1989 USC Trojans football team

American college football season

1989 USC Trojans football
Pac-10 champion Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 17–10 vs. Michigan
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 9
AP	No. 8
Record	9–2–1 (6–0–1 Pac-10)
Head coach	Larry Smith (3rd season)
Captain	Dan Owens Leroy Holt Brad Leggett Tim Ryan
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Seasons ← 1988 1990 →

1989 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 8 USC $	6	–	0	–	1	9	–	2	–	1
No. 23 Washington	5	–	3	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Oregon	5	–	3	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
No. 25 Arizona	5	–	3	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Arizona State	3	–	3	–	1	6	–	4	–	1
Oregon State	3	–	4	–	1	4	–	7	–	1
Washington State	3	–	5	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Stanford	3	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
UCLA	2	–	5	–	1	3	–	7	–	1
California	2	–	6	–	0	4	–	7	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1989 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California during the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. The season was intended to start historic fashion, with USC set to play Illinois in Moscow in what was dubbed the Glasnost Bowl. However, the plan to play the game at Dynamo Stadium fell through, and the game was rescheduled at Memorial Coliseum. The Trojans lost the game as the Illini scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

USC won their third consecutive conference championship and gained their 600th program win in a victory against Oregon State. They played third-ranked Michigan in the Rose Bowl and won giving Larry Smith his only bowl victory as head coach.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 4	5:00 p.m.	No. 22 Illinois*	No. 5	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	ABC	L 13–14	54,622
September 16	7:00 p.m.	Utah State*	No. 13	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 66–10	50,249
September 23	12:30 p.m.	No. 20 Ohio State*	No. 12	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	ABC	W 42–3	69,876
September 30	12:30 p.m.	at No. 19 Washington State	No. 11	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	ABC	W 18–17	38,434
October 7	12:30 p.m.	Washington	No. 9	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	ABC	W 24–16	58,410
October 14	3:30 p.m.	at California	No. 10	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	Prime	W 31–15	52,000
October 21	12:30 p.m.	at No. 1 Notre Dame*	No. 9	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (Jeweled Shillelagh)	CBS	L 24–28	59,075
October 28	3:30 p.m.	Stanford	No. 10	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	Prime	W 19–0	67,411
November 4	3:30 p.m.	Oregon State	No. 9	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	Prime	W 48–6	65,430
November 11	12:30 p.m.	at No. 25 Arizona	No. 9	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	ABC	W 24–3	52,606
November 18	12:30 p.m.	UCLA	No. 8	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	ABC	T 10–10	86,672
January 1, 1990	2:00 p.m.	vs. No. 3 Michigan*	No. 12	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	ABC	W 17–10	103,450
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1989 USC Trojans football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
RB		Aaron Emanuel	Sr
RB	`34`	Ricky Ervins	Jr
QB		Shane Foley
TE	`86`	Scott Galbraith	Sr
TE		Frank Griffin
OL		Pat Harlow	Jr
RB		Calvin Holmes
RB	`39`	Leroy Holt	Sr
WR		John Jackson
C	`63`	Brad Leggett	Sr
RB	`40`	Scott Lockwood
QB	`13`	Todd Marinovich	RFr
QB	`4`	Pat O'Hara	Jr
OL		Brent Parkinson
RB		Mazio Royster
OL		Bill Schultz
WR		Joel Scott
G	`75`	Mark Tucker	Jr
WR		Larry Wallace
WR	`83`	Gary Wellman	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB	`98`	Kurt Barber	So
S	`7`	Mark Carrier	Jr
LB		Delmar Chesley
DB		Cleveland Colter
DL		Gene Fruge
DB		Dwayne Garner
DT	`90`	Dan Owens	Sr
LB	`35`	Scott Ross	Jr
DT	`99`	Tim Ryan	Sr
LB	`55`	Junior Seau	Jr
DB		Ernest Spears
LB		Michael Williams

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
P		Ron Dale
P		Marc Preston
K	`11`	Quin Rodriguez	Jr
K		Grant Runnerstrum

Head coach

Larry Smith

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

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

Injured
Redshirt

Rankings

Season summary

Illinois

Utah State

Ohio State

#25 Ohio State Buckeyes (1–0) at #12 USC Trojans (1–1)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Ohio St	3	0	0	0	3
USC	0	21	14	7	42

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California

Date: September 23
Game time: 12:30 p.m. PST
Game weather: Sunny, 74 °F (23 °C)
Game attendance: 69,876
Referee: Pat Flood
Box Score

Game information

First quarter

OSU – Pat O'Morrow 45-yard field goal, 4:18. Ohio St 3–0. Drive: 11 plays, 49 yards, 5:20.

Second quarter

USC – Scott Galbraith 3-yard pass from Shane Foley (Quin Rodriguez kick), 11:20. USC 7–3. Drive: 13 plays, 80 yards, 5:12.
USC – John Jackson 87-yard pass from Todd Marinovich (Quin Rodriguez kick), 8:21. USC 14–3. Drive: 3 plays, 95 yards, 1:36.
USC – Scott Galbraith 11-yard pass from Todd Marinovich (Quin Rodriguez kick), 7:31. USC 21–3. Drive: 1 play, 11 yards, 0:08.

Third quarter

USC – Gary Wellman 19-yard pass from Todd Marinovich (Quin Rodriguez kick), 3:16. USC 28–3. Drive: 8 plays, 88 yards, 3:46.
USC – Gary Wellman 17-yard pass from Todd Marinovich (Quin Rodriguez kick), 0:04. USC 35–3. Drive: 6 plays, 35 yards, 2:41.

Fourth quarter

USC – Mazio Royster 1-yard run (Quin Rodriguez kick), 1:38. USC 42–3. Drive: 9 plays, 46 yards, 3:57.

Top passers

OSU – Greg Frey – 13/28, 135 yards, INT
USC – Todd Marinovich – 14/22, 246 yards, 4 TD, INT

Top rushers

OSU – Carlos Snow – 11 rushes, 83 yards
USC – Ricky Ervins – 21 rushes, 117 yards

Top receivers

OSU – Jeff Graham – 3 receptions, 43 yards
USC – John Jackson – 2 receptions, 108 yards, TD

At Washington State

	1	2	3	4	Total
• USC	0	10	0	8	18
Washington St	7	3	7	0	17

Date: September 30
Location: Martin Stadium, Pullman, WA
Game weather: Overcast

Source: [1]

Scoring summary

1		WSU	Stallworth 77-yard pass from Garcia (Hanson kick)	WSU 7-0

2		USC	Rodriguez 33-yard field goal	WSU 7-3

2		WSU	Hanson 23-yard field goal	WSU 10-3

2		USC	Jackson 8-yard pass from Ervins (Rodriguez kick)	Tied 10-10

3		WSU	Broussard 49-yard pass from Garcia (Hanson kick)	WSU 17-10

4	0:04	USC	Ervins 2-yard pass from Marinovich (Marinovich to Wellman pass)	USC 18-17

Washington

At California

At Notre Dame

#9 USC Trojans (5–1) at #1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6–0)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
USC	14	3	0	7	24
Notre Dame	7	0	7	14	28

at Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana

Date: October 21, 1989
Game attendance: 59,075
TV announcers (CBS): Jim Nantz
Recap/Box Score

Game information

First quarter

USC – Larry Wallace 12-yard pass from Todd Marinovich (Quin Rodriguez kick), 12:47. USC 7–0.
ND – Tony Rice 7-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 9:10. Tie 7–7.
USC – John Jackson 15-yard pass from Todd Marinovich (Quin Rodriguez kick), 7:47. USC 14–7.

Second quarter

USC – Quin Rodriguez 25-yard field goal, 10:22. USC 17–7.

Third quarter

ND – Ricky Watters 2-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 9:17. USC 17–14. Drive: 8 plays.

Fourth quarter

ND – Anthony Johnson 35-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 13:51. Notre Dame 21–17. Drive: 80 yards.
USC – Gary Wellman 16-yard pass from Todd Marinovich (Quin Rodriguez kick), 9:01. USC 24–21. Drive: 4 plays.
ND – Tony Rice 15-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 5:18. Notre Dame 28–24. Drive: 80 yards.

Top passers

USC – Todd Marinovich – 33/55, 333 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT
ND – Tony Rice – 5/16, 91 yards

Top rushers

USC – Ricky Ervins – 12 rushes, 64 yards
ND – Tony Rice – 18 rushes, 99 yards, 2 TD

Top receivers

USC – John Jackson – 14 receptions, 200 yards, TD
ND – Raghib Ismail – 2 receptions, 62 yards

Pregame fight in tunnel

External videos
1989 USC at Notre Dame – Television broadcast
1989 USC at Notre Dame – Highlights

Stanford

Stanford at USC

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinal	0	0	0	0	0
• No. 10 Trojans	0	10	3	6	19

Date: October 28
Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
Game attendance: 67,411
Television network: Prime

Scoring summary

Q2	USC	Rodriguez 28 yard field goal	USC 3–0

Q2	USC	Ervins 9 yard run (Rodriguez kick)	USC 10–0

Q3	USC	Rodriguez 25 yard field goal	USC 13–0

Q4	USC	Holt 5 yard run (pass failed)	USC 19–0

^[1]

Oregon State

At Arizona

UCLA

Vs. Michigan (Rose Bowl)

USC vs. Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 12 Trojans	0	10	0	7	17
No. 3 Wolverines	0	3	7	0	10

Date: January 1
Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA
Game attendance: 103,450
Referee: Jim Kemerling
TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Bob Griese

Scoring summary

Q2		USC	Marinovich 1-yard run (Rodriguez kick)	USC 7–0

Q2	6:28	MICH	Carlson 19-yard field goal	USC 7–3

Q2		USC	Rodriguez 34-yard field goal	USC 10–3

Q3		MICH	Jeffereson 2-yard run (Carlson kick)	Tied 10–10

Q4		USC	Ervins 9 yard run (Rodriguez kick)	USC 17–10

The Trojans avenged last season's loss to Michigan in the Rose Bowl, beating the Wolverines in Bo Schembechler's last game as head coach.^[2]

Team players drafted into the NFL

The following players were claimed in the 1990 NFL Draft.

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Junior Seau	Linebacker	1	5	San Diego Chargers
Mark Carrier	Safety	1	6	Chicago Bears
Dan Owens	Defensive end	2	35	Detroit Lions
Tim Ryan	Defensive end	3	61	Chicago Bears
William Schultz	Guard	4	94	Indianapolis Colts
Leroy Holt	Running back	5	137	Miami Dolphins
Scott Galbraith	Tight end	7	178	Cleveland Browns
Aaron Emanuel	Running back	7	191	New York Giants
Brad Leggett	Center	8	219	Denver Broncos
Ernest Spears	Defensive back	10	216	New Orleans Saints

^[3]

References

^ Gainesville Sun. 1989 Oct 29.
^ "Farewell to Bo Played Strictly by Book, 17-10". Los Angeles Times. January 2, 1990. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
^ "1990 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 20, 2007.

v t e USC Trojans football
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Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Notre Dame Stanford UCLA: Victory Bell
Culture & 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
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AAWU	UCLA, USC, & Washington (1959) Washington (1960) UCLA (1961) USC (1962) Washington (1963) Oregon State & USC (1964) UCLA (1965) USC (1966) USC (1967)
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Pacific-10	USC (1978) USC (1979) Washington (1980) Washington (1981) UCLA (1982) UCLA (1983) USC (1984) UCLA (1985) Arizona State (1986) USC & UCLA (1987) USC (1988) USC (1989) Washington (1990) Washington (1991) Washington & Stanford (1992) Arizona, UCLA, & USC (1993) Oregon (1994) USC & Washington (1995) Arizona State (1996) UCLA & Washington State (1997) UCLA (1998) Stanford (1999) Oregon, Oregon State, & Washington (2000) Oregon (2001) USC & Washington State (2002) USC (2003) USC (2004) vacated USC (2005) vacated California & USC (2006) Arizona State & USC (2007) USC (2008) Oregon (2009) Oregon (2010)
Pac-12	Oregon (2011) Stanford (2012) Stanford (2013) Oregon (2014) Stanford (2015) Washington (2016) USC (2017) Washington (2018) Oregon (2019) Oregon (2020) Utah (2021) Utah (2022) Washington (2023)
National championships in bold