1981 USC Trojans football team

American college football season

1981 USC Trojans football
Fiesta Bowl, L 10–26 vs. Penn State
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 13
AP	No. 14
Record	9–3 (5–2 Pac-10)
Head coach	John Robinson (6th season)
Defensive coordinator	R. C. Slocum (1st season)
Captains	Marcus Allen Chip Banks
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Seasons← 1980 1982 →

1981 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 10 Washington $	6	–	2	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 16 Arizona State	5	–	2	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
No. 14 USC	5	–	2	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Washington State	5	–	2	–	1	8	–	3	–	1
UCLA	5	–	2	–	1	7	–	4	–	1
Arizona	4	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Stanford	4	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
California	2	–	6	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
Oregon	1	–	6	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
Oregon State	0	–	7	–	0	1	–	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.

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. 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

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 12	Tennessee*	No. 5	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 43–7	62,147
September 19	at Indiana*	No. 2	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	ONTV	W 21–0	51,167
September 26	No. 2 Oklahoma*	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	ABC	W 28–24	85,651
October 3	at Oregon State	No. 1	Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR		W 56–22	33,000
October 10	Arizona	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		L 10–13	56,315
October 17	Stanford	No. 7	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)		W 25–17	76,291
October 24	at Notre Dame*	No. 5	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 14–7	59,075
October 31	No. 14 Washington State	No. 4	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 41–17	60,972
November 7	at California	No. 3	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA		W 21–3	74,000
November 14	at Washington	No. 3	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA		L 3–13	47,347
November 21	No. 15 UCLA	No. 10	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	ABC	W 22–21	89,432
January 1, 1982	vs. No. 7 Penn State*	No. 8	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl)	NBC	L 10–26	71,053
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1981 USC Trojans football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
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.	#	Name	Class
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.	#	Name	Class
K	`5`	Steve Jordan	Fr
K		Scott Livingston
P		Dave Pryor

Head coach

John Robinson

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Awards and honors

Marcus Allen, Heisman Trophy
Marcus Allen, Maxwell Award
Marcus Allen, Walter Camp Award
Marcus Allen, Pac-10 Player of the Year
Marcus Allen, All-Pac-10

1981 team players in the NFL

References

"Southern California Yearly Results (1980-1984)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
"1981 Southern California Trojans Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
"USC puts Tennessee to rout in 43–7 win". The Los Angeles Times. September 13, 1981. Retrieved August 18, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
"Allen runs through IU". Chronicle Tribune. September 20, 1981. Retrieved November 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"USC beats Oklahoma in last 2 seconds". Chicago Tribune. September 27, 1981. Retrieved November 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Allen gains 233 yards as USC breezes 56–22". The Roanoke Times. October 4, 1981. Retrieved November 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Arizona jolts USC off top". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. October 11, 1981. Retrieved November 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"USC guns down Stanford, 25–17". Mount Vernon Argus. October 18, 1981. Retrieved November 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Trojans defeat Irish in bout of heavyweights". The Muskegon Chronicle. October 25, 1981. Retrieved November 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Allen, Southern Cal roll past Cougars 41–17". The Macon Telegraph & News. November 1, 1981. Retrieved November 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"USC's Trojans wear down Cal". Santa Cruz Sentinel. November 8, 1981. Retrieved November 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"USC 'blown out' in Seattle". The San Bernardino County Sun. November 15, 1981. Retrieved November 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Blocked field goal costs UCLA". Statesman Journal. November 22, 1981. Retrieved November 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Penn State pounds USC in Fiesta Bowl". The Arizona Republic. January 2, 1982. Retrieved November 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"1981 USC Trojans Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
"1981 USC Trojans Roster". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
"Heisman.com - Heisman Trophy". Archived from the original on April 11, 2007. Retrieved April 16, 2007.
"Football". Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
"Sports". Archived from the original on December 10, 2008. Retrieved January 30, 2009.

v t e USC Trojans football
Venues	Athletic Park (1895–1898) Fiesta Park (1897–1898, 1901–1902, 1904–1906, 1916) Chutes Park (1900) Prager Park (1903) Bovard Field (1904–1910, 1914–1915, 1917–1923) Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (1923–present) Jones Field/Kennedy Field (practice)
Bowls and rivalries	Bowl games Notre Dame Stanford UCLA: Victory Bell
Culture and lore	Traveler George Tirebiter Giles Pellerin "Fight On" Spirit of Troy Student Body Right Tommy Trojan Tribute to Troy Athletics scandal 1967 "Game of the Century" "Bush Push" 2007 Stanford game So This Is College
People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911–1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold

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