Oregon vs. USC: Ducks Look To Trick the Trojans and Treat Autzen

It is official; Ducks fans can say the forbidden words: “USC Trojans.”

Ever since Oregon’s breakout victory against Cal, we’ve been telling ourselves “don’t get ahead of yourself,” “they have to concentrate on WSU/UCLA/Washington,” “let’s wait and see.”

The wait is over.

After being thoroughly embarrassed in every possible way a football team can be against Boise State, the Oregon Ducks have managed six consecutive victories and stand alone at the top of the Pac-10 conference.

The ever talented USC Trojans, meanwhile, followed up an impressive come-from-behind victory at Ohio State with a head scratching loss to Washington in Seattle. Starting quarterback Matt Barkley, the only question mark on offense coming into the season, has fully recovered from injuries that sidelined him during that game.

There are no two ways about it: If Oregon wants a chance at dethroning the seven-time champions, they have to bring their A+ game in every phase. If any of the offense, defense, or special teams struggles, the favored Trojans will have the inside track to an eighth straight Pac-10 title.

USC’s reloading defense has shown some warts in recent weeks against Notre Dame and Oregon State. Jimmy Clausen and Sean Canfield both had more than 300 yards passing against the Trojans.

But the Ducks run a spread offense that revolves around running the ball first. USC has been lights out against opposing rushers all season, giving up less than 80 yards per game.

The Trojans have also fared well historically against Oregon’s spread, having never allowed more than 24 points to the Ducks since they implemented the new style in 2005. Of course, as fans on both sides remember, those 24 points were enough two years ago.

One weakness that USC’s defense showed last week was in covering the tight end; Oregon State’s Joe Halahuni had over 100 yards receiving. With Ed Dickson and David Paulsen showing themselves to be the most reliable receivers the Ducks have, don’t be surprised to see Chip Kelly calling their numbers early and often Saturday night.

The biggest problem the Oregon offense has to address is lingering issues with the shotgun snap. Jordan Holmes has had a tendency to hike the ball high over his quarterback’s head. Masoli isn’t very tall to begin with, and high snaps can result in fumbles on bad exchanges.

Even if the quarterback gathers the ball in and avoids a turnover, bad snaps disrupt the timing of a play. Against a defense as fast as the Trojans,’ the Ducks need every edge they can get. A bad snap may mean the difference between a five-yard gain and a one-yard loss.

Despite injuries in the secondary, Oregon’s defense has surprised many this season by not allowing a single Pac-10 opponent more than 20 points. But the USC offense they will face on Halloween has the best offensive line and some of the most talented ball handlers they will play against all year, and that could be the difference.

Oregon has lived off of pressuring the passer during their recent winning streak. The Ducks’ secondary has done well given the circumstances, but it remains to be seen how they would perform against a quarterback who didn’t have defenders in his face all night.

To slow down the Trojans, Oregon has to find a way to continue to get pressure on the quarterback. But with USC’s offensive line as good it is they will have to be more creative about how they do it.

Nick Allioti won’t be able to just throw five and six defenders at Barkley and hope for the best. He must bring different players from different directions and never use the same package twice.

Hopefully this approach will see Trojans blockers miss an assignment or two at some point, but the biggest affect could be on Barkley. As talented and composed as he has shown himself to be, he is still a freshman. If the Ducks are coming at him from all directions, it might make him just uncomfortable enough to throw a bad pass in a critical situation.

Oregon has gotten big lifts this year from its special teams. If they get another special teams touchdown against USC it could be the difference between victory and defeat. But the Trojans are no special teams slouches with dangerous returner Damian Williams and a reliable kicker.

If Oregon wants to pull off the upset, it all comes down to turnovers. The Ducks have thrived on big momentum swings all year and they will need them against an opponent like USC.

When they do get opportunities against the Trojans, the Ducks must score touchdowns. The Beavers were doomed by three drives that only came up with field goals in the first half. Oregon can’t afford to make the same mistake.

With an offense that can beat you with by leaning on so many different personnel, the Ducks best hope of stopping the Trojans is to go for the lynchpin of it all and get after the quarterback.

Oregon must also improve their tackling from last week, when they allowed Washington’s Chris Polk to go over 100 yards rushing. Whiffing on Allen Bradford and Joe McKnight won’t just result in yards, it will be six points.

USC’s best strategy is to concentrate on the running game, both on offense and defense. If the Trojans can push around the Duck’s athletic but smaller defensive line they can grind out drives and take the crowd out of the game. Oregon’s offense keys off of the run, if USC can stop that then Masoli and the Ducks’ receivers might not be able to pick up the slack.

It has been a long time since Pete Carroll’s team lost a marquee matchup, but it has happened before and it can happen again. A win will require the utmost from each and every player Oregon puts on the field.

No matter what happens in this game, on Halloween night you can be sure of one thing:

“Autzen’ll be rockin.’”

MY CALL : Oregon Ducks 31, USC Trojans 30