Adams (six TD passes), No. 23 OR too much No. 22 USC

The junior had a huge game against Oregon State last week, throwing for 453 yards and six TDs.

To get that 10-win season, the Ducks will have to come out on top of next Friday’s Civil War with Oregon State at home and win whatever bowl game they play in.

OR is on pace to have another 10-win season – which would be the team’s eighth in a row – despite having a 3-3 start.

Next up: A visit from the Men of Troy who were also the benefactors of an upset when Utah went down against Arizona.

The strength of the Pac-12 helped the conference earn a spot in the inaugural College Football Playoff last season, when OR ran through the gauntlet to reach the national championship game.

The USC defense has forced an average of 2.0 turnovers over its last five games.

“We made enough mistakes”, USC interim coach Clay Helton said.

Despite the program being in a state of disarray this season the Trojans remain immensely talented.

However, even during the four-game winning streak USC still battles with consistency.

Prediction: Getting defensive stops will be tough for both schools, but OR will have the advantage in their loud stadium.

Adams hit Dwayne Stanford with a 21-yard TD pass early in the third quarter, but USC closed the gap with consecutive touchdowns: Ronald Jones’ 12-yard rush and Adoree Jackson’s 41-yard punt return.

The Oregon Ducks need a dynamic quarterback to run their up-tempo offense, and the difference has been night-and-day with Vernon Adams Jr.in the lineup and without him. Against USC that shouldn’t be the case. “There are so many plays and so many opportunities we had today, whether it was a penalty, or a missed assignment, or that we just didn’t make our play”. The Ducks scored on the first play from scrimmage on the ensuing drive on Evan Baylis’ 52-yard catch from Adams.

His line against USC: 20 of 25 for 407 yards, six touchdowns and one interception. “They did it. On Saturday, the Coliseum should be rocking”.

Vernon will get a chance to face the team he once idolized on Saturday when the No. 23 Ducks (7-3, 5-2) host the No. 22 Trojans (7-3, 5-2) with Pac-12 Conference championship implications for both teams.

It had been a while since Goff had this kind of game, but he reminded those watching just how quickly he can have an impact through the air with over 450 yards and six touchdowns thrown in the win. Smith-Schuster has a team-high 87 targets. UCLA WR Jordan Payton has caught a pass in 26 straight games and is seven receptions from setting the school record for career catches…. While the Trojans have previously depended on a slowed down tempo that grinds out points on the ground, they’ll rely a lot on Kessler’s arm on Saturday.

The Trojans love to put the ball in Smith-Schuster’s hands in space through a wide variety of screens, underneath routes and occasionally a deep route. They have done this largely on the heels of their offense.

USC’s passing game against Oregon’s pass defense. The Ducks had the ball with 18 seconds left in the half and simply handed off to tailback Royce Freeman, who went 32 yards. OR has a chance to win this if they keep mistakes down to minimum on the offense side of the ball. USC was sorely outplayed, outcoached and outworked against an OR team that is one of the three OR four teams you’d least want to play today.

USC looked sluggish last week against Colorado in what was a definitely a trap-game for the Trojans but they also barely got a victory against Arizona the week before.