1982 USC Trojans football team

American college football season

1982 USC Trojans football
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 15
Record	8–3 (5–2 Pac-10)
Head coach	John Robinson (7th season)
Offensive coordinator	Ted Tollner (1st season)
Captains	George Achica Joey Browner Bruce Matthews
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Seasons← 1981 1983 →

1982 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 UCLA $	5	–	1	–	1	10	–	1	–	1
No. 7 Washington	6	–	2	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 6 Arizona State	5	–	2	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 15 USC	5	–	2	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Arizona	4	–	3	–	1	6	–	4	–	1
California	4	–	4	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Stanford	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Washington State	2	–	4	–	1	3	–	7	–	1
Oregon	2	–	6	–	0	2	–	8	–	1
Oregon State	0	–	7	–	1	1	–	9	–	1

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1982 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1982 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their seventh year under head coach John Robinson, the Trojans compiled an 8–3 record (5–2 against conference opponents), finished in a tie for third place in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10), and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 302 to 143. Due to probation, the Trojans were not eligible for postseason play.

Quarterback Sean Salisbury led the team in passing, completing 82 of 142 passes for 1,062 yards with six touchdowns and five interceptions. Todd Spencer led the team in rushing with 141 carries for 596 yards and eight touchdowns. Jeff Simmons led the team in receiving yards with 56 catches for 973 yards and five touchdowns.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 11	at No. 11 Florida*	No. 10	Florida Field Gainesville, FL	ABC	L 9–17	73,238
September 18	Indiana*	No. 19	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 28–7	50,724
September 25	at Oklahoma*	No. 18	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	ABC	W 12–0	76,758
October 2	Oregon	No. 16	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 38–7	47,181
October 16	at Stanford	No. 14	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	CBS	W 41–21	73,859
October 23	Oregon State	No. 12	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 38–0	50,035
October 30	at No. 7 Arizona State	No. 12	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ		L 10–17	71,071
November 6	California	No. 16	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 42–0	54,670
November 13	at Arizona	No. 16	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ		W 48–41	55,110
November 20	at No. 11 UCLA	No. 15	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Victory Bell)	ABC	L 19–20	95,763
November 27	Notre Dame*	No. 17	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	CBS	W 17–13	76,459
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1982 USC Trojans football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name
QB		Jim Arrivey
TE		Mark Boyer
TE		Fred Cornwell
RB		Fred Crutcher
RB		Anthony Gibson
RB		Michael Harper
RB		Andrew Jackson
RB		John Kamana
RB		Zephrini Lee
OL	`66`	Bruce Matthews
TE		Pat McCool
OL	`72`	Don Mosebar
OL		Joe Murray
WR		Hank Norman
RB		Kennedy Pola
QB	`7`	Sean Salisbury
WR		Jeff Simmons
OL		Tony Slaton
RB		Todd Spencer
OL		Kelly Thomas
QB		Scott Tinsley
WR		Timmie Ware
WR		Timmy White

Defense

Pos.	#	Name
DL		George Achica
DL		Duane Bickett
DB		Tony Brewer
LB		Jeff Brown
DB	`47`	Joey Browner
LB		Keith Browner
DL		August Curley
DL		Byron Darby
LB	`52`	Jack Del Rio
LB		Riki Gray
LB		Neil Hope
DB		Darrel Hopper
DB		Matt Johnson
DL		Matt Koart
DL		Brian Luft
LB		Tim Sullivan
DB		Troy West

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K		Steve Jordan
P		Dave Pryor

Head coach

John Robinson

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

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

Injured
Redshirt

Game summaries

At Oklahoma

	1	2	3	4	Total
• USC	6	6	0	0	12
Oklahoma	0	0	0	0	0

Date: September 25
Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, Oklahoma

Scoring summary

Q1	USC	Kamana 1 yard pass from Salisbury (kick failed)	USC 6–0

Q2	USC	Simmons 67 yard pass from White (pass failed)	USC 12–0

At Arizona

	1	2	3	4	Total
• USC	3	21	17	7	48
Arizona	10	10	7	14	41

Date: November 13
Location: Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Arizona
Game attendance: 55,110

Scoring summary

Q1		USC	Jordan 42 yard field goal	USC 3–0

Q1		ARIZ	Boadway 32 yard interception return (Zendejas kick)	ARIZ 7–3

Q1		ARIZ	Zendejas 19 yard field goal	ARIZ 10–3

Q2		ARIZ	Zendejas 26 yard field goal	ARIZ 13–3

Q2		USC	Simmons 5 yard pass from Tinsley (Jordan kick)	ARIZ 13–10

Q2		ARIZ	Anderson 72 yard pass from Tunnicliffe (Zendejas kick)	ARIZ 20–10

Q2		USC	Simmons 36 yard pass from Tinsley (Jordan kick)	ARIZ 20–17

Q2		USC	Browner 53 yard interception return (Jordan kick)	USC 24–20

Q3		USC	White 33 yard pass from Tinsley (Jordan kick)	USC 31–20

Q3		USC	Jordan 25 yard field goal	USC 34–20

Q3		USC	West 27 yard interception return (Jordan kick)	USC 41–20

Q3		ARIZ	Edwards 2 yard run (Zendejas kick)	USC 41–27

Q4	9:22	ARIZ	Gobel 3 yard pass from Tunnicliffe (Zendejas kick)	USC 41–34

Q4	5:35	USC	Hopper 59 yard interception return (Jordan kick)	USC 48–34

Q4	3:38	ARIZ	Stivers 16 yard pass from Tunnicliffe (Zendejas kick)	USC 48–41

USC Defense: 3 INTs for TD (NCAA record)

At UCLA

See also: 1982 UCLA Bruins football team and Victory Bell (UCLA–USC) #15 USC Trojans at #11 UCLA Bruins

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
USC	3	7	0	9	19
UCLA	14	3	3	0	20

at Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California

Date: November 20, 1982
Game attendance: 95,736
Gainesville Sun, 1982 Nov 21.

Game information

First quarter

UCLA – Howell 9-yard pass from Tom Ramsey (John Lee kick). UCLA 7–0. Drive:
USC – Steve Jordan 44-yard field goal. UCLA 7–3. Drive:
UCLA – Danny Andrews 23-yard run (John Lee kick). UCLA 14–3. Drive:

Second quarter

UCLA – John Lee 45-yard field goal. UCLA 17–3. Drive:
USC – Todd Spencer 3-yard run (Steve Jordan kick). UCLA 17–10. Drive:

Third quarter

UCLA – John Lee 42-yard field goal. UCLA 20–10. Drive:

Fourth quarter

USC – Steve Jordan 21-yard field goal. UCLA 20–13. Drive:
USC – Mark Boyer 1-yard pass from Scott Tinsley (run failed), 0:00. UCLA 20–19. Drive:

Top passers

USC – Scott Tinsley – 14/23, 137 yards, TD, INT
UCLA – Tom Ramsey – 11/24, 135 yards

Top rushers

USC – Anthony Gibson – 30 rushes, 97 yards
UCLA – Danny Andrews – 15 rushes, 78 yards, TD

Top receivers

USC – Jeff Simmons – 4 receptions, 46 yards
UCLA – Kevin Nelson – 2 receptions, 33 yards

Notre Dame

	1	2	3	4	Total
Notre Dame	7	3	3	0	13
• USC	0	3	7	7	17

Date: November 27
Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

Scoring summary

Q1		ND	Moriarty 2 yard run (Johnston kick)	ND 7–0

Q2		ND	Johnston ?? yard field goal	ND 10–0

Q2		USC	Jordan 35 yard field goal	ND 10–3

Q3		ND	Johnston 47 yard field goal	ND 13–3

Q3		USC	Harper 5 yard run (Jordan kick)	ND 13–10

Q4	0:48	USC	Harper 1 yard run (Jordan kick)	USC 17–14

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.
"The NCAA's harsh sanctions against the University of Southern..." upi.com.
"1982 Southern California Trojans Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
"Florida, on way up, uses USC as stepping stone, 17–9". The Los Angeles Times. September 12, 1982. Retrieved November 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
"USC Blanks Oklahoma". Gainesville Sun. September 26, 1982.
"Three interception returns ignite USC to 48-41 win". Eugene Register-Guard. November 14, 1982.
Gainesville Sun. 1982 Nov 28. Retrieved 2018-Oct-17.

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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