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The Trojans will host six home games and travel on the road six times in the 2014 season, beginning with a Las Vegas Bowl rematch with the Fresno State Bulldogs. After just completing a 10-4 campaign under three different head coaches, next seasons outlook seems rather promising for yet another competitive season for Troy.
2014 USC FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Aug. 30 - Fresno State
Sept. 6 - at Stanford
Sept. 13 - at Boston College
Sept. 27 - Oregon State
Oct. 4 - Arizona State
Oct. 11 - at Arizona
Oct. 18 - Colorado
Oct. 25 - at Utah
Nov. 1 - at Washington State
Nov. 13 (Th.) - California
Nov. 22 - at UCLA
Nov. 29 - Notre Dame
USC will play nine teams that participated in bowl games this season, four of which had double-digit wins, along with ranked opponents UCLA, Stanford, Arizona State and Notre Dame. This current schedule is the second and final season of the rotation that features Oregon State and Washington State before Sarkisian plays his former squad along with Oregon, starting in 2015.
It all begins with the Las Vegas Bowl rematch, with what should be a much weaker Fresno State squad that loses its best passer and receiver in Derek Carr and Davante Adams. USC will then kickoff Pac-12 play with the Weekender Trip to battle the Stanford Cardinal, who will be looking to avenge this season's dramatic loss at the Coliseum.
USC stays on the road following the weekender when it goes to Atlantic Coast Conference opponent Boston College, for the first time since 1988. After a bye, the Trojans resume Pac-12 play by returning home for a pair of games, first against Oregon State and then reigning Pac-12 South champ ASU in the first weekend of October.
In an interesting television and promotional move, the 2014 Pac-12 Championship Game will be played on Friday, Dec. 5, at the stadium of the division winner with the best overall conference record.
While the schedule starts with tough Pac-12 games against Stanford, Oregon State and Arizona State, the Colorado, Utah, Washington State and Cal Berkeley stretch could put USC in strong position for postseason play.
It may seem a long way out, but if USC can start Pac-12 play in solid fashion, the final conference game against UCLA could determine the Pac-12 South Champion.
Also be sure to check out USC's future schedule with non-conference opponents and non-divisional Pac-12 North games from now until 2023. Now that the schedule is firmly in place and we now have a better idea of what draft-eligible players are staying and going, what do you think of this year's schedule?
