. 21	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	Prime	T 31–31	62,974
November 10	3:30 p.m.	at Oregon State	No. 23	Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR	Prime	W 56–7	18,795
November 17	12:30 p.m.	at UCLA	No. 19	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Victory Bell)	ABC	W 45–42	98,088
November 24	5:00 p.m.	No. 7 Notre Dame*	No. 18	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Jeweled Shillelagh)	ABC	L 6–10	91,639
December 31	11:30 a.m.	vs. No. 22 Michigan State*	No. 21	Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, TX (John Hancock Bowl)	CBS	L 16–17	50,562
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1990 USC Trojans football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OL David Apolskis TE Bradford Banta RB Rory Brown WR Curtis Conway TE Bob Crane OL Derrick Deese RB Ricky Ervins QB Shane Foley OL Craig Gibson TE Frank Griffin WR Travis Hannah WR Pat Harlow TE Yonnie Jackson RB Tim Lavin RB Scott Lockwood TE Elic Mahone QB Todd Marinovich RSo OL Michael Moody WR Johnnie Morton Fr QB Pat O'Hara QB Reggie Perry RB Mazio Royster WR Joel Scott RB Raoul Spears RB Deon Strother OL Mark Tucker OL Larry Wallace WR Gary Wellman	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB Kurt Barber DL Gene Fruge LB Matt Gee DL Don Gibson (C) LB Craig Hartsuyker DB Calvin Holmes DB Curtis Hopkins DL Terry McDaniels DB Jason Oliver DB Stephon Pace LB Scott Ross DB Mike Salmon LB Brian Tuliau	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P Ron Dale K Quin Rodriguez	Head coach Larry Smith Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: 2022-Oct-14

Season summary

Syracuse

Penn State

1 2 3 4 Total Penn St 0 7 0 7 14 • USC 7 6 6 0 19 Date: September 15 Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

Scoring summary Q1 USC Griffin 5 yard pass from Marinovich (Rodriguez kick) USC 7–0 Q2 PSU Golden 8 yard pass from Sacca (Fayak kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 USC Rodriguez 26 yard field goal USC 10–7 Q2 USC Rodriguez 46 yard field goal USC 13–7 Q3 USC Ervins 1 yard run (run failed) USC 19–7 Q4 PSU Thompson 2 yard run (Fayak kick) USC 19–14

^[3]

At Washington

At Ohio State

Washington State

At Stanford

Arizona

At Arizona State

California

At Oregon State

At UCLA

• 60th meeting
• Marinovich wasn't named starter until morning of the game

^[5]

Notre Dame

John Hancock Bowl (vs Michigan State)

References