It’s difficult enough to go into Eugene and win on the road against Oregon, but with a linebacker, nickel back, and two cornerbacks out to injury along with newly appointed co-defensive coordinators who replaced the fired Alex Grinch it’s too much to hope for. In spite of all that the Trojans outscored the Ducks 13-7 in the 4th, but by then it was too little too late having been shut-out in the 3rd Qtr after the break and trailing 29-14 going into the final period. The loss officially eliminates USC from the conference championship race with only UCLA left to play in the regular season who they’ll host in the Coliseum this coming Saturday for what is known at the Los Angeles City Championship.
Bo Nix had a huge game for the Ducks as he connected for well over 70%+ of his passes for 412 yards and 4 TD’s with two of his receivers, Troy Franklin and Tez Johnson, collecting well over 100 yards each and three of those scores with Junior TE Terrance Ferguson picking up the other. Bucky Irving led the way once again for the Oregon ground game with 19 carries for 118 of their 140 yards as well as their only rushing TD. For USC, Caleb Williams was 19-of-34 for 291 yards and 1 TD to his Senior WR Brenden Rice who combined with Tahj Washington and three other receivers for 274 of those total yards. The Trojans didn’t pick up a ton of yards on the ground, 73 on 25 carries, but they were great at translating what they did pick up to points on the scoreboard with three rushing TD’s, one each by Caleb Williams, as well as by RB’s Marshawn Lloyd and Austin Jones.
Oregon took the lead quickly after forcing USC to punt on their first possession of the game. In a span of less than a minute RB Bucky Irving ran the ball six yards and Bo Nix completed a pass to WR Tez Johnson who took it 77 yards to the house to go up 7-0 with just four minutes gone in the 1st Qtr. USC would come right back to tie the score at seven a piece at the end of a 75 yard, 10 play, drive ending in a MarShawn Lloyd 5 yard run into the end zone. But it was the closest they would come and trailed the rest of the way, down 13-7 at the end of the 1st Qtr, 22-14 at the break, 29-14 at the end of three, and although outscoring the Ducks in the 4th Qtr, 13-to-7, 36-27 at the end with the Ducks running the clock down and out on a 7 play drive with just under four minutes left in the game to close it out.
The USC and UCLA finger pointers and boo birds are already very active, not only on social media but also in sport’s columns in and around Los Angeles. Here’s an example of some of the headlines in the Los Angeles Times: “For USC and UCLA football fans, misery will find easy company at the Coliseum;” “To Give UCLA football any shot at relevancy in the Big Ten, Chip Kelly must go;” “Fire on? USC’s coaching woes go beyond Alex Grinch.” In spite of the disappointment, both teams are bowl eligible and I’m sure both will show up big time for what is always a great game this coming Saturday. And for those who are worried about this rivalry continuing moving on, the two are scheduled to play each other in late November of 2024 in their first year as part of the Big Ten. Regarding Oregon, the Trojans will have to wait as the Ducks are not on their schedule for 2024 but they will get a chance to make up for that loss at Notre Dame as they will host the Fighting Irish at the Coliseum in their last game of the year.