Solar

This is our 12th game day since USC's last Game Day appearance in 2016. Absolutely hurts them that we've been relevant and they haven't. I hope Charles stops by their message board after the game if we win. Although maybe it will be quiet if we clearly play as the better team.

There is no defense for the perfect offense, which USC is capable of executing. We need to realize that USC's DL is much more stout than Iowa's. We could easily find ourselves down by two scores early if we try to impose our will with runs up the middle on 1st and second down with USC daring us with a loaded box and end up 3rd and long every series of downs. Yes we will ultimately wear down USC and holes will start showing up, but if it turns into track meet wasting drives early could put us too far behind for that to matter. Let's not go all Mario Cristobal here just because we have a good running game. Every play, every formation, every snap on offense needs to keep the defense guessing run or pass and who is getting the ball. Executing run or pass out of that should be about as random as rolling dice. Above all our Ducks have to want it more than USC and I expect USC to want it a lot. If we want it more each and every snap from the get go, I do expect USC to wilt at some point and we pull out a convincing win.

I'd be thrilled with Bama or Miami. And whoever we get, I hope it's 36 degrees and raining. Even dudes used to playing in snow would be complaining about how cold it is.

Excellent point. For players from So Cal, they know just about everyone they know will be watching the game and they will want to show out.

"This will mark GameDay’s first visit to a USC game since the 2016 season." "The Oregon Ducks have been featured on ESPN's College GameDay 11 times from the 2016 season through the current 2025 season." (USC will be number 12.) No wonder we live in their head rent free. There is nothing worse to their fans than simply being irrelevant while we steal the spotlight over and over... This will be our 3rd Game day appearance this year. I expect us to act like we've been there before. We'll see if USC can handle it.

We get a decent amount of pressures, we just don't get home for sacks as our strategy is to collapse the pocket without giving any escape routes to the QB.

Thanks David. So to clarify a little bit, we can do damage running or passing out of any formation, and now that we are using play action more, the front seven of the defense can't commit to run or pass until QB and RB are past the mesh point. While they are frozen for about half a second, the OL QB and RB are executing the offense at full speed. Football may be a game of inches, but inches come from motion (distance per time), so it's also a game of milliseconds, and 500 of them is a big advantage. An extra half second for Moore to survey the field would have a massive impact on yards per drop back.

I really wish we played all 3 West Coast schools every year. This USC matchup is a rivalry to USC although they would never think of it as such. They just think we are hogging the pedestal need to get off so they can step back on it, but the hatred is very rivalry like.

USC is significantly better in the trenches this year, although if they do have a weakness it would be pass blocking, but our defensive strategy is to pressure the QB without allowing escape lanes which is why we get home infrequently. We trust our secondary to hold up longer and defend the pass better. Makai Lemon, like Serrat is going to make some catches. There is no defense for the perfect pass and catch. I think if there is a weakness on USC's DL it's the edges. Their strength is in the middle.

Which teams have we struggled against with a high power passing attack? Indiana is the only one. Rutgers and Minnesota had pretty good passing attacks and they had little success. We have some of the best passing defense in the country statistically. It doesn't mean we are going to completely shut down their passing attack, but we can definitely limit them moreso than other teams have through the air. But they've also have had a lot of success on the ground. It's clear we are going to have to put up points. I think it will be first to 30 wins.

Good catch, I didn't notice that. One thing I have noticed, which Indiana and ever school afterwards exploited, is that Dante doesn't do well when the right side of the pocket collapses. He's not comfortable throwing and struggles to slide to the left. Moving Pregnon to the right helped with that I guess. And psychologically I think he handles the unseen blind side pressure better than the front side pressure. I also think he showed in this game that he has improved on these weaknesses, there were sometimes when the pocked was shrinking fast and he didn't get happy feet. Although maybe that confidence is more a function of our WRs running free all over the place with very little tight coverage. Minnesota's secondary is horrible tbh.

Johnson got a lot of run in this game showing the value he can bring as a pass catcher at any time.

They're been really bad on the road, so we shouldn't be too surprised I guess. But it's nice to dominate a team with a winning record. Moore going 27/30 was great to see against a team that supposedly has a great pass rush per the stats. I thought it was supposed to rain, but maybe that rain got diverted to So Cal for tomorrow..

1 sack and only a few pressures from a team that has the 6th most sacks in the country. That was an area of progress we were looking for. Minnesota also is really good at tackles for a loss. I don't know if they got any until our starting OL was pulled, then they got a bunch. Great job by coaches and players to get that cleaned up.

I like this Benson guy on punt returns. Sure hands, but also believes it's actually an opportunity to get some yards.