USC Trojans vs. Oregon Ducks

The Oregon Ducks weren’t messing around in Autzen Stadium on Saturday afternoon as they met up with a fellow Pac-12 giant in the USC Trojans.

Adams has been dynamite in the five games since returning from a broken finger suffered in the season opener against his former team, Eastern Washington, but he saved his best game for USC, the team he grew up rooting for in Southern California. Adams has 12 touchdowns over the past four games and he will be the key player to watch for the Trojans as they try and shut down the OR offense. Adams’s six touchdowns against the Trojans’ secondary was the most USC has ever surrendered. Adams has played well for OR since coming back from an injury and the team is looking to keep it going with a win against USC.

Adams threw for 407 yards and six touchdowns — the most ever for an opposing quarterback against USC — and the No. 23 Ducks downed the No. 22 Trojans 48-28. That said, OR is 1-4 against the spread in Eugene this season.

“I was reading the quarterback’s eyes”, Plattenburg said. OR comes in at 7-3 overall this season and they have won four straight games as well with victories over Washington, Arizona State, Cal and Stanford and they will finish the season against Oregon State. Oregon RB Royce Freeman leads the nation in rushes of 10 yards or more with 47…. He’s now gone over 100 yards in seven straight games for the Ducks, who had to wait for the outcome of Saturday night’s game between Stanford and California to see if they were still alive for the Pac-12 North title. He struggles to get the ball to quarterback Cody Kessler, who would be better off taking snaps under center. Buckner has to be the top defensive lineman in the league, getting another sack and tackle for a loss with a total of eight for the game. Because of UCLA’s 17-9 victory over No. 18 Utah on Saturday, the rivalry game between USC and the Bruins next week will decide the Pac-12 South.

“We’re ultimately playing for the Pac-12 championship (game) and the Pac-12 South”, Kessler emphasized.

USC’s pass offense is ranked No. 4 in the Pac-12, with receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster ranked sixth in the nation with an average of 116 yards receiving per game.

The Trojans tied the score on Kessler’s 27-yard TD pass to Darreus Rogers, the receiver hauling in the ball with a backward-leaping catch against Nelson and Tyree Robinson (who returned after an injury for the game, as did Chris Seisay).

The Ducks struck bank, thanks to a rare play: A double-tight end look, with Baylis and Johnny Mundt running routes; Adams hit a wide-open Baylis on a 52-yard TD pass, with safety John Plattenburg way out of the play.

Kessler’s 12-yard TD pass to Tyler Petite evened it again. Freeman ran for 32 yards, and Adams threw 28 yards to Addison, who led UO with five receptions for 105 yards.

Wilcox’s secondary coach, Keith Heyward, was more precise, especially with freshman cornerback Iman Marshall giving up two touchdown passes.

The offensive play-caller, Scott Frost, had his best day of the year except for one glaring call in the early part of the fourth quarter when he called a reverse pass from the USC 3-yard line on first and goal. The Ducks closed out the first half with Aidan Schneider’s 37-yard field goal for a 31-14 lead. JuJu Smith-Schuster injured his ankle and the running game of Ronald Jones and Justin Davis couldn’t get into a rhythm early in the game. After two USC touchdowns to tighten things up, though, Vernon Adams Jr. and Charles Nelson had to step up and make something happen. Since Helton took over for Sarkisian USC has been flawless in conference play. Adams was 9-for-10 for 224 yards and four scores on first down, a remarkable performance that sparked the offense and ignited a roaring crowd of over 59,000 at the home field.

“We had the opportunity to get Vernon down a couple times and just didn’t get him on the ground in the first half”, USC interim coach Clay Helton said. “Vernon deserves a lot of credit for the success this team’s had”.