Oregon Football: 5 Reasons the Ducks Will Come out on Top Against USC in 2012

With the 2012 season still months away, college football fans are becoming antsy and are desperately awaiting upcoming spring games at their respective schools.

For Oregon fans, the wait seems to be taking forever, especially with the uncertainty that surrounds the team.

Despite all of the questions around the team, the Ducks are still the three-time defending conference champions and are the team to beat in the Pac-12. While most of the talk will be surrounding USC and returning quarterback Matt Barkley, the Ducks have the talent and ability to make this their fourth straight conference title.

When you look at the upcoming schedule, all signs point to the game between Oregon and USC being for home-field advantage in the conference title game. Both teams should be undefeated at that point and a win will likely earn that team a chance to clinch the conference at home.

Despite being on the road, here is a look at five reasons why the Ducks will avenge last year's loss to USC.

De'Anthony Thomas

De'Anthony Thomas was believed to be heading to USC last year when at the last moment he switched to Oregon and made his home in Eugene.

Thomas had an outstanding year and made a huge impact in the USC game despite limited touches. In 2012, Thomas will see his role increased and his opportunities will be there. With the success he experienced against the Trojans and the motivation to earn his first win against them, look for Thomas to be a key contributor in a Duck win.

Bryan Bennett's Ability to Run

Something that seemed to be missing from last year's USC game was seeing Darron Thomas hold on to the ball and take off during the read-option play. With Thomas now in the draft, the Ducks are looking for a successor at quarterback, and while it appears to be a wide-open race, Bryan Bennett appears to have the best skill set to step in.

Last year, Bennett saw a good amount of action that could prove to be invaluable. During his time on the field, Bennett showed off his ability to throw and run with the ball. Since Oregon has been led on offense by Chip Kelly, the Ducks have had a lot of success with a running quarterback against USC. With Bennett possessing that same ability, the Ducks will be in good hands when they head on the road.

Secondary Learned from Last Year

Last year, the Ducks had to start a lot of young players in the secondary to overcome injuries, players who left and off-the-field issues with Cliff Harris.

When Oregon went up against USC, Robert Woods and Matt Barkley torched the secondary but also gave it a valuable lesson. This year, the young secondary will be seeing the same combination, but with snaps under their young belts, look for them to respond and do a better job defending the Trojans' passing attack in 2012.

The Tale of the 2011 Game

In 2011, Oregon was climbing back up the polls and was positioning itself to return to the national title game. USC was being overlooked and the Ducks came out in the first half and were flat, letting USC explode out of the gates.

USC got out to a 24-7 lead and it appeared Oregon was not focused at all. The Ducks had two red-zone turnovers, missed open passes and were being completely outplayed.

As the second half reached the midway point, the Ducks started playing like the Ducks and their comeback reached 38-35, but a last-second miss cost them a shot at overtime.

The silver lining from this game is that when the Ducks turned their game on and started playing to their potential, they outscored USC 28-14. If the Ducks can show that kind of intensity in 2012, they should come back to Eugene with a win.

Kenjon Barner

Last year, the Trojans seemed to have an answer for LaMichael James and bottled him up early and often. To counter this, Chip Kelly went to Kenjon Barner and gave him the majority of the carries. When Barner started to carry the load, the Ducks running game saw more success and Barner put up 123 yards and two scores on the ground.

This year, Barner will be the focal point and with his ability to both run and catch the ball, and he could give the Trojans fits while he is on the field.

Joe Penkala is a B/R national featured columnist who covers college football. You can contact him @joepenkala.