Saturday NCAA: Southern Cal Trojans at Oregon Ducks

The game of the weekend, all apologies to Texas and Oklahoma State, is Saturday night in Eugene when the Oregon Ducks host USC with the Pac-10 title not officially on the line but for all intents and purposes so.

The Ducks are 3-point betting underdogs on WagerWeb.com.

Since WR Ronald Johnson returned from injury, the Trojan offense, and especially Matt Barkley has looked much better. And RB Allen Bradford gave notice he might be the new No. 1 back after gaining 147 yards against Oregon State. However, the USC defense has been very suspect in the past few games – it allowed the Beavers nearly 500 yards of offense. But it still is among the nation’s Top 25 in every statistical category, including first in sacks, second in tackles for losses and fifth in rushing defense.

The Ducks are known mostly as an offensive school, but they lead the Pac-10 in pass defense and rank second behind USC in scoring defense, giving up 16.1 points a game. Frankly, if Oregon doesn’t win this game, USC likely rolls to yet another Pac-10 crown. After all, the Trojans are 27-0 in November under Pete Carroll.

The key player to watch is Ducks QB Jeremiah Masoli, who struggled in his first three games this season, including an ugly loss at Boise State from which Oregon has impressively bounced back. He was 29-of-64 for 379 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions in those first three games but has been a different player since. Last week, back from a knee injury, he threw for 157 yards and a touchdown and ran for 54 yards and two TDs in a rout of Washington. Overall he has passed for 905 yards and five touchdowns, with just two interceptions. Known more for his scrambling ability, he’s rushed for 272 yards and seven TDs. He is 5-0 as a starter at home.

If you are looking for comparisons in this one, Oregon and USC have two common opponents so far. They beat Cal, on consecutive weekends, by a combined 72-3. Meanwhile, Washington shocked USC, 16-13, last month in Seattle before losing last weekend to Oregon, 43-19.

ESPN College GameDay will be on the scene, and the Trojans have won the past 10 when that crew visits one of their games. Oregon has dropped four of five in this series but has won six of the past 11. And USC has lost in its last three trips to the state of Oregon (twice at Oregon State and once to the Ducks in 2007). USC has won its last 10 games against AP Top 25 teams.

There is one key injury this week. Tight end Anthony McCoy, a key part of USC’s offense in recent weeks, will miss the game. He sprained his right ankle suffered in the fourth quarter of USC’s 42-36 victory against Oregon State last Saturday. McCoy had five catches for 153 yards in the win a few weeks ago against Notre Dame.

Oklahoma State, which beat a ranked Georgia team in the season opener, has not knocked off two ranked teams in the same season since 1984.
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