# 2002 USC Trojans football team

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, S#43 Troy Polamalu, 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 the Dunkel System, Matthews Grid Ratings, and Sagarin Ratings, all NCAA-designated major selectors,$^{:115}$ although none are claimed by the university.

## 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

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 2 | 5:00 p.m. | Auburn* | No. 20 | Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles, CA | ABC | W 24–17 | 63,269 |
| September 14 | 12:30 p.m. | at No. 18 Colorado* | No. 17 | Folsom FieldBoulder, CO | ABC | W 40–3 | 53,119 |
| September 21 | 4:00 p.m. | at No. 25 Kansas State* | No. 11 | KSU StadiumManhattan, KS | TBS | L 20–27 | 49,276 |
| September 28 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 23 Oregon State | No. 18 | Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles, CA | FSN | W 22–0 | 56,417 |
| October 5 | 4:00 p.m. | at No. 17 Washington State | No. 18 | Martin StadiumPullman, WA | TBS | L 27–30 $^{OT}$ | 36,861 |
| October 12 | 3:30 p.m. | California | No. 20 | Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles, CA | FSN | W 30–28 | 63,113 |
| October 19 | 12:30 p.m. | No. 22 Washington | No. 19 | Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles, CA | ABC | W 41–21 | 52,961 |
| October 26 | 12:30 p.m. | at No. 14 Oregon | No. 15 | Autzen StadiumEugene, OR | ABC | W 44–33 | 56,754 |
| November 9 | 5:00 p.m. | at Stanford | No. 10 | Stanford StadiumStanford, CA (rivalry) | ABC | W 49–17 | 44,950 |
| November 16 | 4:00 p.m. | Arizona State | No. 8 | Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles, CA | TBS | W 34–13 | 73,923 |
| November 23 | 12:30 p.m. | at No. 25 UCLA | No. 7 | Rose BowlPasadena, CA (Victory Bell) | ABC | W 52–21 | 91,084 |
| November 30 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 7 Notre Dame* | No. 6 | Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles, CA (rivalry) | ABC | W 44–13 | 91,432 |
| January 2, 2003 | 5:00 p.m. | vs. No. 3 Iowa* | No. 5 | Pro Player StadiumMiami Gardens, FL (Orange Bowl) | ABC | W 38–17 | 75,971 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Pacific time |||||||||

## Game summaries
### Auburn

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 7 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 17 |
| • No. 20 Trojans | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 24 |

### at No. 18 Colorado

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 17 Trojans | 14 | 6 | 0 | 20 | 40 |
| No. 18 Buffaloes | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |

### at No. 25 Kansas State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 11 Trojans | 0 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 20 |
| • No. 25 Wildcats | 0 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 27 |
| Statistics | USC | KSU |
| First downs | 16 | 19 |
| Total yards | 276 | 347 |
| Rushing yards | 90 | 188 |
| Passing yards | 186 | 159 |
| Turnovers | 1 | 5 |
| Time of possession | 29:37 | 30:23 |

### No. 23 Oregon State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 23 Beavers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • No. 18 Trojans | 0 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 22 |

### at No. 17 Washington State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| No. 18 Trojans | 7 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 27 |
| • No. 17 Cougars | 10 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 30 |

### California

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Golden Bears | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 28 |
| • No. 20 Trojans | 3 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 30 |

### No. 22 Washington

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 22 Huskies | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
| • No. 19 Trojans | 7 | 10 | 17 | 7 | 41 |

### at No. 14 Oregon

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 15 Trojans | 14 | 0 | 20 | 10 | 44 |
| No. 14 Ducks | 13 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 33 |

### at Stanford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 10 Trojans | 14 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 49 |
| Cardinal | 7 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 17 |

### Arizona State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Sun Devils | 3 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
| • No. 8 Trojans | 10 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 34 |

### at No. 25 UCLA

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 7 Trojans | 21 | 7 | 14 | 10 | 52 |
| No. 25 Bruins | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
* Carson Palmer 19/32, 254 Yds, 4 TD
* Kareem Kelly 4 Rec, 94 Yds, 1 TD

### No. 7 Notre Dame

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 7 Fighting Irish | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| • No. 6 Trojans | 0 | 17 | 13 | 14 | 44 |
* Carson Palmer 32/46, 425 Yds
* Justin Fargas 20 Rush, 120 Yds
* Mike Williams 10 Rec, 169 Yds

### vs. No. 3 Iowa (Orange Bowl)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 3 Hawkeyes | 10 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| • No. 5 Trojans | 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. 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.
| Statistics | IOWA | USC |
| First downs | 18 | 30 |
| Total yards | 323 | 550 |
| Rushing yards | 119 | 247 |
| Passing yards | 204 | 303 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 0 |
| Time of possession | 21:54 | 38:06 |

## 2002 team players in the NFL

* Marcell Allmond
* Kevin Arbet
* Collin Ashton
* Darnell Bing
* William Buchanon
* Dominique Byrd
* Matt Cassel
* Shaun Cody
* Keary Colbert
* Justin Fargas
* Matt Grootegoed
* Gregg Guenther
* Alex Holmes
* Norm Katnik
* Kareem Kelly
* Ryan Killeen
* David Kirtman
* Winston Justice
* Jason Leach
* Matt Leinart
* Oscar Lua
* Malaefou MacKenzie
* Tom Malone
* Grant Mattos
* Fred Matua
* Chris McFoy
* Sultan McCullough
* Jason Mitchell
* Carson Palmer
* Mike Patterson
* Troy Polamalu
* LaJuan Ramsey
* Bernard Riley
* Jacob Rogers
* Frostee Rucker
* Dallas Sartz
* Lofa Tatupu
* Kenechi Udeze
* Lenny Vandermade
* John Walker
* Lee Webb
* Kyle Williams
* Mike Williams
* Manuel Wright
* Justin Wyatt