Let’s remove the questionable penalties from the equation, talking about them at this point isn’t useful, and I am tired after this game ended after midnight on Arizona time. Mr. FishDuck took some time away from his fun at Ohio sportsbooks to agree with me about how this game transpired.
The drop-off from the first two cornerbacks to the second two cornerbacks is pretty shocking. During the second half on Saturday, Oregon was forced to play their backup cornerbacks against the ferocious USC passing offense and they gave up somewhere in the neighborhood of 130 yards in the fourth quarter alone.
Luckily for the Ducks, the work done by the starters in the first half was enough to seal the deal.
It was not pretty, the win, but it was a win. Given that Oregon has lost 15 more times than they have won against USC, we shouldn’t take this win lightly.
Bucky Irving was briefly injured on Saturday. (Photo by Craig Strobeck)
The Trojans have the nations best quarterback to go along with a fantastic receiving corps. They have a newly-inspired defense looking to rebound from the firing of their defensive coordinator. Not to mention they have a coach who is among the best offensive minds in all of football. To top it all off, it USC came into the game with nothing to lose, making them the most dangerous type of team.
Buuuuuuuut… Oregon was just better.
How much better? It took being down their top two corners and having 130 penalty yards for USC to attempt a fruitless comeback. Oregon missed tackles, they dropped passes, they had a busted coverage, and it just didn’t really matter.
Listening to the announcers told the story that I felt playing out over the course of the game: Oregon was a much better team, playing at a much higher level, and it was only a matter of time until the Ducks won the game. The announcers were talking about Caleb Williams resolve in just going out onto the field during their comeback attempt. As if he would sit on the sideline instead of playing for his team.
Troy Franklin took the top off the USC defense twice. (Photo by Craig Strobeck)
The game wasn’t pretty, save for the two 75+ yard touchdown passes on the first two drives.
Other than that, the result felt inevitable. Oregon scored 36 points, but they seemingly could have scored 60. With slightly better execution by the USC pass defense, they might’ve only scored 14. If the corners played the second half, I am not sure USC gets a third scoring drive. Or maybe they would have given up just as many points. Luckily, things went how they went and Oregon got the victory.
Next weekend, however, the Ducks travel to Tempe to do battle in the desert: and we all know what happened the last time they did that.
Ryan Robertson
Sierra Vista, Arizona
Top Photo By: Craig Strobeck
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Ryan Robertson is a defense contractor for the United States Marine Corps. A lifelong Duck fan from Grants Pass, he joined the Army out of high school. After four years as an Intelligence Analyst he decided it was time to further his education and pay more attention to his Ducks. One of Ryan’s first memories is of watching the Ducks, led by Joey Harrington, beating up on the Utah Utes in 2001. His grandfather ran track at Oregon in the ‘50s. He loves the Ducks, and has a passionate interest in reading every scrap of analysis centered around the football team.