1986 USC Trojans football team

The 1986 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fourth and final year under head coach Ted Tollner, the Trojans compiled a 7–5 record (5–3 against conference opponents), finished in a three-way tie for fourth place in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10), and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 264 to 239.^[1]

1986 USC Trojans football
Florida Citrus Bowl, L 7–16 vs. Auburn
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Record	7–5 (5–3 Pac-10)
Head coach	Ted Tollner (4th season)
Captains	Jeff Bregel Tim McDonald
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Seasons ← 1985 1987 →

1986 Pacific-10 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Arizona State $	5	–	1	–	1			10	–	1	–	1
No. 14 UCLA	5	–	2	–	1			8	–	3	–	1
No. 18 Washington	5	–	2	–	1			8	–	3	–	1
No. 11 Arizona	5	–	3	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Stanford	5	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
USC	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Oregon	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Washington State	2	–	6	–	1			3	–	7	–	1
California	2	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Oregon State	1	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Quarterback Rodney Peete led the team in passing, completing 160 of 305 passes for 2,138 yards with 10 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. Ryan Knight led the team in rushing with 148 carries for 536 yards and seven touchdowns. Ken Henry led the team in receiving yards with 43 catches for 807 yards and seven touchdowns.^[2]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 13	4:00 p.m.	Illinois*		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	WTBS	W 31–16	51,496	[3]
September 20	12:30 p.m.	at No. 9 Baylor*		Baylor Stadium Waco, TX	ABC	W 17–14	35,000	[4]
September 27	4:00 p.m.	No. 6 Washington	No. 12	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	WTBS	W 20–10	58,023	[5]
October 4	6:30 p.m.	Oregon	No. 9	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 35–21	51,340	[6]
October 11	1:00 p.m.	at Washington State	No. 9	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA		L 14–34	26,000	[7]
October 18	1:30 p.m.	No. 10 Arizona State	No. 15	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		L 20–29	65,874	[8]
October 25	12:30 p.m.	at No. 19 Stanford		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	CBS	W 10–0	73,500	[9]
November 1	5:30 p.m.	at No. 14 Arizona	No. 18	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	PSN	W 20–13	55,046	[10]
November 15	4:00 p.m.	California	No. 13	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	WTBS	W 28–3	48,019	[11]
November 22	3:00 p.m.	at No. 18 UCLA	No. 10	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Victory Bell)	PSN	L 25–45	98,370	[12]
November 29	12:30 p.m.	Notre Dame*	No. 17	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	CBS	L 37–38	70,614	[13]
January 1, 1987	9:00 a.m.	vs. No. 10 Auburn*		Florida Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL (Florida Citrus Bowl)	ABC	L 7–16	51,113	[14]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

Rankings

Further information: 1986 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Game summaries

Illinois

See also: 1986 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

At No. 9 Baylor

USC at Baylor

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Trojans	0	7	0	10	17
No. 9 Bears	7	0	0	7	14

• Date: September 20
• Location: Baylor Stadium
  Waco, Texas
• Game attendance: 35,000
• TV announcers (ABC Sports): Keith Jackson (play-by-play) and Tim Brant (analyst)

  

Scoring summary

1		Baylor	Matt Clark 1-yard run (Terry Syler kick)	Baylor 7–0
2	0:15	USC	Tim McDonald 99-yard fumble return (Don Shafer kick)	Tied 7–7
4	7:24	Baylor	Charles Perry 3-yard run (Terry Syler kick)	Baylor 14–7
	3:50	USC	Ken Henry 12-yard pass from Rodney Peete (Don Shafer kick)	Tied 14–14
	0:00	USC	Don Shafer 32-yard field goal	USC 17–14

See also: 1986 Baylor Bears football team

Visiting USC stunned the No. 9 Bears on Don Shafer's 32-yard field goal on the final play. Baylor dominated the game statistically, outgaining USC 408-197, holding a 26–11 advantage is first downs (including not allowing USC a first down through three quarters), and maintaining a 15-minute advantage in time of possession (37:47 to 22:13). Mirroring the result of last year's matchup, the unranked road team knocked off the host with an AP top ten ranking.^[15]

No. 6 Washington

See also: 1986 Washington Huskies football team

Vs. No. 10 Auburn (Florida Citrus Bowl)

Auburn vs. USC

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 10 Tigers	0	14	0	2	16
Trojans	7	0	0	0	7

• Date: January 1, 1987
• Location: Florida Citrus Bowl
  Orlando, Florida
• Game attendance: 51,113
• TV announcers (ABC Sports): Frank Gifford (play-by-play), Lynn Swann (analyst)

Main article: 1987 Florida Citrus Bowl

See also: 1986 Auburn Tigers football team

^[16]

Roster

1986 USC Trojans football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class G 79 Jeff Bregel (C) Sr RB Aaron Emanuel Fr OL John Guerrero  So   Ken Henry RB Ryan Knight QB 16 Rodney Peete So	Defense Pos. # Name Class S 6 Tim McDonald (C) Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK 10 Don Shafer Sr	Head coach Ted Tollner Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt