Photos: How USC football fell from glory
With the Arizona Wildcats taking a trip to Los Angeles this week to face the USC, we put together a primer on the downfall of the Trojans - who went from a 10-year stretch as the best team in the nation to the first team No. 1 in the preseason to finish the season unranked. Careful, it isn't pretty.
USC athletic director Pat Haden's announcement
On Sept. 29, former USC quarterback and current athletic director Pat Haden held a press conference to announce the firing of coach Lane Kiffin, who went 8-5, 10-2, 7-6 and 3-2 through three seasons and five games as the Trojans' head coach. Assistant Ed Orgeron was named the interim head coach, but many names have been tossed about in the media as potential successors. Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio, former Oregon coach and current Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly, Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin, Washington's Steve Sarkisian, St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher and former Oregon State coach Mike Riley are among the names you can find suggested by multiple outlets. Click on to find out why Haden's got a headache.
Pete Carroll leaves USC; a title and a Heisman stripped from 2004 team
After numerous accolades from multiple publications from the start of the new millennium until he left the school - including a stretch of seven straight BCS bowl appearances and seven straight finishes in the top four of the AP Poll - Pete Carroll quit his job as coach of the USC Trojans in January 2009 to become the head coach of the NFL's Seattle Seahawks. Later that year, an investigation into 2005 Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush, also pictured, concluded that the player and his family had accepted improper benefits. He lost his trophy, the Trojans were stripped of the 2004 season BCS title, banned for two years from postseason play and stripped of 30 scholarships over three years - and the best coach in school history was on his way to the NFL.
Former USC coach Lane Kiffin
Former USC coach Lane Kiffin, shown here at right shaking Arizona State coach Todd Graham's hand, was fired following a blowout loss at Sun Devil Stadium on Sept. 28. The polarizing coach had some early success during his program's time under NCAA sanctions but didn't last after the wheels came off the bus when he went 4-7 in his last 11 games, including losses to both Arizona schools. Read on to find out how and why.
Local star De'Anthony Thomas changes his mind, chooses Oregon over USC
Oregon running back De'Anthony Thomas, who was a star at South Central Los Angeles' Crenshaw High School, originally committed to in 2010. After the Reggie Bush benefits controversy and USC's firing of Todd McNair, the running backs coach who recruited Thomas, the speedster chose Pac-12 rival Oregon to the shock of Kiffin and the Trojans.
Arizona ends Trojans' 4-game winning streak, starts USC down path of disaster
Rich Rodriguez and the Arizona Wildcats' signature win of the 2012 season was also the beginning of the end for Lane Kiffin. Ka'Deem Carey, being held aloft by lineman Cayman Bundage in the photo, ran for 119 yards and a touchdown at Arizona Stadium, and Austin Hill snagged 10 passes from Matt Scott for 259 yards as the UA won 39-36 over then-10th-ranked USC. The Cats jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, fell behind 28-13 and then reeled off 26 straight points before holding on to win. Before the trip to Tucson, USC was 6-1 - it won just one more game in 2012 and finished 7-6.
USC loses Sun Bowl, becomes first team to start season ranked No. 1 and finish unranked
After star QB Matt Barkley's shoulder was injured in a loss to UCLA, Max Wittek, above, took over as quarterback for the final two games. he struggled in a loss to No. 1-ranked Notre Dame in Los Angeles in the regular season finale on Nov. 24. It was the Trojans' fourth loss in five games. Things got worse a month later in the Sun Bowl against then-6-7 and unranked Georgia Tech. Wittek went 14 for 37 for 107 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions, and USC completed the first-ever trip from preseason No. 1 to unranked in the AP Poll.
Most talented WR duo in school history goes to waste
USC receiver Marqise Lee, top, and graduated wideout and starter for the NFL's Buffalo Bills, Robert Woods, below, gave Lane Kiffin and QB Matt Barkley a pair of threats on the outside never before seen in the Pac-12. In three seasons, Woods compiled 252 receptions, 2,930 yards and 32 touchdowns, including an All-American season in 2011 in which he caught 111 passes for 1,292 yards and 15 touchdowns. Lee has been even better. Also an All-American, Lee, who arrived a year later than Woods, has posted 221 receptions, 3,249 yards and 26 touchdowns in two years and five games. Lee's 2012 was sensational - the then-sophomore had 118 catches for 1,721 yards and 14 touchdowns including his 16-catch, 345-yard, 2-TD game against Arizona in Tucson.
Elite college QB Barkley still not enough to help Kiffin
In his first season in 2009 under head coach Pete Carroll, highly-touted QB Matt Barkley was a true freshman who didn't complete 60% of his passes and barely managed more TDs than INTs (15 to 14). But in his first year under Lane Kiffin in 2010, he blossomed. Over the next three seasons, Barkley would throw for 101 TDs to just 34 INTs, complete more than 60% of his passes in each season and amass 9,592 passing yards. Despite the tremendous success enjoyed by his elite signal caller, Kiffin still couldn't get the Trojans back to a BCS title game.
QB problems early in 2013 season
After star QB Matt Barkley graduated and was drafted by the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles in early 2013, the Trojans were left with a pair of untested sophomores. Cody Kessler, pictured above, and Max Wittek battled for the position, but neither grabbed the job firmly. In the second game of 2013, Kessler and Wittek combined to go 11 of 21 for 54 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions as Washington State upset the then-25th-ranked Trojans 10-7 in an ugly home loss.
Kiffin's last straw
After squeaking past Utah State at home on Sept. 21, Kiffin and the Trojans packed up for a trip to Tempe. After taking a 14-7 lead in the second quarter of the game on Sept. 28, Arizona State scored 41 of the next 48 points to open up a 48-21 lead after three quarters. The blowout loss was all she wrote for Kiffin as coach of USC, as athletic director Pat Haden was waiting in a small room at the Los Angeles International Airport to inform the coach of his firing upon the team's return to Los Angeles at about 3 a.m.
Meet USC's interim head coach, Ed Orgeron
After Kiffin's firing, USC turned to assistant Ed Orgeron to fill in as interim head coach. Orgeron worked as the assistant head coach, defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator under Pete Carroll from 1998-2004, was head coach at Mississippi from 2005-07, worked for a year as defensive line coach for the New Orleans Saints and then worked under Kiffin at both Tennessee (2009) and USC (2010-2013).