The USC Trojans came to town to play a huge matchup against the Oregon Ducks. The result of the game was going to have major implications on the college football playoff for the Ducks. Any loss in the final two weeks of the year could be a fatal blow for the Ducks playoff chances. For their opponent across the sidelines the stakes coming into this game were even higher. USC could not afford another loss if they wanted to keep their CFP hopes alive.
Beyond just the college football playoff though the stakes
on the line were bragging rights on the West Coast. In recent years, especially since conference realignment, USC has emerged as one of Oregon’s biggest rivals. So when you combine the rivalry with the playoff stakes on each side you really couldn’t ask for a bigger November match-up.
Before the game both teams had lots of questions coming in related to injuries. Here was the official injury report released by the conference.
Here is how the game played out:
USC won the toss and elected to take the ball to start the game. The Sappington kick-off went into the end-zone for a touch-back and the first drive of the game would start at the USC 25.
The first big play of the game came on a deep pass on 3rd and 6 to Ja’Kobi Lane to move the Trojans into Duck territory. The Trojans continued to methodically move the ball down the field and converted two more 3rd downs on the drive including a 3rd and 4 inside of the Ducks 10 yard lane on a swing pass to Makai Lemon which he would take into the end-zone for the first score of the game and give USC an early 7-0 lead.
The USC kick-off resembled less of a kick-off and more of a boomer-rang that wouldn’t return as it flew sideways out of bounds to give the Ducks the ball at their own 35 yard line to start the game. Notable for the Ducks, Fox Crader started his first career game at left-tackle as Isaiah World attempted to warm-up but evidently wasn’t able to play.
The Ducks offence was not at all bothered as Dante Moore would hit big pass plays to Malik Benson and then Jeremiah McClennan to quickly move the ball into USC territory . Jordon Davison would cap off the drive on a neatly designed toss play to get the Ducks into the end-zone and tie the game 7-7.
USC’s 2nd drive would once again start at the 25 yard line after a touchback and Maiava and the Trojans would try to continue to hold serve in what early on was looking like a shootout. After picking up a first down and then a near pick on a dropped pass by the USC tight-end the USC center was down on the field in considerable discomfort after a pile landed on him from behind. A USC player and trainer needed to help him off the field into the injury tent before USC’s first 3rd and long of the game. The pocket would collapse and Maiava was able to flip it out to Ja’Kobi Lane on a wide-open drag route but for some reason Lane went up with one hand and the pass fell incomplete to force the first punt of the game.
Malik Benson fielded the punt, clearly called for a fair catch, and the USC player still attempted to tackle him. Key word there is attempted. That may be the first time in my life I saw a player standing still break a tackle. Regardless the penalty would once set-up the Ducks with good field position for their 2nd drive of the game.
Curiously Isaiah World was able to take his usual spot at left-tackle to start the 2nd drive and Noah Whittington was able to run behind him to get the drive off to a good start. A 3rd down pass to Jamari Johnson moved the ball into Trojan territory followed by another successful pass to Kenyon Sadiq and the Ducks appeared to be rolling once again. But after a short run play Poncho was also down on the field in some discomfort and would need the help of trainers to get off the field. A couple of Jordon Davison runs got the Ducks inside of the 10 yard line and a play-action pass with Oregon’s heavy personnel in the game allowed Kenyon Sadiq to be open in the end-zone for Oregon’s 2nd touchdown of the game and their first lead. 14-7 Ducks.
A 3rd kick-off and a 3rd Atticus Sappington touch-back meant the Trojans 3rd drive would once again get started at their own 25 yard line. Once again the Trojans would turn to the down field passing game with a deep shot to Tanook Hines that connected and another shot to Ja’Kobi Lane that resulted in a Brandon Finney pass interference penalty had USC moving. The Trojans would hit Makai Lemon over the middle to set-up a 2nd and short and that would take us to the end of the 1st quarter with Oregon leading by 7, but USC threatening to tie.
USC would go into the bag of tricks with a swing pass to Makai Lemon who then threw a contested jump ball to Tanook Hines who would come down with the ball in the end-zone to tie the game 14 all.
USC’s first kick without a mistake would result in a touchback and the 3rd Ducks drive starting from their own 25 yard line.
Dante would hit Jeremiah Mcclellan on a play-action pass to quickly move the Ducks into USC territory, but a procedural penalty on the Ducks back-up center and two dropped passes by the Ducks receivers forced the Ducks first 4th down of the game and James Ferguson Reynolds on to punt the ball away. His punt would be fair caught inside of the USC 20 and that’s were the Trojans 4th drive of the game would start from.
The Ducks would force a 3rd and long and with pressure in his face Maiava threw a prayer ball to Ja’Kobi Lane who came down with the ball to move the chains for USC. USC couldn’t keep the magic going and would stall out on the next series of downs and the Trojans were forced to punt.
What I would call the Trojans 3rd crucial special teams mistake of the game the punter punted the ball with absolutely zero hang time and Malik Benson was able to take the kick back without having a USC player even breathe on him to give the Ducks the lead once again 21-14.
Another kick, another touch-back and the Trojans would look to tie the game by marching the field once again.
The Ducks would force another 3rd and medium to open the drive and the D-Line was doing a good job collapsing the pocket, but once again Maiava was able to find an open receiver down the field to move the sticks for the Trojans. An errant snap on 2nd and medium forced Maiava to fall on the ball and give the Ducks a chacne to get off the field and that’s exactly what Oregon would do. Pressure from Naz would force another prayer ball and Ify Obidegwu would come up with the pick on what was essentially an arm punt. However an odd situation where Danielson on the call must have been right were Lane wanted the ball back for USC resulted in a scuffle and an unsportsmanlike penalty gave the Ducks good field position again. So an error on the arm punt gave the Ducks good field position once again.
Then one of the most whacky drives I have ever seen ensued.
- Noah Whittington explosive run up the middle followed by an unporstmanlike penalty on Iuli to nulify 15 yards but the Ducks still have a first down
- Malik Benson deep shot down to the 4 followed by an unsportsmanlike penalty on Benson for a taunt to nulify 15 yards but the Ducks still have a first down
- Dump-off to Noah Whittington to force 4th and one nullified by an Alex Harkey face-mask to make it 3rd and 16
- Trojans force the Ducks to settle for field goal which doinks the upright but that is nulified by a unsportsmanlike penalty on the USC player for leaping and making contact with the Oregon long snapper
That all took the game down to the 2 minute warning where the Ducks had 2nd and 1 from the 4 yard-line, but another procedural penalty made it 2nd and 6. A Noah Whittington run gave the Ducks 1st and goal from the one yard line that would set-up walk-on local boy linebacker Bryce Boettcher for the 1 yard wildcat touchdown to extend the Ducks lead. After all of that 28-14 Ducks.
USC would have 1:52 and 2 timeouts to put some more points on the board before halftime.
Once again USC would go deep and hit a big play. Brandon Finney misplayed the ball and Tanook Hines was able to make a play to move the ball into Oregon territory. Jadon Canady made a touchdown saving tackle to at least give the Ducks a chance to keep USC out of the endzone. From there USC was able to move the ball inside the 10 yard line but the Ducks once again were able to force a 3rd and long with 15 seconds left. One play to determine if USC would finish the drive with a touchdown or field goal. USC would target Ja’Kobi Lane on Brandon Finney and a good play by Finney perhaps arriving a quarter second to early gave the Ducks a big stop. The field goal attempt would hit the upright dead center and the promising USC drive would come up empty. Huge props to Jadon Canady for not giving up on the big play to Lane on the drive.
At the half here were the charting stats:
Net Yards Per Play: Oregon +0.37
Net Success Rate: Oregon +17%
Net Explosive Rate: Oregon -2%
Through 30 Oregon’s offence had operated like it had all year. Great efficiency but lacking some explosiveness in the run. Meanwhile the pass was above water with 10 successes to 8 failures but not clipping along at an elite rate. However I think a big reason for this was some drops by Duck receivers. Oregon had hit 5 explosive pass plays for a 28% rate in the first half.
Meanwhile on defense Oregon completely stuffed USC’s running game but it was the opposite case defending the pass. I thought Oregon was collapsing the pocket well but USC receivers were either getting open or winning jump balls to keep drives alive for the Trojans.
Oregon would be getting the ball to start the 2nd half with an opportunity to really take control of the game. After a touchback the drive would start at their own 25 yard line.
The Ducks would pick up a first down but then on 3rd and short the ducks failed to pick up the first down on consecutive plays by mere inches giving USC their best starting field position of the game. The Trojans would go absolutely nowhere though and Riley would also elect to go for it on 4th down but Jadon Canady would come up with a pick to give the Ducks the ball back almost immediately were they lost it.
Just like that the Ducks offence was given a 2nd opportunity to take control of the game. After picking up a first down Dante Moore would make his first mistake of the day forcing the ball over the middle of the field and USC could come up with the interception near where they last gave up the ball.
USC would go on a methodical drive converting a couple of 3rd downs and then cap it off with a short pass on the outside to Ja’kobi Lane who would reach across the goal-line for the touchdown. 28-21 Oregon
Oregon still had the lead but the offence needed to do something on it’s 3rd drive of the 2nd half to re-take momentum back for the Ducks. The Ducks decided to pound the ball, first with Noah Whittington, then with Dierre Hill that got the Ducks into USC territory when Alex Harkey may have tweaked his ankle and needed help off the field. With two back-up tackles in the game the Ducks elected to throw the ball up the seam to Kenyon Sadiq. Moore delivered an absolute dot and Sadiq held on for the touchdown to restore the Ducks 2 score lead.
Atticus Sappington slipped on the ensuing kick-off but the result was an almost percect squib and USC would be forced to start their drive at their own 18 yard line. After picking up a first down the Ducks forced another 3rd and long and Matayo was able to get to the quarterback and force a sack fumble. USC would fall on the ball but it would still force USC to punt on 4th and long.
Oregon got fortunate as they went for the block on the punt and luckily the refs only got called for running into the kicker instead of roughing the kicker which would have given USC an automatic first down. It was a close call but the Ducks would keep the ball run a single play and the 3rd quarter was over and it was time to shout.
For the 3rd time in the 2nd half Oregon had a 2 score lead and the ball. Instead the Oregon offence turned into a pumpkin once again. First the O-Line not communicating and letting a free runner tackle Jordon Davison in the backfield, then Dante Moore fumbling the exchange on a play action. Moore would fall on the ball but Oregon was forced to punt and USC would get the ball near mid field with the opportunity to make it a one score game.
USC would take 2 deep shots down the field and draw back to back Pass Interreference penalties to quickly get inside the Oregon 30. Inside the 10 yard line USC rolled Maiava out and Oregon took away the primary and Maiava’s ability to run but he was able to hit the Tight-End for the score and make it a one score game once again. USC would go for 2 to apply some additional pressure but wasn’t able to get the conversion therefore it remained a 35-27 game.
Once again it would be up to the offence to finish off this game or at the very least take control of the game. They had struggled in the 2nd half and it was allowing USC to hang around in the game.
Just when they needed it the offence came out with an excellent drive mixing run and pass to march down the field to restore the two possession lead with a 9 yard Noah Whittington run into the end zone. 42-27 Ducks with exactly 5 and half minutes remaining.
The Ducks quickly forced a 4th and long. Bear Alexander rushed right up the gut and had a chance to seal the game but Maiava got away threw up another prayer that was caught by Lane and the Trojans still had life.
3 USC incompletions lead to another 4th and long and once again USC would need to convert to keep their chances alive. Oregon would apply a little added pressure, Washington with pressure right up the gut and he got a hand on the ball and forced the pass to Lemon to be errant and the Ducks took the ball over with a 2 possession lead and less than 2 and half minutes remaining in the game which would seal the result.
Final charting stats for the game (I cut it off after the failed 4th down)
Net Success Rate: Oregon +24%
Net Explosive Rate: Oregon +2%
Net Yard Per Play Differential: Oregon +0.89 Yards
It was an up and down affair the USC offence made plays and stopped the Oregon rushing attack better than I expected (likely due to 3 injuries along the Oregon offensive line). But as the game went on I thought the Duck defense progressively got better at defending the pass to at least limit a very good USC offence. Oregon also completely owned USC at the line of scrimmage when USC had the ball. Oregon had a 76% defensive rush success rate and allowed 1 explosive rush all game long.
When Oregon had the ball I thought it was a good but not great game. The offence did score 35 points but the lack of explosive runs made things more difficult then needed. Again I have to imagine 2 and half O-Line injuries had something to do with that. Outside of one glaring mistake on the pick Dante was excellent. The Pass O finished exactly at championship caliber 60% success rate and 20% explosiveness. That was without Oregon’s 3 best receivers that the Ducks can hopefully get back this season.
One more regular season game. One more win and the Ducks will be hosting a playoff game. Hate week part 1 was a success but it is over. Hate week part 2 has officially begun
