College football just hasn’t quite been the same with USC being down over the last decade-plus.
This program has been a bit streaky throughout its history, but there are not many other schools that have been as prominent in this sport over the previous century. However, it had a renaissance in the early 2000s under Pete Carroll, winning two national championships.
The second came in 2004, and that was the last this program has seen. Led by Heisman-winning quarterback Matt Leinart, the Trojans went 13-0 and absolutely demolished Oklahoma 55-19 in the BCS National Championship Game. However, the title would later be vacated by the NCAA due to the Reggie Bush scandal.
With Leinart, USC also won the national title the prior year, albeit in controversial fashion as it split the title with LSU. The Trojans returned to the title game in 2005 but lost to Texas in what was one of the greatest college football games of all time.
In spite of the current championship drought, USC still claims an unbelievable 11 national titles from 1928, 1931, 1932, 1939, 1962, 1967, 1972, 1974 and 1978 in addition to Carroll’s titles. That’s not even taking into account the six titles that USC does not claim but won a share of, according to some outlets.
