USC-Stanford football rivalry stops after 118 years, 102 games, and golden memories
The death of the Pac-12 Conference and the departure of 10 different schools mean that the games we grew up watching in the West won’t be played on a regular basis anymore.
USC-Stanford is one of those games. With the Trojans heading to the Big Ten and the Cardinal moving to the ACC next year, there is no schedule slot for these teams. They schedule nonconference games a few years in advance, and both have Notre Dame as an annual nonconference opponent. USC already has its nonconference dance card for 2024, with LSU and Utah State on the slate in addition to the Fighting Irish.
These schools might enjoy playing other teams for a few years, but the realities of long-distance travel should lead USC and Stanford to schedule a nonconference game later in this decade. For now, though, this rivalry is on pause after USC’s 56-10 win over the Cardinal on Saturday.
Let’s look back at the USC-Stanford football series with statistics, facts, historical notes, and prominent memories:
SERIES TALLY
USC leads the all-time series 65-34-3. The official record book has USC 64-34-3 due to 2005 not counting because of Reggie Bush’s NCAA violations, but of course, there was a 2005 game which USC won. We’re going to recognize that game and that win for the Trojans.
BIGGEST BLOWOUT
USC beat Stanford 49-0 in 1977.
LONGEST WINNING STREAK
USC won 12 straight games from 1958 through 1969.
LONGEST UNBEATEN STREAK
USC did not lose to Stanford in 15 straight games from 1976 through 1990. There was a tie in 1979, one of the three ties in the series. The other two were in 1927 and 1950.
1979 TIE
The 1979 tie against Stanford deprived USC of the national championship. USC finished 11-0-1 and No. 2 in the polls behind No. 1 Alabama. The Trojans led Stanford 21-0 but watched Stanford quarterback Turk Schonert — a future NFL-er with the Cincinnati Bengals — rally the Trees to a tie. It was one of the most bizarre games in USC history.
Be sure to catch the Trojan Conquest Live interview of Anthony Munoz if you haven’t yet seen it. Munoz led USC to a win in the 1980 Rose Bowl after missing most of the 1979 season with an injury.
STANFORD'S PESKY IDENTITY, PART ONE
USC’s greatest team of all time, the 1972 team, won by only nine points at Stanford, the closest game the Trojans had all season. In USC’s greatest year, Stanford played USC tough. It would not be the last time something like this happened.
STANFORD'S PESKY IDENTITY, PART TWO
The great 2004 Trojans also had a close call against Stanford. This one was even closer than 1972. USC 31, Stanford 28.
ROSE BOWL RULERS
From the 1966 through 1974 seasons — nine straight seasons — either USC or Stanford represented the AAWU/Pacific-8 in the Rose Bowl. USC made the Granddaddy from 1966-1969, then from 1972-1974. Stanford made the big game in the 1970 and 1971 seasons.
2015 PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Heisman Trophy runner-up Christian McCaffrey ran wild against USC and new permanent head coach Clay Helton. Stanford went to the Rose Bowl for the third time in the past four seasons under coach David Shaw.
2017 PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
USC won its only Pac-12 championship of the past 14 years by beating Stanford in 2017. Sam Darnold wrote the last great chapter of his legendary USC career by claiming a conference title.
GREAT COACHING MATCHUPS
“What’s your deal?”
Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh didn’t coach USC and Stanford when both programs were at the height of their powers, but they did create memorable moments. Harbaugh’s 2007 team upset USC as a 41-point underdog. Stanford then buried USC in 2009 as the Trees rose to national prominence while Carroll found a path to the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks. The two would meet a few years later in their biggest-ever clash, the 2013 NFC Championship Game in which Pete’s Seahawks beat Harbaugh’s San Francisco 49ers in a thriller.
BILL WALSH-JOHN ROBINSON
Bill Walsh and John Robinson both coached Stanford and USC two different times, once in the late 1970s and once in the early 1990s. The two men also met in the NFL when Walsh coached the 49ers and Robinson coached the Los Angeles Rams.
HOWARD JONES-POP WARNER
Two legends of football built Stanford and USC in the 1920s and continued on into the 1930s. They both coached in and won the Rose Bowl. They both produced unbeaten seasons and won at least one national championship. This is the greatest coaching matchup in the history of the series.
JOHN MCKAY-JOHN RALSTON
John McKay relished beating Stanford — he did not like the school. He usually did beat Stanford, but Ralston did win twice in 1970 and 1971 en route to a Pacific-8 title and Rose Bowl berth.
