Year: | 2018 |
Team: | USC Trojans |
Sport: | football |
Conference: | Pac-12 Conference |
Division: | South Division |
Short Conf: | Pac-12 |
Record: | 5–7 |
Conf Record: | 4–5 |
Hc Year: | 3rd |
Oc Year: | 4th |
Dc Year: | 4th |
The 2018 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They played their home games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and competed as members of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference. They were led by third-year head coach Clay Helton.
Despite being ranked No. 15 in the AP Poll's preseason rankings, the Trojans finished the season 5–7, the program's first losing record since 2000 and missed a bowl game for the first time since that year (The 2010 and 2011 teams were banned from postseason play due to NCAA sanctions.) USC lost to both of its major rivals, UCLA and Notre Dame, in the same season for the first time since 2013, and it also lost to all other California Pac-12 schools (UCLA, California, and Stanford) in the same season for the first time since 1996. The team went 4–5 in Pac-12 play, tying Arizona for third place in the Pac-12 South Division.
On November 25, USC athletic director Lynn Swann announced that head coach Clay Helton would return in 2019 despite the disappointing season.
Name | Position | Seasons at USC | Alma mater | Before USC |
---|---|---|---|---|
Head coach | 8 | Houston (1994) | Memphis – Offensive coordinator (2009) | |
John Baxter | Special teams coordinator | 7 | Iowa State (1987) | Michigan – Special teams coordinator (2015) |
Secondary coach | 3 | Colorado (1995) | LA Tech – Defensive backs coach / special teams coordinator (2015) | |
Tight ends coach / inside receivers coach | 4 | USC (2006) | Alabama – Offensive analyst (2015) | |
Tailbacks coach / offensive line coach / running game coordinator / pass protection coordinator | 2 | Cal State Fullerton (1992) | Michigan – Offensive coordinator / offensive line coach (2015) | |
Quarterbacks coach | 2 | UAB (2011) | Western Kentucky – Wide receivers coach (2015) | |
Offensive coordinator / wide receivers coach | 7 | Tennessee (2004) | Kentucky – Wide receivers coach (2011) | |
Johnny Nansen | Linebackers coach / recruiting coordinator / assistant head coach | 5 | Washington State (1997) | Washington – Special teams coordinator / Tailbacks coach (2013) |
Clancy Pendergast | Defensive coordinator | 5 | Arizona (1990) | San Francisco 49ers – Linebackers coach (2015) |
Kenechi Udeze | Defensive line coach | 4 | USC (2010) | Pittsburgh – Assistant strength and conditioning coach (2014) |
Ivan Lewis | Head strength and conditioning coach | 5 | San Diego (2003) | Washington – Head strength & conditioning coach (2013) |
Prentice Gill | Offensive graduate assistant – Wide receivers | 4 | Old Dominion (2012) | San Jose State – Graduate assistant (defensive backs) (2015) |
Trevor Guyton | Defensive graduate assistant – Defensive line | 1 | California (2013) | Saskatchewan Roughriders – Defensive line (2014) |
Michael Hutchings | Defensive graduate assistant – Linebackers | 1 | USC (2017) | USC – Inside linebacker (2016) |
Dane Stevens | Offensive graduate assistant – Tight ends | 2 | USC (2016) | USC – Student assistant coach (2016) |
USC returns 31 starters in 2018, including 11 on offense, 13 on defense, and 5 on special teams.
Key departures include Sam Darnold (QB – 14 games), Ronald Jones II (TB – 13 games), Deontay Burnett (WR – 12 games), Steven Mitchell (WR – 7 games), Jalen Greene (WR – 5 games), Viane Talamaivao (OG – 5 games), Nico Falah (C – 14 games), Rasheem Green(DE/DT – 14 games), Josh Fatu (DT – 12 games), Uchenna Nwosu (OLB – 14 games), Jack Jones (CB – 13 games), Chris Hawkins (S – 14 games), Ykili Ross (S – 2 games).
Other departures include James Toland IV (TB), Matt Lopes (S).
Player | Class | Position | Games started |
---|---|---|---|
Stephen Carr | Sophomore | Tailback | 1 game |
Tyler Vaughns | Sophomore | Wide receiver | 10 games |
Michael Pittman Jr. | Junior | Wide receiver | 6 games |
Tyler Petite | Senior | Tight end | 11 games |
Daniel Imatorbhebhe | Junior | Tight end | 4 games |
Erik Krommenhoek | Sophomore | Tight end | 1 game |
Toa Lobendahn | Senior | Offensive tackle | 13 games |
Chuma Edoga | Senior | Offensive tackle | 12 games |
Chris Brown | Senior | Offensive guard | 14 games |
Andrew Vorhees | Sophomore | Offensive guard | 9 games |
Clayton Bradley | Junior | Offensive tackle | 3 games |
Player | Class | Position | Games started | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Christian Rector | Junior | Defensive line | 5 games | |
Malik Dorton | Senior | Defensive tackle | 3 games | |
Brandon Pili | Sophomore | Defensive tackle | 2 games | |
Marlon Tuipulotu | Freshman | Defensive tackle | 1 game | |
Porter Gustin | Senior | Outside linebacker | 2 games | |
Connor Murphy | Junior | Outside linebacker | 1 game | |
Cameron Smith | Senior | Inside linebacker | 13 games | |
John Houston Jr. | Junior | Inside linebacker | 12 games | |
Jordan Iosefa | Junior | Linebacker | 7 games | |
Iman Marshall | Senior | Cornerback | 11 games | |
Ajene Harris | Senior | Cornerback | 10 games | |
Isaiah Langley | Senior | Cornerback | 4 games | |
Marvell Tell | Senior | Safety | 14 games |
Player | Class | Position | Games started | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Reid Budrovich | Senior | Punter | 14 games | |
Wyatt Schmidt | Senior | Holder | 13 games | |
Chase McGrath | Sophomore | Kicker | 13 games | |
Damon Johnson | Sophomore | Long snapper | 12 games | |
Michael Brown | Sophomore | Kicker | 2 games |
The Trojans lost 5 players due to transfer.
Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Transfer to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jalen Greene |
| WR | 6'2 | 200 | Senior | Utah State | |||
Jamel Cook |
| S | 6'4 | 190 | Sophomore | South Carolina | |||
Olajuwon Tucker |
| LB | 6'2 | 220 | Senior | – | |||
Roy Hemsley |
| OG | 6'5 | 315 | Junior | Arizona State | |||
Je'Quari Godfrey |
| CB | 6'2 | 185 | Freshman | - |
True Freshman
Double Position : *
Position | Freshman (28) | Sophomore (23) | Junior (11) | Senior (17) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
QB 3 (2) | JT Daniels | – | – | ||||
TB 4 (1) | Markese Stepp | Stephen Carr | – | Aca'Cedric Ware | |||
FB 1 | – | – | – | ||||
WR 9 (3) | Amon-Ra St. Brown Devon Williams | Randal Grimes | Michael Pittman Jr. | – | | ||
TE 4 (2) | – | Josh Falo Erik Krommenhoek | Tyler Petite | | |||
OL 14 (0) | Justin Dedich Liam Douglass | | Chuma Edoga | ||||
DL 10 (1) | Trevor Trout | Connor Murphy Caleb Tremblay | |||||
OLB 8 (2) | Kana'i Mauga Abdul-Malik McClain Raymond Scott Eli'Jah Winston | Juliano Falaniko | Oluwole Betiku Jr. | Porter Gustin | |||
ILB 7 (2) | Palaie Gaoteote IV Solomon Tuliaupupu | Levi Jones | Jordan Iosefa | Cameron Smith | | ||
CB 9 (2) | Olaijah Griffin Isaac Taylor-Stuart Chase Williams | – | Isaiah Langley Iman Marshall | | |||
S 5 (0) | Talanoa Hufanga | Bubba Bolden | – | ||||
SP 5 (1) | – | Damon Johnson Chase McGrath* | – | ||||
ATH | x | x | x | x | |||
/ / * Former walk-on
– 85 scholarships permitted, 81 currently allotted to players
– 78 recruited players on scholarship (Three former walk-ons)
– OT Jalen McKenzie took an advanced scholarship or "blueshirt" limiting USC's class of 2018 to 24.
Projecting Scholarship Distribution 2018
See main article: 2018 NFL draft.
The official list of participants for the 2018 NFL Combine included USC football players WR Deontay Burnett, QB Sam Darnold, DE Rasheem Green, RB Ronald Jones II, WR Steven Mitchell Jr. & OLB Uchenna Nwosu.
Player | Position | Round | Pick | NFL Team |
Sam Darnold (Sophomore) | 1 | 3 | New York Jets | |
Ronald Jones II (Junior) | 2 | 38 (6) | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | |
2 | 48 (I6) | Los Angeles Chargers | ||
Rasheem Green (Junior) | 3 | 79 (I5) | Seattle Seahawks | |
UDFA | – | Los Angeles Rams | ||
Deontay Burnett (Junior) | UDFA | – | Tennessee Titans | |
Viane Talamaivao | UDFA | – | Seattle Seahawks | |
UDFA | – | Tennessee Titans | ||
Josh Fatu | UDFA | – | Detroit Lions | |
Chris Hawkins | UDFA | – | Seattle Seahawks | |
See also: 2018 UNLV Rebels football team.
See also: 2018 Stanford Cardinal football team and Stanford–USC football rivalry.
See also: 2018 Texas Longhorns football team.
See also: 2018 Washington State Cougars football team.
See also: 2018 Arizona Wildcats football team.
See also: 2018 Colorado Buffaloes football team.
See also: 2018 Utah Utes football team.
See also: 2018 Arizona State Sun Devils football team.
See also: 2018 Oregon State Beavers football team.
See also: 2018 California Golden Bears football team.
See also: 2018 UCLA Bruins football team.
See also: 2018 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team and Notre Dame–USC football rivalry.
Pac-12 media days are set for July 25, 2018, in Hollywood, California. Clay Helton (Head coach), Porter Gustin (OLB) & Cameron Smith (ILB) at Pac-12 media days. The Pac-12 media poll was released with the Trojans predicted to win the Pac-12 South division title.[1]
Media poll (South) | |||
1 | USC | 225 (22) | |
2 | Utah | 209 (14) | |
3 | Arizona | 178 (3) | |
4 | UCLA | 116 (2) | |
5 | Colorado | 80 (1) | |
6 | Arizona State | 72 |
– | Watch list | [2] | |||
Stephen Carr | Sophomore | Watch list | [3] | ||
[4] | |||||
Aca'Cedric Ware | Senior | Watch list | |||
Sophomore | Polynesian College Football Player of the Year | Watch list | |||
Tyler Petite | Senior | Watch list | [5] | ||
Jordan Austin | Senior | Nominee | [6] | ||
Toa Lobendahn | Senior | Watch list | [7] | ||
[8] | |||||
Polynesian College Football Player of the Year | [9] | ||||
Sophomore | Polynesian College Football Player of the Year | Watch list | |||
Christian Rector | Junior | Watch list | [10] | ||
[11] | |||||
Senior | Watch list | [12] | |||
[13] | |||||
[14] | |||||
Senior | Watch list | ||||
Jordan Iosefa | Junior | Polynesian College Football Player of the Year | Watch list | ||
Senior | Watch list | [15] | |||
Senior | Watch list | ||||
Jake Olson | Junior | Watch list | [16] | ||
Honors and Awards Source: 2018 Arizona Media Notes
See also: 2019 NFL draft.
3 | 92 | OT | New York Jets | ||
4 | 127 | CB | Baltimore Ravens | ||
5 | 144 | S | Indianapolis Colts | ||
5 | 162 | LB | Minnesota Vikings |