1989 USC Trojans football team

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

1989 USC Trojans football
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);
Captains	Dan Owens Leroy Holt; Brad Leggett; Tim Ryan;
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

1989 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 8 $	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 in 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 Pac-10 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 in his six seasons as head coach.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 4	5:00 p.m.	No. 22 Illinois*	No. 5	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	ABC	L 13–14	54,622	^[1]
September 16	7:00 p.m.	Utah State*	No. 13	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 66–10	50,249	^[2]
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	^[3]
September 30	12:30 p.m.	at No. 19 Washington State	No. 11	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	ABC	W 18–17	38,434	^[4]
October 7	12:30 p.m.	Washington	No. 9	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	ABC	W 24–16	58,410	^[5]
October 14	3:30 p.m.	at California	No. 10	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	Prime	W 31–15	52,000	^[6]
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	^[7]
October 28	3:30 p.m.	Stanford	No. 10	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	Prime	W 19–0	67,411	^[8]
November 4	3:30 p.m.	Oregon State	No. 9	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	Prime	W 48–6	72,139	^[9]
November 11	12:30 p.m.	at No. 25 Arizona	No. 9	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	ABC	W 24–3	52,606	^[10]
November 18	12:30 p.m.	UCLA	No. 8	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	ABC	T 10–10	86,672	^[11]
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	^[12]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Rankings

Game summaries

Illinois

Utah State

Ohio State

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

Quarter	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

Team	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]

Washington

At California

At Notre Dame

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

Quarter	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

Stanford

Stanford at USC

Team	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

^[13]

Oregon State

At Arizona

UCLA

Vs. Michigan (Rose Bowl)

USC vs. Michigan

Team	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

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.^[14]

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

Team players drafted into the NFL

The following players were selected 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

^[15]

References

^ "Illinois rally jolts Southern California". The Courier-News. September 5, 1989. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Ervins runs wild in USC victory". Ventura County Star. September 17, 1989. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Trojans trounce Buckeyes 42–3". The Palm Beach Post. September 24, 1989. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Cougar victory slips away". The Olympian. October 1, 1989. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "After slow start, USC finishes off Huskies". Daily Times-Advocate. October 8, 1989. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Cal's loss to Trojans solves fans' Series problem". Oakland Tribune. October 15, 1989. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Irish overcome mistakes, overtake Trojans, 28–24". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. October 22, 1989. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Trojans clumsy, but Stanford worse". The Houston Post. October 29, 1989. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Who they kidding: Trojans 48–6". The San Bernardino County Sun. November 5, 1989. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "USC bowls over Arizona, 24–3". Honolulu Star-Bulletin & Advertiser. November 12, 1989. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Trojans, UCLA feel tie is loss". The Fresno Bee. November 19, 1989. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Southern Cal spoils Bo's last Rose 17–10". The Atlanta Journal & Constitution. January 2, 1990. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ 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.

[1] "Illinois rally jolts Southern California". The Courier-News. September 5, 1989. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[2] "Ervins runs wild in USC victory". Ventura County Star. September 17, 1989. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[3] "Trojans trounce Buckeyes 42–3". The Palm Beach Post. September 24, 1989. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[4] "Cougar victory slips away". The Olympian. October 1, 1989. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[5] "After slow start, USC finishes off Huskies". Daily Times-Advocate. October 8, 1989. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[6] "Cal's loss to Trojans solves fans' Series problem". Oakland Tribune. October 15, 1989. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[7] "Irish overcome mistakes, overtake Trojans, 28–24". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. October 22, 1989. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[8] "Trojans clumsy, but Stanford worse". The Houston Post. October 29, 1989. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[9] "Who they kidding: Trojans 48–6". The San Bernardino County Sun. November 5, 1989. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[10] "USC bowls over Arizona, 24–3". Honolulu Star-Bulletin & Advertiser. November 12, 1989. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[11] "Trojans, UCLA feel tie is loss". The Fresno Bee. November 19, 1989. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[12] "Southern Cal spoils Bo's last Rose 17–10". The Atlanta Journal & Constitution. January 2, 1990. Retrieved June 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[13] Gainesville Sun. 1989 Oct 29.

[14] "Farewell to Bo Played Strictly by Book, 17-10". Los Angeles Times. January 2, 1990. Retrieved August 24, 2019.

[15] "1990 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 20, 2007.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]


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


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


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

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 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

Pac-12 Conference football champions
Pacific Coast	Washington (1916) Washington State (1917) California (1918) Oregon & Washington (1919) California (1920) California (1921) California (1922) California (1923) California & Stanford (1924) Washington (1925) Stanford (1926) Idaho, Stanford, & USC (1927) USC (1928) California, Oregon, Stanford, & USC (1929) Washington State (1930) USC (1931) USC (1932) Oregon & Stanford (1933) Stanford (1934) California, Stanford, & UCLA (1935) Washington (1936) California (1937) California & USC (1938) USC (1939) Stanford (1940) Oregon State (1941) UCLA (1942) USC (1943) USC (1944) USC (1945) UCLA (1946) USC (1947) California & Oregon (1948) California (1949) California (1950) Stanford (1951) USC (1952) UCLA (1953) UCLA (1954) UCLA (1955) Oregon State (1956) Oregon & Oregon State (1957) California (1958)
AAWU	UCLA, USC, & Washington (1959) Washington (1960) UCLA (1961) USC (1962) Washington (1963) Oregon State & USC (1964) UCLA (1965) USC (1966) USC (1967)
Pacific-8	USC (1968) USC (1969) Stanford (1970) Stanford (1971) USC (1972) USC (1973) USC (1974) California & UCLA (1975) USC (1976) Washington (1977)
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) (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