A four-year starter, Matt Barkley is the Trojans' career leader in passing yards and passing touchdowns. The USC Trojans football statistical leaders are individual statistical leaders of the USC Trojans football program in various categories,[1] including passing , rushing , receiving , total offense , defensive stats, and kicking /special teams. Within those areas, the lists identify single-game, single-season, and career leaders. Through the 2023 season, the Trojans represented the University of Southern California in the NCAA Division I FBS Pac-12 Conference , but will join the Big Ten Conference for 2024 and beyond.
Although USC began competing in intercollegiate football in 1888,[1] the school's official record book considers the "modern era" to have begun in the 1920s. Records from before this decade are often incomplete and inconsistent, and they are generally not included in these lists.
These lists are dominated by more recent players for several reasons:
Since the 1920s, seasons have increased from 10 to 11 and then 12 games in length. The NCAA didn't allow freshmen to play varsity football until 1972 (with the exception of the World War II years), allowing players to have four-year careers. The Trojans have played in 57 bowl games in school history,[2] 39 of which have come since the 1970 season . Although the official NCAA record book does not include bowl games in statistical records until 2002,[3] and most colleges also structure their record books this way, USC counts all bowl games in its records.[1] Due to COVID-19 issues, the NCAA ruled that the 2020 season would not count against the athletic eligibility of any football player, giving everyone who played in that season the opportunity for five years of eligibility instead of the normal four.[4] These lists are updated through the end of the 2023 season . Recent USC Football Media Guides do not include full top 10 lists for single-game records. However, the 2003 version of the media guide included long lists of top individual single-game performances,[5] and box scores from more recent games are readily available, so the lists are easily derived.
Passing [ edit ] Passing yards [ edit ] Career Rk Player Yards Years 1 Matt Barkley 12,327 2009 2010 2011 2012 2 Carson Palmer 11,818 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 3 Matt Leinart 10,693 2002 2003 2004 2005 4 Cody Kessler 10,339 2012 2013 2014 2015 5 Rob Johnson 8,472 1991 1992 1993 1994 6 Rodney Peete 8,225 1985 1986 1987 1988 7 Caleb Williams 8,170[6] 2022 2023 8 Kedon Slovis 7,576 2019 2020 2021 9 Sam Darnold 7,229 2016 2017 10 John David Booty 6,125 2003 2005 2006 2007
Single season Rk Player Yards Year 1 Caleb Williams 4,537 2022 2 Sam Darnold 4,143 2017 3 Carson Palmer 3,942 2002 4 Cody Kessler 3,826 2014 5 Matt Leinart 3,815 2005 6 Caleb Williams 3,633[6] 2023 7 Rob Johnson 3,630 1993 8 Matt Leinart 3,556 2003 9 Cody Kessler 3,536 2015 10 Matt Barkley 3,528 2011
Passing touchdowns [ edit ] Rushing [ edit ] Rushing yards [ edit ] Career Rk Player Yards Years 1 Charles White 6,245 1976 1977 1978 1979 2 Marcus Allen 4,810 1978 1979 1980 1981 3 Anthony Davis 3,724 1972 1973 1974 4 Ricky Bell 3,689 1974 1975 1976 1977 5 Ronald Jones II 3,619 2015 2016 2017 6 O. J. Simpson 3,423 1967 1968 7 Mike Garrett 3,221 1963 1964 1965 8 Reggie Bush 3,169[a] 2003 2004 2005 9 LenDale White 3,159 2003 2004 2005 10 Fred Crutcher 2,815 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985
Single season Rk Player Yards Year 1 Marcus Allen 2,427 1981 2 Charles White 2,050 1979 3 Ricky Bell 1,957 1975 4 O. J. Simpson 1,880 1968 5 Charles White 1,859 1978 6 Reggie Bush 1,740 2005 7 Marcus Allen 1,563 1980 8 Ronald Jones II 1,550 2017 9 O. J. Simpson 1,543 1967 10 Javorius Allen 1,489 2014
Rushing touchdowns [ edit ] Receiving [ edit ] Receptions [ edit ] Receiving yards [ edit ] Career Rk Player Yards Years 1 Marqise Lee 3,655 2011 2012 2013 2 Johnnie Morton 3,201 1990 1991 1992 1993 3 Dwayne Jarrett 3,138 2004 2005 2006 4 Kareem Kelly 3,104 1999 2000 2001 2002 5 JuJu Smith-Schuster 3,092 2014 2015 2016 6 Steve Smith 3,019 2003 2004 2005 2006 7 Keary Colbert 2,964 2000 2001 2002 2003 8 Robert Woods 2,930 2010 2011 2012 9 Tyler Vaughns 2,801 2017 2018 2019 2020 10 Keyshawn Johnson 2,796 1994 1995
Single season Rk Player Yards Year 1 Marqise Lee 1,721 2012 2 Johnnie Morton 1,520 1993 3 JuJu Smith-Schuster 1,454 2015 4 Keyshawn Johnson 1,434 1995 5 Keyshawn Johnson 1,362 1994 6 Mike Williams 1,314 2003 7 Nelson Agholor 1,313 2014 8 Robert Woods 1,292 2011 9 Michael Pittman Jr. 1,275 2019 10 Dwayne Jarrett 1,274 2005
Receiving touchdowns [ edit ] Total offense [ edit ] Total offense is the sum of passing and rushing statistics. It does not include receiving or returns.[10]
Total offense yards [ edit ] Career Rk Player Yards Years 1 Matt Barkley 12,214 2009 2010 2011 2012 2 Carson Palmer 11,621 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 3 Matt Leinart 10,623 2003 2004 2005 4 Cody Kessler 9,914 2012 2013 2014 2015 5 Caleb Williams 8,688 [6] 2022 2023 6 Rodney Peete 8,640 1985 1986 1987 1988 7 Rob Johnson 7,896 1991 1992 1993 1994 8 Sam Darnold 7,561 2016 2017 9 Kedon Slovis 7,426 2019 2020 2021 10 Charles White 6,240 1976 1977 1978 1979
Single season Rk Player Yards Year 1 Caleb Williams 4,919 2022 2 Sam Darnold 4,225 2017 3 Matt Leinart 3,851 2005 4 Carson Palmer 3,820 2002 5 Caleb Williams 3,769 [6] 2023 6 Cody Kessler 3,674 2014 7 Matt Barkley 3,542 2011 8 Matt Leinart 3,494 2003 9 Kedon Slovis 3,445 2019 10 Rob Johnson 3,425 1993
Touchdowns responsible for [ edit ] "Touchdowns responsible for" is the NCAA's official term for combined passing and rushing touchdowns.[11]
Defense [ edit ] Note: The USC Football Media Guide does not generally give a full top 10 in defensive statistics.[1]
Interceptions [ edit ] Tackles [ edit ] Single season Rk Player Tackles Year 1 Rex Moore 206 1986
Single game Rk Player Tackles Year Opponent 1 Sam Anno 23 1986 Illinois
Special teams [ edit ] Field goals made [ edit ] Field goal percentage [ edit ] ^ a b c The NCAA does not credit Bush with this total; it later ruled him to have been ineligible for the last two games of the 2004 season and all of the 2005 season. USC includes all of Bush's statistics in its record books, but adds a prominent disclaimer indicating the NCAA treatment of his records. ^ a b The NCAA does not credit Bush with this game. References [ edit ] ^ a b c d "2023 USC Trojans Football Media Guide" (PDF) . USC Trojans. July 20, 2023. Retrieved December 28, 2023 . ^ "USC Trojans Bowls" . Sports-Reference CFB . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 28, 2023 . ^ "NCAA changes policy on football stats" . ESPN.com . AP. August 28, 2002. Retrieved September 11, 2014 . ^ Cobb, David (August 21, 2020). "NCAA approves blanket waiver for 2020 fall sports athletes to retain year of eligibility" . CBSSports.com . Retrieved November 27, 2021 . ^ "Top Individual Performances" (PDF) . USCTrojans.com . Archived from the original (PDF) on February 22, 2015. Retrieved February 22, 2015 . ^ a b c d e f g h i "Caleb Williams" . ESPN.com . Retrieved December 28, 2023 . ^ a b "USC vs. Colorado Box Score" . ESPN.com . September 30, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023 . ^ a b "Box Score: DIRECTV Holiday Bowl" . ESPN.com . December 27, 2023. Retrieved December 28, 2023 . ^ "Brenden Rice" . ESPN.com . Retrieved December 28, 2023 . ^ "2022 Football Bowl Subdivision Records" (PDF) . NCAA. p. 9. Retrieved October 17, 2022 . ^ "2022 Football Bowl Subdivision Records" (PDF) . NCAA. p. 12. Retrieved October 17, 2022 .
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