Oregon scary
Ducks make No. 4 USC look downright ordinary
EUGENE, Ore. – As the T-shirts worn in Oregon’s student section proclaimed, it was Fright Night at Autzen Stadium.
It certainly was for USC.
Jeremiah Masoli threw for 222 yards and a touchdown and ran for 164 more yards with another score and the 10th-ranked Ducks trampled No. 4 Southern California 47-20 Saturday night, the Trojans’ worst loss since 1997.
“I don’t know if we made a statement, this is just what we planned on doing,” Masoli said. “If it makes a statement it makes a statement. That’s just Oregon football and how we roll.”
Redshirt freshman LaMichael James ran for 183 yards and a score as the Ducks (7-1, 5-0 Pac-10) racked up 391 yards on the ground against the Trojans.
USC came into the game with the fifth-best rush defense in the nation (79.9 yards a game). USC’s defense yielded a total of 613 yards to UO.
“It was a real mess for us tonight,” said Pete Carroll, who was handed his worst loss as coach of the Trojans. “Oregon did everything that they wanted to do.”
Southern California (6-2, 3-2) had not lost a game by more than a touchdown since a 27-16 loss to Notre Dame in 2001, Carroll’s first season with USC.
The last time the Trojans were so soundly beaten was 1997, when they lost 35-7 to Arizona State and 27-0 to Washington.
Oregon remained alone in first and undefeated in the Pac-10. USC has won or shared the last seven Pac-10 titles. That streak is in serious jeopardy. The Trojans’ run of seven straight BCS games is also in danger.
The Ducks are now poised to take the crown after stomping the longtime kings of the West Coast.
Oregon fans were decked out in special black “Fright Night” T-shirts with a duck-and-crossbones motif to commemorate the Halloween night game – billed as the Pac-10’s biggest game of the season. Afterward the fans swarmed the field, while a ring of blue-jacketed security guards circled the goal posts.
The Ducks have won seven straight games since an embarrassing 19-8 loss at Boise State in the opener, a game that got uglier when running back LeGarrette Blount punched a Broncos defensive end as he was leaving the field.
Blount was suspended for the season and Oregon moved on without him. James was his replacement.
USC freshman quarterback Matt Barkley, who earlier this week predicted he would feed off Autzen’s deafening noise, completed 21 of 38 passes for 187 yards and two scores. He was intercepted once.
“The biggest thing is realizing that there’s nothing we can do about this loss,” he said.