1981 USC Trojans football team explained

Year:	1981
Team:	USC Trojans
Sport:	football
Conference:	Pacific-10 Conference
Short Conf:	Pac-10
Coachrank:	13
Aprank:	14
Record:	9–3
Conf Record:	5–2
Head Coach:	John Robinson
Hc Year:	6th
Def Coach:	R. C. Slocum
Dc Year:	1st
Captain:	Marcus Allen
Captain2:	Chip Banks
Bowl:	Fiesta Bowl
Bowl Result:	L 10–26 vs. Penn State

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.^[1]

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.^[2] 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.

Game summaries

Tennessee

See also: 1981 Tennessee Volunteers football team.

Marcus Allen 22 Rush, 210 Yds, 4 TD (sat out most of second half)^[3]

Indiana

• Marcus Allen 40 rushes, 274 yards ^[4]

Oklahoma

See also: 1981 Oklahoma Sooners football team.

^[5]

• Marcus Allen 39 rushes, 208 yards ^[6]

Oregon State

• Marcus Allen 35 rushes, 233 yards ^[7]

Washington State

• Marcus Allen 44 rushes, 289 yards ^[8]

California

• Marcus Allen 46 rushes, 243 yards ^[9]

UCLA

See also: 1981 UCLA Bruins football team and Victory Bell (UCLA–USC).

George Achica blocked Norm Johnson's game-winning 46-yard field goal attempt in the final seconds to preserve the USC victory.

Vs. Penn State (Fiesta Bowl)

• Source:

See main article: 1982 Fiesta Bowl.

See also: 1981 Penn State Nittany Lions football team.

Awards and honors

• Marcus Allen, Heisman Trophy^[10]
• Marcus Allen, Maxwell Award
• Marcus Allen, Walter Camp Award^[11]
• Marcus Allen, Pac-10 Player of the Year
• Marcus Allen, All-Pac-10^[12]

1981 team players in the NFL

• Marcus Allen
• Chip Banks
• Joey Browner
• Keith Browner
• Fred Cornwell
• August Curley
• Byron Darby
• Jack Del Rio
• Dennis Edwards
• Riki Ellison
• John Harvey
• Michael Marper
• Bruce Matthews
• Don Mosebar
• Jeff Simmons
• Tony Slaton
• Kelly Thomas
• Joe Turner
• Troy West

Notes and References

1. Web site: Southern California Yearly Results (1980-1984). David DeLassus. College Football Data Warehouse. July 20, 2015. July 22, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150722083955/http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/active/s/southern_california/1980-1984_yearly_results.php. dead.
2. Web site: 1981 Southern California Trojans Stats. Sports Reference LLC. SR/College Football. July 21, 2015.
3. News: USC Mauls Vols. The Register-Guard. Eugene. September 13, 1981.
4. https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/usctrojans.com/documents/2020/10/6/usc_trojans_football_2020_media_guide_extra_pages.pdf 2020 USC Media Guide Supplement
5. News: USC Wins, 28-24, in Final 2 Seconds . . September 27, 1981 . November 23, 2019.
6. https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/usctrojans.com/documents/2020/10/6/usc_trojans_football_2020_media_guide_extra_pages.pdf 2020 USC Media Guide Supplement
7. https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/usctrojans.com/documents/2020/10/6/usc_trojans_football_2020_media_guide_extra_pages.pdf 2020 USC Media Guide Supplement
8. https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/usctrojans.com/documents/2020/10/6/usc_trojans_football_2020_media_guide_extra_pages.pdf 2020 USC Media Guide Supplement
9. https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/usctrojans.com/documents/2020/10/6/usc_trojans_football_2020_media_guide_extra_pages.pdf 2020 USC Media Guide Supplement
10. Web site: Heisman.com - Heisman Trophy . 2007-04-16 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070411031301/http://www.heisman.com/winners/hsmn-winners.html . 2007-04-11 .
11. Web site: Football . 2008-12-09 . 2011-07-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110707074829/http://collegefootball.about.com/od/collegefootballawards/a/award-camp.htm . dead .
12. Web site: Sports. 2009-01-30. 2008-12-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20081210121047/http://football.about.com/cs/marcusallen/a/bl_marcusallen.htm. dead.