Many Ducks know their way around the Southland

Casey Matthews will have no trouble finding his way to the Rose Bowl this morning.

“It seems like everyone in my family has played in it but me,” said the junior linebacker for Oregon.

It seems like everyone in his family has won there, too. His father Clay, uncle Bruce and brother Clay III all did that for USC.

So Casey had some questions to answer when he showed up at Oregon.

“People looked at me and just said, ‘Oh, you’re branching off.’ But I just wanted to set my own legacy,” he said. “My brother, my whole family at SC, they had their little thing. I want to start something new.”

Truth is, he didn’t have much of a choice. Although Scout.com ranked Matthews among the top 25 high school linebackers in the nation his senior season Westlake Village Oaks Christian, USC Coach Pete Carroll never got around to offering Matthews a scholarship. Oregon did.

“I took a visit up there and fell in love,” said Matthews, a second-team All-Pacific 10 Conference selection. “The facilities, the coaches, the players. They were real welcoming. That’s why I committed.

“I’m excited where I am right now.”

He has a lot of company. The Ducks’ roster features 36 players from the Southland, including all-conference tight end Ed Dickson from Bellflower and preseason All-American defensive back Walter Thurmond III of West Covina.

Thurmond’s homecoming has been a bittersweet one. When he committed to Oregon, the Ducks were coming off a 5-6 season. They haven’t had a losing season or missed a bowl game since. And with a victory today, they would become just the second team in school history to win 11 games -- and the first to win a Rose Bowl since 1917.

But Thurmond will watch it all from the sidelines after sustaining a season-ending knee injury in the Ducks’ fourth game.

“It’s a little tough. Especially being my senior season and just having the high goals that we set for ourselves,” said Thurmond, who remains a defensive captain. “Injuries are a part of the game and it’s unfortunate that it had to happen to me.”

kevin.baxter@latimes.com