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.

2002 USC Trojans football
National champion (Dunkel, Matthews)
Co-national champion (Sagarin)
Pac-10 co-champion
Orange Bowl champion
Orange Bowl, W 38–17 vs. Iowa
ConferencePacific-10 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 4
APNo. 4
Record11–2 (7–1 Pac-10)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorNorm Chow (2nd season)
Captains
Home stadiumLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum (c. 92,000, grass)
2002 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
No. 10 Washington State $+  7 –1   10 –3  
No. 4 USC  %+  7 –1   11 –2  
Arizona State  5 –3   8 –6  
UCLA  4 –4   8 –5  
Oregon State  4 –4   8 –5  
California  4 –4   7 –5  
Washington  4 –4   7 –6  
Oregon  3 –5   7 –6  
Arizona  1 –7   4 –8  
Stanford  1 –7   2 –9  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The team was named national champion by both Dunkel and Matthews, and co-champion by Sagarin, all NCAA-designated major selectors,[1]: 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
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 25:00 p.m.Auburn*No. 20
ABCW 24–1763,269[2]
September 1412:30 p.m.at No. 18 Colorado*No. 17
ABCW 40–353,119[2]
September 214:00 p.m.at No. 25 Kansas State*No. 11
TBSL 20–2749,276[2]
September 283:30 p.m.No. 23 Oregon StateNo. 18
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
FSNW 22–056,417[2]
October 54:00 p.m.at No. 17 Washington StateNo. 18
TBSL 27–30 OT36,861[2]
October 123:30 p.m.CaliforniaNo. 20
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
FSNW 30–2863,113[2]
October 1912:30 p.m.No. 22 WashingtonNo. 19
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
ABCW 41–2152,961[2]
October 2612:30 p.m.at No. 14 OregonNo. 15
ABCW 44–3356,754[2]
November 95:00 p.m.at StanfordNo. 10
ABCW 49–1744,950[2]
November 164:00 p.m.Arizona StatedaggerNo. 8
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
TBSW 34–1373,923[2]
November 2312:30 p.m.at No. 25 UCLANo. 7
ABCW 52–2191,084[2]
November 305:00 p.m.No. 7 Notre Dame*No. 6
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)
ABCW 44–1391,432[2]
January 2, 20035:00 p.m.vs. No. 3 Iowa*No. 5
ABCW 38–1775,971[2]
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Pacific time

Roster
2002 USC Trojans football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
WR 31 Will Buchanon Fr
TE 88 Doyal Butler Jr
RB 39 Sunny Byrd So
WR 19 Greig Carlson Fr
TE 86 Dominique Byrd Fr
QB 10 Matt Cassel So
WR 83 Keary Colbert Jr
RB 25 Justin Fargas Sr
TE 44 Gregg Guenther Fr
TE 81 Alex Holmes Jr
C 62 Norm Katnik Jr
WR 2 Kareem Kelly Sr
RB 37 David Kirtman Fr
QB 11 Matt Leinart Fr
FB 21 Malaefou MacKenzie Sr
RB 4 Sultan McCullough Sr
QB 3 Carson Palmer Sr
OT 77 Jacob Rogers Jr
G 78 Lenny Vandermade So
RB 35 Lee Webb So
WR 1 Mike Williams Fr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
CB 8 Marcell Allmond Jr
LB 59 Collin Ashton Fr
DT 84 Shaun Cody Fr
LB 6 Matt Grootegoed So
DB 27 Jason Leach So
DT 99 Mike Patterson So
S 43 Troy Polamalu Sr
DT 93 Bernard Riley Sr
LB 42 Dallas Sartz Fr
DE 94 Kenechi Udeze So
CB 24 Justin Wyatt Fr
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K 16 Ryan Killeen Fr
P 14 Tom Malone Fr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2004-05-13

Game summaries

Auburn
1 234Total
Auburn 7 703 17
• USC 7 737 24
Scoring summary
112:05USCKareem Kelly 15-yard pass from Carson Palmer (David Davis kick)USC 7-0
18:31AUBCadillac Williams 23-yard run (Damon Duval kick)Tied 7-7
212:04USCSultan McCullough 3-yard run (David Davis kick)USC 14-7
20:11AUBRonnie Brown 1-yard run (Damon Duval kick)Tied 14-14
37:05USCDavid Davis 37-yard field goalUSC 17-14
414:51AUBDamon Duval 39-yard field goalTied 17-17
41:26USCCarson Palmer 1-yard run (David Davis kick)USC 24-17
See also: 2002 Kansas State Wildcats football team

At Colorado
1 234Total
• USC 14 6020 40
Colorado 0 030 3
Scoring summary
19:56USCMalaefou MacKenzie 32-yard pass from Carson Palmer (David Davis kick)USC 7-0
12:46USCMalaefou MacKenzie 14-yard run (David Davis kick)USC 14-0
22:08USCSultan McCullough 62-yard run (kick failed)USC 20-0
32:51COLPatrick Brougham 42-yard field goalUSC 20-3
410:24USCCarson Palmer 1-yard run (David Davis kick)USC 27-3
48:47USCMike Ross recovered blocked punt in end zone (kick failed)USC 33-3
42:47USCDarryl Poston 4-yard run (David Davis kick)USC 40-3
See also: 2002 Colorado Buffaloes football team

At Kansas State
1 234Total
USC 0 6014 20
• Kansas State 0 1278 27
Scoring summary
25:43KSUJared Brite 35-yard field goalKSU 3-0
23:46KSUEll Roberson 1-yard fun (Brite kick)KSU 10-0
20:32USCMike Patterson 3-yard fumble return (kick blocked)KSU 10-6
20:32KSUTerence Newman 98-yard PAT returnKSU 12-6
33:55KSUDarren Sproles 10-yard fun (Brite kick)KSU 19-6
414:55KSUJames Terry 10-yard pass from Ell Roberson (Roberson run)KSU 27-6
410:21USCKeary Colbert 9-yard pass from Carson Palmer (Ryan Killeen kick)KSU 27-13
46:31USCSultan McCullough 25-yard run (Killeen kick)KSU 27-20
See also: 2002 Kansas State Wildcats football team

[3]

Oregon State
1 234Total
Oregon State 0 000 0
• USC 0 1363 22
Scoring summary
214:50USCRyan Killeen 43-yard field goalUSC 3-0
213:04USCRyan Killeen 42-yard field goalUSC 6-0
20:10USCMike Williams 11-yard pass from Carson Palmer (Ryan Killeen kick)USC 13-0
34:45USCMike Williams 16-yard pass from Carson Palmer (pass failed)USC 19-0
410:34USCRyan Killeen 32-yard field goalUSC 22-0

Washington State
1 234OTTotal
USC 7 07130 27
• Washington State 10 07103 30

California
1 234Total
California 14 707 28
• USC 3 1476 30
Scoring summary
110:06CALJoe Igber 3-yard run (Mark Jensen kick)CAL 7-0
16:04USCRyan Killeen 34-yard field goalCAL 7-3
12:24CALTerrell Williams 1-yard run (Mark Jensen kick)CAL 14-3
211:42CALJonathan Makonnen 15-yard pass from Kyle Boller (Mark Jensen kick)CAL 21-3
25:29USCKareem Kelly 6-yard pass from Carson Palmer (Ryan Killeen kick)CAL 21-10
21:06USCMike Williams 21-yard pass from Carson Palmer (Ryan Killeen kick)CAL 21-17
38:38USCSultan McCullough 2-yard run (Ryan Killeen kick)USC 24-21
49:59USCRyan Killeen 32-yard field goalUSC 27-21
41:41USCRyan Killeen 18-yard field goalUSC 30-21
40:35CALTom Swoboda 5-yard pass from Kyle Boller (Mark Jensen kick)USC 30-28

Washington
#22/17 Washington at #19/20 USC
1 234Total
Washington 7 0014 21
• USC 7 10177 41
Scoring summary
12:47USCMike Williams 43-yard pass from Carson Palmer (Ryan Killeen kick)USC 7-0
10:04WASHPaul Arnold 5-yard pass from Cody Pickett (John Anderson kick)Tied 7-7
210:53USCKeary Colbert 61-yard pass from Carson Palmer (Ryan Killeen kick)USC 14-7
26:58USCRyan Killeen 30-yard field goalUSC 17-7
39:34USCMike Williams 14-yard pass from Carson Palmer (Ryan Killeen kick)USC 24-7
36:56USCMike Williams 11-yard pass from Carson Palmer (Ryan Killeen kick)USC 31-7
34:56USCRyan Killeen 33-yard field goalUSC 34-7
413:30WASHKevin Ware 2-yard pass from Cody Pickett (John Anderson kick)USC 34-14
410:22WASHReggie Williams 27-yard pass from Cody Pickett (John Anderson kick)USC 34-21
43:23USCJustin Fargas 13-yard run (Ryan Killeen kick)USC 41-21

UCLA
1 234Total
• USC 21 71410 52
UCLA 0 7014 21
  • Date: November 23
  • Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena
  • Game start: 3:30 p.m. EST
  • Elapsed time: 3:26
  • Game attendance: 91,084
  • Television network: ABC
Scoring summary
Q114:53USCKelly 34-yard passing touchdown from Palmer (Killeen kick)USC 7–0
Q110:30USCColbert 51-yard passing touchdown from Palmer (Kileen kick)USC 14–0
Q16:04USCFargas 1-yard run (Killeen kick)USC 21–0
Q211:40UCLAWhite 7-yard run (Fikse kick)USC 21–7
Q24:20USCMacKenzie 2-yard passing touchdown from Palmer (Killeen kick)USC 28–7
Q313:45USCColbert34-yard run (Killeen kick)USC 35–7
Q32:05USCGuenther Jr. 3-yard pass from Palmer (Killeen kick)USC 42–7
Q414:55USCKilleen 27-yard field goalUSC 45–7
Q49:30USCDennis 38-yard run (Killeen kick)USC 52–7
Q42:47UCLAWhite Jr. 10-yard passing touchdown from Moore (Fikse kick)USC 52–14
Q40:59UCLALewis 14-yard passing touchdown from Sciarra (Fikse kick)USC 52–21

[4]

Notre Dame
1 234Total
Notre Dame 6 700 13
• USC 0 171314 44
  • Date: November 30
  • Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
  • Game start: 8:00 p.m. EST
  • Elapsed time: 3:26
  • Game attendance: 91,432
  • Game weather: Cloudy; 60 °F (16 °C); wind variable
  • Referee: Chuck McFerrin
  • Television network: ABC
Scoring summary
Q14:10NDSetta 34-yard field goalND 3–0
Q13:46NDSetta 32-yard field goalND 6–0
Q210:49USCWilliams 6-yard pass from Palmer (Killeen kick)USC 7–6
Q23:34USCKilleen 22-yard field goalUSC 10–6
Q21:07NDPierre-Antoine recovered blocked punt in end zone (Setta kick)ND 13–10
Q2:05USCWilliams 19-yard pass from Palmer (Killeen kick)USC 17–13
Q312:01USCMacKenzie 15-yard pass from Palmer (Killeen kick)USC 24–13
Q36:36USCKilleen 27-yard field goalUSC 27–13
Q32:15USCKilleen 29-yard field goalUSC 30–13
Q411:58USCMcCullough 11-yard run (Killeen kick)USC 37–13
Q47:23USCMacKenzie 10-yard pass from Palmer (Killeen kick)USC 44–13

Vs. Iowa (Orange Bowl)
#3/5 Iowa Hawkeyes at #5/4 USC Trojans
1 234Total
Iowa 10 007 17
• USC 7 31414 38
Scoring summary
114:43IOWAC.J. Jones 100-yard kickoff returnIOWA 7-0
112:46USCJustin Fargas 4-yard runTIED 7-7
16:26IOWANate Kaeding 35-yard field goalIOWA 10-7
21:12USCRyan Killeen 35-yard field goalTIED 10-10
310:14USCMike Williams 18-yard pass from Carson PalmerUSC 17-10
34:58USCJustin Fargas 50-yard runUSC 24-10
414:25USCSultan McCullough 5-yard runUSC 31-10
42:36USCSunny Byrd 6-yard runUSC 38-10
40:34IOWAMaurice Brown 18-yard pass from Brad BanksUSC 38-17
Main article: 2003 Orange Bowl
See also: 2002 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

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.[6] 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.[7]

2002 team players in the NFL

References
  1. 2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). Indianapolis: National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2018. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
  2. "Cumulative Season Statistics". University of Southern California Department of Athletics. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
  3. Plaschke, Bill (September 22, 2002). "Palmer's Legacy Hangs in Balance". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  4. . Retrieved 2017-Feb-14.
  5. "BCS GAME RESULTS - OrangeBowl.org The Official Site of The FedEx Orange Bowl Championship". www.orangebowl.org. Archived from the original on June 2, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  6. "2002 Heisman Trophy Voting".
  7. "Iowa vs. USC - Game Recap - January 2, 2003 - ESPN".
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