Next meeting 2017 All-time series USC leads, 60–32–3 | Meetings total 95 Largest victory USC, 49–0 (1977) | |
First meeting November 4, 1905
Stanford 16, USC 0 Latest meeting September 17, 2016
#7 Stanford 27, USC 10 | ||
The Stanford–USC football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Stanford Cardinal and USC Trojans, both members of the Pac-12 Conference and the only private schools in the conference. The two teams first played in 1905 and have met nearly every year since 1919 (missing only 1921, 1924, and World War II years 1943–1945), frequently vying for the conference championship and a berth in the Rose Bowl. Stanford is USC's oldest current rival.
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Early rivalry
The rivalry began in earnest in the 1930s during a period in which USC had several undefeated seasons. A group of Stanford freshmen, after a stinging loss to an undefeated USC team, promised never to lose to USC again. The "Vow Boys" made good on their promise, winning their next 3 games against the Trojans.
Notable games and incidents
For most of its history, USC dominated the series, and overall USC has won about two-thirds of the games, but the rivalry has been marked with notable incidents and expressions of disdain between the two schools. In 1972, USC coach John McKay accused Stanford and its fans of having "no class" and said he'd "like to beat Stanford by 2,000 points"; Stanford coach Jack Christiansen responded that he wouldn't "get into a urinating contest with a skunk". In 1979, Stanford came back in the last four minutes to tie #1 USC 21–21 on October 13. This game, considered one of the greatest of the 20th century, effectively cost USC a national title (they dropped to #4 in the polls afterwards). USC finished 11–0–1, but was ranked #2 in both polls due to the tie. In 1980, the Stanford Band marched onto the field accompanied by a horse skeleton on wheels, being ridden by a Trojan-helmeted human skeleton, in a parody of USC's Traveler mascot. For the 2012 game, the Stanford band leader inexplicably showed up dressed as the USC Trojan mascot.
Recent history
The competitive atmosphere of the rivalry has heated up since 2007, after Stanford hired head coach Jim Harbaugh. 1–3 Stanford (who had been 1–11 the prior season under head coach Walt Harris) entered the 2007 game as a 41-point underdog against #2 USC, but pulled out a 24–23 win in what has been called one of the biggest college football upsets of all time.
The 2009 game was marked by a post-game verbal confrontation between Harbaugh and USC head coach Pete Carroll, after Stanford capped off its convincing 55–21 win over #9 USC with a late 2-point conversion attempt and another touchdown; Carroll came off the field saying "What's your deal?" at Harbaugh, who responded, "What's your deal?" Stanford then adopted the phrase as a slogan for its season ticket packages.
In recent years, the rivalry has been memorable for its upsets. The lower-ranked team pulled off an upset six out of nine years from 2007–2015 (four by Stanford and two by USC), including four years in a row from 2012–2015 (two each for Stanford and USC). In 2012, #21 Stanford knocked off the #2 Trojans, 21–14. In 2013, unranked USC defeated #5 Stanford 20–17, ending Stanford's longest winning streak in the series, at four, and possibly costing the Cardinal a trip to the national championship game. In 2015, unranked Stanford went on the road and upset #6 USC 41–31.
#7 Stanford and #24 USC won their divisions in 2015, setting up a rematch in the Pac-12 Championship Game, which #7 Stanford won 41–22, also ending the four-year streak of upsets in the series.
In 2010, the then-Pac-10 Conference expanded to 12 teams and split into north and south divisions, moving Stanford and USC into different divisions. This move threatened the annual rivalry, since teams from each division were not scheduled to play each other every year; however, the conference elected to maintain the "historic California rivalries".
Both teams being ranked entering the game was once a rare occurrence but has become the norm in recent years. There have been 12 games where both Stanford and USC were ranked, with 2 from 1940–1953, 4 from 1968–1972, just 1 from 1973–2008, and 5 from 2009–2015.
USC leads the series 60–32–3; they have led since the third game. USC holds the longest win streak in the series, with 12 wins from 1958–1969. Stanford's longest win streak was 4 from 2009–2012. USC went 39–9–1 from 1958–2006; however, Stanford has taken the lead since then, going 8–3. They have also beaten USC at the Coliseum in 4 of the last 5 meetings there.