UCLA vs USC: It Is On!

Since USC’s 50-0 rout of UCLA in 2011, the Bruins have owned this matchup, winning the past three.

Twice during the second half, USC players danced and jumped on the sideline, prompting officials to break up potential confrontations between the teams. The offense made too many costly mistakes.

The graduate transfer quarterback threw for 407 yards and six touchdowns – to six different receivers – in Oregon’s 48-28 win over Southern California.

Of all the nebulous scenarios that could impact Helton’s future as USC’S head coach, losing to UCLA on Saturday might be the one that leaves little doubt. I didn’t want to put us in a deeper position for third down…. Yet OR may be the one team that can play the “What could have been?” home game by pointing to a single injury and frown about how much damage it did. It was definitely the most hard environment.

With Autzen Stadium coming alive the Ducks defense stepped up as well. Communication was problematic. Errors were plentiful.

Points won’t be at a premium today when OR hosts USC at 3:30PM ET. The fairy tale ended this last weekend however, when USC lost a track meet to OR in Eugene. With the OR running game marching the offense down the field Adams connected with his favorite receiver Darren Carrington, who sprinted away from the Trojans secondary for a 37-yard touchdown pass. The Trojans took solace in that as they departed Eugene. That Duck is going to be doing a ton of push-ups throughout this game. “I’d think we’d be the first class to do that in a long time”. “We always respond the right way”, Helfrich said. “They did it. On Saturday, the Coliseum should be rocking”. Schneider booted the field goal, and OR had control of the game, 31-14. The Ducks have scored 38 points in five of the last six games. Communication issues, blown assignments and poor one-on-one coverage were among the factors cited afterward. You’re frequently a contender for the BCS Championships; you’re nearly never unranked (almost); you’ve got a pretty objectively lame mascot that has somehow been converted into something pretty cool; and you’ve got just about an endless supply of jerseys to choose from. “I thought we would play better than that”.

With just one game left on their regular-season schedules, neither team has a chance to reach the College Football Playoff, even though both started the year ranked in the Top 25. Justin Davis had 141 yards rushing.

Last week, remember, Stanford QB Kevin Hogan fumbled two snaps in the fourth quarter that the Ducks recovered. USC faced first-and-10 at its 32-yard line.

Led by quarterback Cody Kessler, USC ranks 26th in points per game. Kessler picked up the ball and tried to scramble to his right. The Trojan star was hampered with a foot injury for most of the contest, but OR usually covered him with two OR three defenders at a time. Adams continued his hot streak as on the very next play he connected with tight end Evan Baylis for a 52 yard TD pass giving the Ducks back the lead.

“It’s unfortunate”, Kessler said. However this is not “just a game” being played, there is more at stake than a win. “We had that all day”.

“I got to take care of the ball”, Adams said. But as ugly as it was Saturday, USC still has something significant to play for.

The annual Crosstown Showdown, which will determine the Pac-12 South champion this year, finally has a kickoff time.

“Obviously it’s still there for us. This hurts just as bad as any other loss”.