The 1971 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1971 NCAA University Division football season. In their 12th year under head coach John McKay, the Trojans compiled a 6–4–1 record (3–2–1 against conference opponents), finished in second place in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8), and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 229 to 164. ^[1] The team was ranked #20 in the final AP Poll.

Jim Jones led the team in passing, completing 89 of 161 passes for 995 yards with seven touchdowns and ten interceptions. Lou Harris led the team in rushing with 167 carries for 801 yards and four touchdowns. Edesel Garrison led the team in receiving with 25 catches for 475 yards and five touchdowns. ^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 10	No. 16 Alabama*	No. 5	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 10–17	67,781
September 18	at Rice*	No. 17	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	W 24–0	22,000
September 25	Illinois*	No. 16	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 28–0	49,390
October 2	at No. 8 Oklahoma*	No. 17	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	L 20–33	62,351
October 9	Oregon		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 23–28	50,111
October 16	No. 15 Stanford		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA ( rivalry)	L 18–33	65,375
October 23	at No. 6 Notre Dame*		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN ( rivalry)	W 28–14	59,075
October 30	at California	No. 20	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	W 28–0	54,000
November 6	Washington State	No. 17	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 30–20	57,432
November 13	at No. 19 Washington	No. 15	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	W 13–12	59,982
November 20	UCLA	No. 15	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA ( Victory Bell)	T 7–7	68,426
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

Season summary

At Notre Dame

^[3]

At Washington

Jimmy Jones sets school record for total career touchdowns (42), breaking the old mark held by Mort Kaer.

References