Defense Stops Oregon . . . Until Bitter End

If someone had told USC that its defense would hold Oregon’s high-scoring offense to 17 points, the Trojans would have liked their chances of walking away with a victory Saturday against the Ducks.

That’s exactly what USC did before a sellout Oregon homecoming crowd, but the Trojans’ effort proved not to be good enough in a 17-13 loss, despite limiting the Ducks to nearly 32 points under their average.

What killed USC was its inability to stop Oregon’s big plays in the second half. Duck quarterback Akili Smith completed a 55-yard touchdown pass to Tony Hartley in the third quarter and then broke free for a 62-yard scoring run in the fourth.

“If you give [a team] 20 chances, you are going to have a couple of blown coverages or plays,” said USC linebacker Chris Claiborne, who had a team-high 10 tackles. “But really, at that time, the game should have been out of hand [in USC’s favor].”

For two quarters, USC had Oregon’s offense--which averaged 48.5 points a game before Saturday--completely bottled up.

With the Ducks’ top two running backs, Reuben Droughns and Herman Ho-Ching, sidelined because of injuries, the Trojans beat up on their replacements, Derien Latimer and Jason Cooper, and held the Ducks to minus-seven yards rushing in the first half.

But even with its defensive dominance, USC held only a 10-3 lead at halftime after squandering away several scoring opportunities because of two missed field goals, an interception and a dismal two for eight on third-down conversions.

USC still had reason to feel confident because Oregon--which had averaged 248 yards rushing--was struggling to put together any positive plays on the ground. To jump-start their offense, USC figured that the Ducks would begin to use Smith more on option running plays in the second half.

“We were looking for it,” USC defensive tackle Ennis Davis said about Smith’s rushing. “They didn’t do anything different. We contained it pretty good, but they made the plays and we didn’t.”

Smith’s touchdown strike to Hartley came on the Ducks’ first possession of the third quarter when he stepped up in the pocket to avoid USC’s pass rush on third and five from the Oregon 45. On his game-breaking touchdown run, Smith kept the ball on an option to his left on third and two from the Oregon 38.

“I wouldn’t say that they wanted it more, but they executed better and we didn’t stop them,” USC safety Rashard Cook said. “We played as hard as we could. We wanted to win. We never thought the game was over.”

The Trojan defense had a chance to redeem itself for the second-half breakdowns late in the fourth quarter after a field goal by Adam Abrams cut Oregon’s lead to 17-13.

With 4:03 remaining and the ball on Oregon’s 24, USC needed a defensive stand to have a chance for its offense to win the game. But the Ducks ran for three first downs, with Latimer gaining 35 yards in seven consecutive carries. Game over.

“USC’s defense is very, very big and physical,” Oregon left tackle Michael Klews said. “They were really tough and hit hard. There’s no sugarcoating to it. But [on Oregon’s last drive] we executed well and they started to get a little tired. We knew that it was up to us to end the game and we took it personally.”

At the end of the season, USC’s defense probably will look back at this game and point out that it held Oregon’s offense under its average in points and yards (163 rushing, 394 overall).

But consolation prizes are not good enough when the Trojans felt they should have won the game.

“It’s hard to feel victorious in any way because we lost the football game,” USC cornerback Daylon McCutcheon said. “What it comes down to is points on the scoreboard. If they had 17 and we had 18, I would say that we did a good job. But when we only score 13, it is not a good job. It’s still a loss.”