USC vs. Oregon: live game updates

Oregon 62, USC 51 (:01 left in fourth quarter)

USC can say it didn’t quit.

Matt Barkley connected with Marqise Lee for a three-yard touchdown pass on its final offensive play from scrimmage.

The play followed a terrific catch and run by Robert Woods, who broke several tackles before being knocked out of bounds inside the five after a 27-yard gain.

A two-point conversion pass from Barkley toward Lee fell incomplete.

Oregon 62, USC 45 (‘1:58 left in fourth quarter)

USC just went away.

Kenjon Barner did it again, scoring on a nifty 22-yard run -- his fifth touchdown.

Barner has 321 yards rushing.

Oregon 55, USC 45 (5:27 left in fourth quarter)

USC just won’t go away.

One problem Oregon has is that every time the Ducks score they have to kickoff to Marqise Lee.

Lee took another return back around midfield and quarterback Matt Barkley took it from there, completing five passes on a nine-play, 53-yard drive.

Tight end Randall Telfer pulled in a three-yard pass from Barkley for the touchdown.

USC nearly made another play when Nickell Robey appeared to recover a high-bouncing onside kick as he slid out of bounds, giving the Trojans the ball back near midfield. However, officials ruled that he did not have possession in bounds, and a review backed up their call.

Oregon 55, USC 38 (9:15 left in fourth quarter)

Oregon’s offense is slowing down -- relatively speaking, of course.

Kenjon Barner isn’t.

Barner scored his fourth touchdown of the game on a four-yard run and he’s inching closer to a 300-yard rushing game.

Barner has already established a record for an opposing back. The previous high rushing game against USC was 241 yards by Penn State’s Curtis Enis in 1996.

Barner, from Riverside, has 288 yards rushing in 32 carries.

The bright side for USC: It took 12 plays for Oregon to score.

Oregon 48, USC 38 (1:19 left in third quarter)

The Tojans might be having one of its best offensive performances of the season, but so far the they cannot keep pace with the second-ranked Ducks this evening at the Coliseum.

Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota hit receiver Josh Huff with a 36-yard touchdown strike to make give Oregon a 10-point lead late in the third quarter.

Oregon drove 74 yards in four plays and just 66 seconds. Running back Kenjon Barner, who could be headed for a 300-yard day, provided several key runs.

Oregon 41, USC 38 (2:52 left in third quarter)

The track meet between the Trojans and Ducks continued with USC tailback Silas Redd running six yards around end for a touchdown late in the third quarter. That cut Oregon’s lead to three points this evening at the Coliseum.

The drive got off to a good start after Marqise Lee returned an Oregon kickoff 82 yards to the Ducks’ 16-yard line. Lee also had a clutch 11-yard reception on third down during the short drive.

No. 18 USC was hoping to upset the second-ranked Ducks for the second season in a row.

Oregon 41, USC 31 (5:14 left in third quarter)

Running back Kenjon Barner bulled his way through three tackles on the way to a 10-yard touchdown run, giving the Ducks a 10-point lead over the Trojans late in the third quarter this evening at the Coliseum.

The score capped a 75-yard drive that was kept alive by two fourth-down conversions.

Neither team has punted in this back-and-forth game.

Oregon 34, USC 31 (9:59 left in third quarter)

USC opened the second half with a much-needed score, tailback Silas Redd plunging over the goal line from two yards out as the No. 18-ranked Trojans cut their deficit to three against the second-ranked Ducks this evening at the Coliseum.

The run capped a 65-yard drive. If nothing else, the Trojans needed to slow down the Ducks, who had marched up and down the field at lightning speed in the first half.

USC also needed to overcome a couple of earlier disappointments, the team suffering two turnovers deep in Oregon territory in the first half.

Oregon 34, USC 24 (halftime)

USC squandered a big opportunity at the end of the first half, with receiver Marqise Lee fumbling deep in Oregon territory to end a hurry-up drive.

That allowed the second-ranked Ducks to maintain a 10-point lead over the No. 18 Trojans at halftime here at the Coliseum this evening.

Oregon 34, USC 24 (2:37 left in second quarter)

If you can’t fight them, join them.

The Trojans adopted a little of the Ducks’ quick-strike mentality, with quarterback Matt Barkley throwing a 76-yard touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor to cut the deficit to 10 points late in the second quarter at the Coliseum this evening.

Barkley found his target between two defenders and Agholor bounced free to sprint the rest of the way to the end zone.

The score came moments after USC dodged a bullet -- Barkley had a pass intercepted deep in his own territory but Oregon missed a long field-goal attempt.

Oregon 34, USC 17 (5:03 left in second quarter)

At this rate, USC might need a bigger scoreboard to keep track of all the points that the Ducks are scoring this evening at the Coliseum.

The Ducks needed only 50 seconds to drive 81 yards, with quarterback Marcus Mariota passing eight yards to receiver Daryle Hawkins to extend Orego’s lead to 17 points.

The drive was highlighted by a Mariota’s 58-yard scramble.

To make matters worse for the Trojans, the Ducks intercepted USC quarterback Matt Barkley’s first-down pass after the kickoff.

Oregon 27, USC 17 (5:59 left in second quarter)

A scrambling Matt Barkley found Robert Woods in the corner of the end zone to bring the No. 18-ranked Trojans a little closer to second-ranked Ducks this evening at the Coliseum.

The Trojans needed an answer to Oregon’s series of quick-strike scores and they found it with a bruising ground attack. Silas Redd had runs of nine and 15 yards. Curtis McNeal scampered 20 more yards down the left sideline.

That helped eat up some clock and slow Oregon’s hectic tempo. Barkley’s touchdown pass finished off a 12-play drive.

Oregon 27, USC 10 (11:27 left in second quarter)

Rrunning back Kenjon Barner scored his second touchdown of the day, running five yards around right end to give his team a 17-point lead over USC early in the second quarter at the Coliseum.

The Ducks’ extra-point attempt was blocked.

The drive began deep in Oregon territory, a personal foul pinning the Ducks on their own 12-yard line. That represented a turnaround –- USC has been the team to suffer from penalities this season.

But it didn’t matter as Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota completed a pair of passes to dig his team out of a hole. Then Barner bounced outside for a 41-yard gain into USC territory. Six plays later, the running back finished things off.

Oregon 21, USC 10 (14:36 left in second quarter)

In a football game that has looked more like a track meet, the Trojans scored on a 75-yard pass from Matt Barkley to Marqis Lee to cut their deficit against the Ducks early in the second quarter.

The Trojans answered one play after the Ducks had finished off an 80-yard drive to take a 21-3 lead.

Barkley found Lee sprinting up the middle of the field, outrunning Oregon strong safety Brian Jackson for the quick score.

Oregon 21, USC 3 (14:49 left in second quarter)

Running back Kenjon Barner outsprinted the entire left side of the USC defense to give the Ducks an 18-point lead in the early moments of the second quarter.

The Duck’s third score of the day was a tale of two interceptions.

Oregon intercepted a Matt Barkley pass in the end zone to start the drive. Then USC middle linebacker Lamar Dawson dropped a potential interception deep in Trojans territory that might have swung the momentum.

Given a second chance, the Ducks scored on Barner’s 27-yard run.

Oregon 14, USC 3 (4:53 left in first quarter)

Wide receiver Josh Huff caught a short pass and turned it into a 21-yard touchdown to extend the Ducks’ lead in the opening quarter.

The Ducks needed 3:11 to complete the 75-yard scoring drive -- an eternity compared to the 1:05 it took for their scoring drive that opened the game.

Oregon 7, USC 3 (8:04 left in first quarter)

The Trojans tried grinding out a drive by feeding running back Silad Redd, covering 66 yards in 12 plays to set up a 39-yard field goal by Andre Heidari.

Redd had runs of 18 and 10 yards to pick up first downs. But after getting to the Oregon 28-yard line, a two-run Redd run, an incomplete pass by Matt Barkley and a four-yard reception by Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick left the Trojans short of a first down

Oregon 7, USC 0 (13:55 left in first quarter)

It didn’t take long for the Ducks to get on the scoreboard. About 1 minute 5 seconds.

Oregon marched 75 yards in five plays and scored when De’Anthony Thomas made a leaping catch of a 16-yard pass from Marcus Mariota.

Mariota complete all four of his passes on the drive, including 29- and 14-yard connections to set up the scoring strike.

--David Wharton

Pregame

It’s getting close to kickoff here at the Coliseum, where USC will try to slow down second-ranked Oregon.

The Ducks broke out new “White Vapor” uniforms for the occasion. That’s a boon for fans, media members and NFL scouts because the numbers are easily readable.

Oregon, fourth in the Bowl Championship Series standings, is an 8 1/2-point favorite. The Ducks need to avenge last year’s loss against the Trojans to stay on track for a possible berth in the BCS title game.

Oregon lost to Auburn in the championship game two years ago.

USC is coming off a 39-36 loss at Arizona that ended the Trojans’ BCS title hopes.

USC looks like it will have the same lineup as last week with freshman Max Tuerk starting at left tackle.

--Gary Klein

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