USC's 2021 football schedule announced, Trojans draw favorable slate
USC announced its full 2021 football schedule Tuesday morning, in conjunction with the Pac-12's conference schedule release, and for the first time since 2009 the Trojans get to play all of their games on Saturdays.
USC opens with back-to-back home games Sept. 4 vs. San Jose State and Sept. 11 vs. Stanford, then alternates home/away at Washington State, home vs. Oregon State, at Colorado and home vs. Utah leading into a bye week before traveling to Notre Dame on Oct. 23.
The Trojans then host Arizona, visit Arizona State and Cal and close at home with UCLA and BYU.
USC is coming off a 5-1 shortened 2020 season in which it lost in the Pac-12 championship game to Oregon.
Here's a full look at the schedule:
Date | Opponent | Location |
---|---|---|
Sept. 4 |
vs. San Jose State |
The Coliseum |
Sept. 11 |
vs. Stanford |
The Coliseum |
Sept. 18 |
at Washington State |
Pullman, Wash. |
Sept. 25 |
vs. Oregon State |
The Coliseum |
Oct. 2 |
at Colorado |
Boulder, Colo. |
Oct. 9 |
vs. Utah |
The Coliseum |
BYE |
|
|
Oct. 23 |
at Notre Dame |
South Bend, Ind. |
Oct. 30 |
vs. Arizona |
The Coliseum |
Nov. 6 |
at Arizona State |
Tempe, Ariz. |
Nov. 13 |
at Cal |
Berkeley, Calif. |
Nov. 20 |
vs. UCLA |
The Coliseum |
Nov. 27 |
vs. BYU |
The Coliseum |
Notes/thoughts:
-USC notably avoids Oregon and Washington -- the two top teams in the North Division in 2020 -- this year, setting up an ideally favorable conference slate. The Trojans' four cross-division games come against teams that combined for an 8-13 record in 2020, with only Stanford (4-2) posting a winning record overall.
-In fact, USC's conference opponents overall combined for a 20-27 record last season, while the three non-conference opponents combined for a 28-4 mark.
-This marks the first meeting with San Jose State since 2009, and the Spartans are coming off a 7-1 season in which they won the Mountain West championship before losing to Ball State in the Arizona Bowl. Coach Brent Brennan was an interesting name on the coaching market after leading the program to that 7-0 start coming off a 5-7 finish the year before and winning just three games combined over 2017-18.
-After the pandemic-induced hiatus of the long-running rivalry series with Notre Dame, the teams reconvene -- but USC loses its turn in the home-and-home cycle, meaning a second straight trip to South Bend, Ind., in the series. The Fighting Irish were a College Football Playoff semifinalist last season, finishing 10-2.
-USC and Oregon State have not played since 2018, and the Trojans have not visited Washington State since 2017.
-BYU, of course, hosted USC in 2019 and delivered the Trojans a deflating 30-27 overtime loss. The Cougars finished 11-1 last season.
-It's the first time since 2009 that USC will not end its regular season against either rival UCLA or Notre Dame and the first time since 1999 doing so against a non-conference foe other than the Fighting Irish. (USC closed with Louisiana Tech that year).
-The Pac-12 championship game will be played Dec. 3 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev.
-Here's a look at the full Pac-12 conference slate: