Oregon takes care of business with 42-27 win over USC

 

EUGENE, Ore. — The Ducks entered Saturday short-handed but undeterred. With top receivers Dakorien Moore and Gary Bryant Jr. both ruled out before kickoff, Oregon turned its attention to restoring offensive balance with a playoff berth on the line against USC, which arrived at Autzen Stadium clinging to its own faint hopes of crashing the postseason with an upset.

November in Oregon can bring cold, rain and clouds, but the late-afternoon stage felt almost scripted. Under clear skies and a crisp chill, Oregon faced a USC offense that still featured Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane on the edges and a pass game capable of turning the Ducks’ playoff push into a shootout. As warmups ticked under 10 minutes, Oregon’s 10½-point favorite status felt tenuous, especially with elite tackle Isaiah World limited and the offensive line already battered.

USC landed first. The Trojans opened with an 11-play, 75-yard march, repeatedly exploiting Oregon’s soft early zone looks. Quarterback Jayden Maiava converted a third-and-6 with a 27-yard fade to Lane over Oregon’s top corner Brandon Finney, then hit Lemon on a quick swing for an 8-yard touchdown on third-and-4 for a 7-0 lead.

Oregon answered with the kind of composure that defined the rest of the night. Dante Moore, who spent much of the first half “layering passes between defenders” and looking decisively in rhythm, found Malik Benson for 24 yards and Jeremiah McClellan for 20 to jump-start the response. Freshman running back Jordon Davison finished the six-play, 65-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown run to tie it 7-7.

The Ducks took their first lead on their next possession, even as their offensive line absorbed more hits. World rotated in after Fox Crader’s first career start at tackle, and starting center Poncho Laloulu left with an ankle injury mid-drive. Davison churned through contact for multiple first downs, and Moore, rolling to his right against pressure, drilled an 8-yard touchdown to tight end Kenyon Sadiq on third-and-goal for a 14-7 edge.

USC had an answer of its own as the game tilted into the second quarter. On the first play of the period, Lemon took a backward pass to the right, pulled up and fired to Tanook Hines for a 24-yard trick-play touchdown, tying it 14-14 and underscoring the threat Oregon’s secondary faced against the best receiver group it has seen all season.

From there, the Ducks leaned on special teams and timely defense to create the separation they would need to survive USC’s passing barrage.

After dropped passes stalled an Oregon drive at the USC 44, the Ducks’ defense forced a punt. Standing at his own 15, Benson fielded it and did exactly what the sideline had been muttering was possible — he “took it to the house,” slicing through the coverage for an 85-yard punt return touchdown that pushed Oregon in front 21-14 with 9:58 left in the half.

Moments later, Matayo Uiagalelei’s interior pressure forced Maiava into his first major mistake. A bad snap set up third-and-12, Uiagalelei flashed up the middle, and Maiava lofted a throw off his back foot that safety Ify Obidegwu intercepted at the Oregon 29. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on USC after the play moved the ball to the 44, and Oregon went back to work on the ground.

That drive appeared to stall when a 44-yard field goal attempt clanged off the left upright, but a leaping penalty on the Trojans wiped out the miss and gave Oregon first-and-10 at the USC 13. Two plays later, offensive coordinator Will Stein dipped into his own bag of tricks. On senior night, linebacker and former baseball-only signee Bryce Boettcher lined up in a wildcat look, took a direct snap and powered in from a yard out for a 28-14 lead with 1:52 left in the half — a fitting tribute to a local Sheldon High graduate who delayed pro baseball to return for one more football season.

USC drove again before halftime, sparked by a 51-yard strike from Maiava to Hines, but Oregon’s red-zone defense stiffened and the Trojans missed a 27-yard field goal in the final seconds. At the break, USC had 236 passing yards but only 25 yards rushing, while Oregon’s offense churned out 96 rushing yards on 5.6 yards per carry and finished 3-for-3 in the red zone.

The second half turned into the kind of layered drama that made the Ducks’ playoff case look both resilient and battle-hardened.

Oregon opened the third quarter sloppily, with penalties stalling a promising drive and a fourth-and-short run stopped just shy of the sticks at its own 46. The defense immediately answered. Oregon stuffed a first-down run, then forced back-to-back incompletions. On fourth-and-10, with USC already in plus territory, Maiava tried to squeeze a throw underneath to Lemon, but Jadon Canady jumped the route for an interception.

The Ducks squandered that break with a rare mistake from Moore — an underthrown deep ball to Justius Lowe that safety Kennedy Urlacher intercepted — and USC capitalized. The Trojans, helped by a pass interference penalty, methodically worked to the Oregon 11, where Maiava hit Lemon on a quick out that the receiver stretched across the goal line to cut the lead to 28-21 with 5:48 left in the third.

Oregon’s response felt like a turning point. Moore and Stein leaned into the run game behind an offensive line already missing Laloulu and later losing tackle Alex Harkey to another ankle issue. Noah Whittington ripped off a 13-yard run, Dierre Hill Jr. added an 11-yarder, and on third-and-2 from the USC 28, Moore sent Sadiq in motion, then zipped a high-arching throw down the seam. Sadiq went up for a contested catch and came down in the end zone for a 28-yard touchdown and a 35-21 lead with 2:13 left in the third.

USC refused to fold. Early in the fourth quarter, aided by consecutive pass interference flags on Oregon, the Trojans drove 58 yards in just four plays. Maiava rolled right and fired back across his body to tight end Lake McRee for a 9-yard touchdown. The two-point try failed, leaving Oregon’s lead at 35-27 with 11:32 remaining.

What followed was the “identity drive” the Ducks have talked about all season — 10 yards of grit rolled into one 11-man unit playing for something bigger than itself. Missing three starting offensive linemen and their top two receivers, Oregon bled the clock with a blend of screens, power runs and yards after contact. Whittington and Davison pounded away to the USC 24, and Whittington punctuated the march with a 12-yard touchdown up the middle to push the lead to 42-27 with 5:30 to play.

USC still had life and all of its timeouts, and Maiava continued to test Oregon’s secondary. He converted a fourth-and-3 with a 32-yard strike to Lane and moved the Trojans to the Oregon 26 before the Ducks made their stand. On fourth-and-10 with 2:28 left, Autzen rose as one. Canady blanketed Hines on a crossing route, the pass fell incomplete, and Oregon took over with a 15-point lead.

From there, the Ducks leaned into heavy 13 personnel and their revived ground game to drain the clock, punting back to USC with only 11 seconds left. A final short run by the Trojans merely padded the stat sheet.

Moore finished 22 of 30 for 257 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, while Whittington ran 19 times for 104 yards and a score and added 22 receiving yards. Davison carried 13 times for 50 yards and a touchdown, and Sadiq caught six passes for 72 yards and two scores. Benson totaled 67 receiving yards and the pivotal 85-yard punt return.

Maiava threw for 330 yards and four touchdowns but was intercepted twice, and the Trojans managed only 52 rushing yards on 28 attempts. Oregon outgained USC 436-382, controlled the ball for more than 33 minutes and, on a clear November day built for drama, kept its playoff hopes very much alive.

Player of the Game: Malik Benson

On a day when Oregon needed someone to tilt the game’s emotional axis, Malik Benson did it in one violent swing of momentum. The senior wideout finished with 152 all-purpose yards — 67 receiving and the 85-yard punt return touchdown that detonated Autzen in the second quarter — and provided Moore with a reliable vertical and intermediate target when the Ducks were already down their top two receivers. His punt return flipped a tense 14-14 shootout into a game Oregon controlled from in front, and his work as a route-runner helped keep USC’s secondary from overloading the box against the run game that ultimately closed the door.

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Key Play: Benson’s 85-yard punt return touchdown

With 9:58 left in the first half and the game tied 14-14, Oregon’s offense had just stalled near midfield after a pair of drops. USC lined up to punt with a chance to steal back field position and tamp down Autzen’s growing energy. Instead, Benson fielded the kick near his own 15, knifed through the first wave of coverage and outran everyone for an 85-yard punt return touchdown.

In a game where USC’s passing attack repeatedly stressed Oregon’s secondary, that special teams strike changed the script. It gave the Ducks a 21-14 lead, ignited the crowd, and turned what felt like a “last-possession-wins” track meet into a contest Oregon would play from ahead the rest of the way.

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Key Stat: 179–52 rushing edge for Oregon

USC threw for 330 yards and hit explosive plays all night, but the most telling number came on the ground: Oregon 179 rushing yards to USC’s 52. Even while cycling through offensive linemen and missing three starters up front by the fourth quarter, the Ducks averaged 4.4 yards per carry to the Trojans’ 1.9 and used the run game to control tempo in the second half.

Whittington’s 104 rushing yards and Davison’s 50 were the headlines, but the broader picture was even more important: Oregon’s ability to run when everyone in the stadium knew it was coming — particularly on the fourth-quarter, “identity” touchdown drive to go up 42-27 — underscored the physical edge that ultimately separated the Ducks from a dangerous USC passing attack.