2020 Season Summary and Review
Season Review
Well, I have to say, looking back on my remarks during the summer, this season was one heckuva surprise - and a pleasant one at that. The kids took to Offensive Coordinator Spencer Foley's wishbone offense like a fish to water and they ran with it - and boy did we ever run.
There were three significant factors that contributed greatly to our second consecutive national championship here at Southern Cal. First and foremost was the play of Tailback J.B. Wilson. Plain and simple, J.B. is the best football player I have ever coached. It's a damn shame that young man didn't win the Heisman in his time with us, he certainly deserved to. He's going to be one heckuva NFL player. J.B.'s performance this year was simply stellar. But aside from all the yardage and statistics he put up, Wilson is one of those rare backs that can smell the goalline and seems to be able to dial it up a notch - even though he's already a level above everyone else on the field. J.B. one us a lot of games this year - and over the past four years. He'll be missed tremendously as he goes on to a career in the pros.
The second key factor that was crucial to our success was the play of first year Quarterback Kenny Finch. We all knew Kenny could run the ball - he showed us that in practice during his redshirt year. But his abilityto avoid turnovers and his uncanny knack to make the big pass in a crucial situation showed us something about the young man that you can't really ever know until you get him on the field in the heat of battle. This kid has heart and guts. I really look forward to coaching Kenny over the next three seasons as he develops. He's a perfect fit for our offense and we hope he'll continue to develop as a passer as he did this year.
The third major factor in our success was our run defense. Teams simply could not run against us and eventually they just gave up trying. We held opponents to a total of 490 yards rushing on the season - an average of 1.53 yards per carry. This inability to run which led to teams going strictly to the air, helped contribute to our fantastic turnover ratio of +17, which was 4th best in the nation. We had such a terrific secondary that they managed 20 interceptions on the season, making it extremely difficult to do anything offensively against us.
All in all, our 2020 championship run was a joy to coach. Everything worked like clockwork, we controlled the clock almost every game, we didn't make many mistakes and we created a lot of opportunities by causing our opponents to make mistakes. And when you play that kind of football, consistently over your entire schedule, only good things can happen.
And in 2020 they did.
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2020 USC Award Winners
Code:
University of Southern California Trojans
Individual Awards
* OG Bobby Burgess (5th yr Sr.)
- 1st Team All-American
- Academic All-American
- Senior All-American
- 1st Team All PAC-10
- Academic All PAC-10
* TB J.B. Wilson (5th yr Sr.)
- 2nd Team All-American
- Academic All-American
- Senior All-American
- PAC-10 Most Valuable Player
- PAC-10 Offensive Player of the Year
- 1st Team All PAC-10
- Academic All PAC-10
* S Lawrence Abdul-Jabbar (Jr.)
- Academic All-American
- Academic All PAC-10
* OC Gino Lyubashevsky (RS Sr.)
- 1st Team All PAC-10
* OG Desmond Connell (RS Jr.)
- 1st Team All PAC-10
* DE Wally Knight (RS Sr.)
- 1st Team All PAC-10
* WR Edwin Kidman (5th yr Sr.)
- 2nd Team All PAC-10
* OT Nate Dillon (Rs Jr.)
- 2nd Team All PAC-10
* K Rodney Gardner (5th yr Sr.)
- 2nd Team All PAC-10
* NT Andrew Francis (5th yr Sr.)
- 2nd Team All PAC-10
* LB Renaldo Elder (5th yr Sr.)
- 2nd team All PAC-10
* DE Floyd Jeffers (RS Jr.)
- Academic All PAC-10
* * *
2020 USC Team Summary
Code:
The College Years
The University of Southern California Trojans
2020 Team Summary
Head Coach: Bear Growlz (13th season)
Offensive Coordinator: Spencer Foley (1st season)
Defensive Coordinator: Clarence Ackerman (3rd season)
Syndicate Coordinator: Arnie Urlacher (2nd season)
Lead Scout: Lester Stargell (3rd season)
Overall Record: 12-0
BCS Rank: #1 ***2020 National Champions***
Coaches Poll: #2
Fans Poll: #2
PAC-10 Record: 8-0
PAC-10 Standings: 1st ***2020 PAC-10 CHAMPIONS***
Southern California Team Rank
Rushes 605 2
Rushing Yards 2457 3
Yards Per Carry 4.06 25 (T)
Pass Attempts 211 124
Completions 140 101 (T)
Passing Yards 2139 68
Yards Per Attempt 10.13 4
3rd Down Conversions 44.9 13
Points Per Game 34.2 14
Turnovers 8 1
Turnover Margin +17 4 (T)
Opponents Team Rank
Rushes 319 2
Rushing Yards 490 1
Yards Per Carry 1.53 2 (T)
Pass Attempts 356 102 (T)
Completions 169 36 (T)
Opponent Comp. Pct. 47.5% 13
Passing Yards 2069 32
Yards Per Attempt 5.81 18
3rd Down Conversions 29.2 20
Points Per Game 11.7 4 (T)
Turnovers 25 28 (T)
Primary Formation: Wishbone Formation
Week Team Versus Oppnt
2 30 KSC* (46) 3
3 35 at GEOR (93) 14
5 56 AZST (122) 7
6 26 at ORST (98) 0
7 45 CALI (21) 24
8 22 at OREG (86) 10
9 27 at STAN (65) 10
10 45 at WAST (44) 17
11 38 ARIZ (91) 10
12 42 at NODM (31) 10
13 23 UCLA (4) 20
20 22 vs FLOR (3) 16 ***Rose Bowl/BCS National Championship Game***
Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int Comp.%
1 Finch QB 195 130 1972 10.11 8 4 66.7%
Team --- 211 140 2139 10.13 9 4 66.4%
Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD Stff YdLst
48 Wilson RB 439 1848 4.20 25 110 160
1 Finch QB 89 288 3.23 4 34 102
24 Daugherty RB 57 183 3.21 3 19 23
Team --- 605 2457 4.06 34 170 299
Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc YAC TD
6 Kidman WR 71 43 801 18.6 235 2
48 Wilson RB 39 24 333 13.8 148 1
22 Benzer FB 35 26 256 9.8 137 1
24 Daugherty RB 23 18 299 16.6 161 2
82 Hastings TE 17 12 202 16.8 67 2
Team --- 211 140 2139 15.2 858 9
Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack TFL Ints Defn
54 Elder ILB 75 21 1.0 19 2 4
38 Abdul-Jabbar S 46 18 0.0 10 4 17
20 Esparza S 41 14 0.0 8 2 10
49 Whalen ILB 39 14 0.0 11 2 6
31 Fitzgerald CB 34 15 0.0 3 2 5
99 Francis DT 28 8 4.0 12 0 0
91 Knight DE 28 10 10.0 16 0 0
90 Kariya OLB 26 10 5.5 10 1 4
21 Cipa CB 25 8 0.0 3 1 5
72 Jeffers DE 23 12 9.5 15 0 1
55 Biakabutuka OLB 17 3 0.0 3 0 1
42 Blackston OLB 17 8 5.5 7 1 4
26 Knight CB 16 10 0.0 2 2 6
98 McWilliams DT 14 8 3.5 5 0 0
35 Jacobs CB 12 3 1.0 2 0 2
Team --- 543 170 45.0 137 20 70
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