Oregon won the Pac-12. Fans of other teams, certain writers and even a radio host will try and throw asterisks at the mere presence of Oregon in the championship game, but those other teams didn’t win.
One team with a lot to complain about is USC, losers of the Pac-12 Championship. The Trojans played a hard second half, not cutting in to the Oregon halftime lead at all. But they did manage to turn the ball over less, admirably only turning it over one time in the final three quarters. Sure, they had two turnovers in the first seven minutes of the game, but cutting down on that number proved to be the difference between losing big and losing close.
The Trojans never led. After an interception followed by a facemask on the opening USC drive, Oregon scored a touchdown. The game was only six plays old and the Ducks had obtained a lead that they remain in possession of to this very second.
USC is taking the loss with particular grace. The claims made in the previous video are… dubious at best. Oregon keeps out-recruiting USC, out-playing USC and out-performing USC in essentially every other facet of their program. The Trojans still think that they are better than the Ducks.
Deommodore Lenoir has a knack for interceptions in the LA Coliseum.
The only way that USC looked better than Oregon in this game was in passing yards. I will take Tyler Shough and Anthony Brown combining to throw for only 108 yards, but having four touchdowns to only one interception over Kedon Slovis throwing for a bajillion yards, 24 incompletions and three interceptions. By the way, those 24 incompletions accounted for five more passes than Oregon’s total passes thrown in the entire game. What Trojan fans seem unwilling, or unable, to acknowledge is that if a team is always falling behind in games, they aren’t that good of a team.
Oregon only found out they were North Division champs via a forfeit on Monday. The coaches had to sign a recruiting class that would make the rest of the conference blush on Wednesday. The game was Friday, so the Ducks didn’t have much time to scout and practice leading up to the game. If USC was truly the better team, any adversity for Oregon should’ve been enough to get the Trojans a win.
To be the best, you have to beat the best. You also have to play. (Washington?)
Ryan Robertson
Yuma, Arizona
Top Photo By Dennis Hammond
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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.