October 28, 2009 in Sports

Pac-10 notes: All eyes on USC, Oregon

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PULLMAN – No one says football coaches can’t be fans, too.

The Pac-10’s coaches are this week when it comes to a little showdown in Eugene, Ore.

“It’s going to be a great college football game, which is exciting,” Washington’s Steve Sarkisian said. “I’m a big college football fan, that’s why I’m in this profession. I think these games are why we coach and why kids want to play.

“Hopefully, the suns sets pretty quickly here in Seattle, I’ll be able to go trick-or-treating with my kids and then watch that ball game there from about the second quarter on.”

Why not? The Halloween contest in Eugene between No. 4 USC (6-1, 3-1 Pac-10), winners of the last seven conference titles, and the host Oregon Ducks (6-1, 4-0, 10th) may be the best game of the year in the conference.

On the surface, the game features teams with contrasting styles, USC’s more traditional offense and defense against Oregon’s blitzing schemes and its spread offense.

But Jim Harbaugh isn’t buying it. Asked about the differing styles, the Stanford coach dismissed the dissimilarities.

“I think both are playing very physical,” he said. “Oregon plays the spread, but it’s a physical spread. I respect the way they achieve that. I’ll be definitely watching it … watching it live and watching the tape.”

One thing the teams do have in common is a dominating defense. In fact, the Ducks, always overshadowed by coach Chip Kelly’s offense, leads the Pac-10 by yielding just 38 points in its four conference games.

“The Oregon defense is going to match up well, they’re playing very well on that side of the ball,” said Cal coach Jeff Tedford, whose team lost to the pair by a combined 72-6 score. “They’re underrated.”

The USC defense, which leads the conference in opponent’s rushing yardage, will be “challenged by the versatility of Oregon’s offense,” according to Oregon State coach Mike Riley, whose team lost to USC 42-36 last week.

“It’s going to be very interesting, the way Oregon spreads the field makes them difficult to defend,” Tedford said. “Obviously, SC has great talent on defense, lots of team speed.”

But so does Oregon on offense, including quarterback Jeremiah Masoli.

Masoli can make plays with his feet – he’s rushed for 272 yards – and with his arm.

“When he’s able to maintain a high percentage of completions, to go along with all the problems he presents running the football, then the offense is really operating,” USC coach Pete Carroll said.

But Sarkisian sees the game hinging on two areas most fans overlook, special teams and turnovers.

“What they both do a nice job of, and it comes with depth, both are well equipped on special teams,” he said. “As always, you can probably look right to the turnover margin as to who’s going to win and who loses.”

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