No. 1 Ducks made it look easy against USC

To USC cornerback Shareece Wright, the most stunning aspect of No. 1 Oregon’s offense isn’t its speed or its sophistication, or even the Ducks’ standout skill players.

No, Wright and the Trojans were bowled over by Oregon’s elegant simplicity.

“They didn’t even run a lot of plays,” Wright said after the Ducks’ 53-32 win at the Coliseum. “They just run them to perfection and wait until the defense breaks down.”

Oregon (8-0, 5-0 Pac-10) makes it look easy to be this good.

With a dominant win over the Pac-10’s longtime power, the Ducks maintained their unbeaten season and tightened their hold on the top spot in the AP poll for the third straight week, moving within four games of a perfect season and a likely spot in the national title game.

Two-thirds through what’s shaping up as a historic offensive season, just how good are the Ducks? USC coach Lane Kiffin actually thought his defense played fairly well while surrendering 599 yards and the most points Oregon had ever scored in 57 games against USC (5-3, 2-3).

Kiffin also had words of warning for Washington, California, Arizona and Oregon State – the only stops remaining on the Ducks’ demolition tour of the Pac-10.

“I don’t care if you try to slow the game down or speed the game up, but you better score touchdowns against them,” Kiffin said. “It doesn’t do you any good to slow down the clock.”

For much of the second half, the Ducks’ offense largely consisted of repeated quick snaps followed by handoffs to LaMichael James, who almost always ran between the tackles on the way to 239 yards rushing, the second-most ever allowed to one player by a USC defense.

Oregon’s defense was barely adequate against USC by most football standards, surrendering 32 points, 377 yards and 27 first downs. Yet normal standards simply don’t apply to the Ducks, whose offense’s speed and effectiveness all but guarantees a half-dozen touchdowns in each game.

“Our guys are playing hard, but they don’t show the signs of being tired,” coach Chip Kelly said. “They’re working their tails off, and I just think they’ve got a mind-set that the guy they’re playing against is a little more tired than they are.”

A concussion may keep Miami quarterback Jacory Harris sidelined for Saturday’s game against Maryland, and the Hurricanes are getting Stephen Morris ready to take over as their starter.

Harris was knocked out of Miami’s 24-19 loss to Virginia in the second quarter. Morris – who came into that game as a fourth-string redshirt candidate – played the second half and accounted for three touchdowns in the final 101/2 minutes as the Hurricanes nearly rallied from a 24-0 deficit.

Harris has not been ruled out for this week, though Shannon has already said Morris is the starter-in-waiting.

After Harris went down, Spencer Whipple filled in until halftime, when Miami made the decision to give Morris his first taste of the college game.

“We were trying to win the game,” Shannon said.

Irish’s Crist has surgery

Notre Dame quarterback Dayne Crist underwent knee surgery on Sunday and is done for the season.

Coach Brian Kelly also says leading rusher Armando Allen might need hip surgery for torn cartilage and his Irish career is likely over.

Crist’s operation was to reattach a torn patellar tendon. He hurt his left knee in the first quarter of Saturday’s 28-27 loss to Tulsa.