The USC Trojans get a breather this week, but the stakes around them are anything but quiet.
After knocking off the previously ranked No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes 30-18 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, No.
20 USC heads into its second bye week of the season at 7-2 overall and 4-2 in Big Ten play. Lincoln Riley’s team is still chasing its first College Football Playoff appearance in program history, and the road to get there is lined with a final three-game stretch against the No.
4 Indiana Hoosiers on Nov. 14, Maryland on Nov. 21 and the No.
8 UCLA Bruins on Nov. 28.
But before the Trojans get back on the field, there are a few results that could shape how the CFP picture looks around them.
The first one comes in Columbus, where the No. 23 Oregon Ducks and No.
12 Ohio State Buckeyes meet in a game that looked like a marquee showdown in the preseason. It still matters plenty, even with both teams missing their starting quarterbacks, Julian Sayin for Ohio State and Dante Moore for Oregon.
USC’s playoff path is tied to what happens there, especially since the Trojans beat Ohio State but lost to Oregon at the Coliseum on Sept. 26.
Oregon already has three losses, so USC would likely be pulling for the Buckeyes to stumble again. Under Ryan Day, Ohio State has never dropped two straight regular-season games. That streak will be on the line Saturday in Columbus.
Another game with USC interest is the one in South Bend, where the No. 4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish host the No.
1 Miami Hurricanes in a matchup that has a real chance to feel like the game of the year. Miami, led by Heisman Trophy contender quarterback Darian Mensah, is trying to stay unbeaten.
Notre Dame, which already has a loss to the No. 9 BYU Cougars, is looking for the kind of win that would sharpen its CFP case.
The Hurricanes will have to do it without one of their biggest weapons. Wide receiver Malachi Toney, who has 73 catches for 1,027 yards and 13 touchdowns this season, suffered a high ankle sprain during practice on Nov. 4 and is scheduled to have surgery. For Notre Dame, led by quarterback CJ Carr, this is a chance to land a signature win in a hostile setting on Saturday night.
Then there’s the top-10 clash in the Holy War, where No. 9 BYU visits No.
3 Utah in a game with Big 12 title and CFP implications all over it. Both teams could end up in the 12-team playoff field by season’s end, and Utah enters as one of the three undefeated teams left in the country, alongside Miami and UCLA.
BYU has won the last three meetings in the rivalry, a run that goes back to 2021. Utah will try to end that streak and stay unbeaten.
For USC fans, that one carries a familiar edge. The Trojans and Utes had plenty of battles during their Pac-12 days, and USC often came out on the wrong side.
In Caleb Williams’ Heisman Trophy-winning season in 2022, the Trojans were knocked out of CFP contention by Utah, losing to the Utes in the regular season and again in the Pac-12 championship. That was Riley’s first year at USC, and it remains the closest the Trojans have come to reaching the playoff.
In Other News...
Oregons Huge Win Came With One Serious Concern For Duck Fans
Oregons 41-28 road win over Ohio State was the kind of statement victory that can reshape a season, and the Ducks made it look even more commanding by ripping off 38 straight points during the game. For a program that went into one of the toughest environments in the sport and came away with a huge result, it was the sort of performance that had Duck fans thinking big picture almost immediately.
Teitum Tuiotis late-game injury, though, put a jolt into the celebration. The edge rusher was taken to the locker room with his left knee heavily wrapped, and Dan Lanning did not offer a definitive update afterward, only saying he was hopeful for good news. After a win that carried so much weight, Oregon now has at least one uneasy question hanging over it. [Read more 🡒]
Ryan Day Admits Oregon Delivered A Statement Ohio State Never Saw Coming
Ohio States home loss to Oregon landed with the kind of force that tends to linger, especially with the Ducks ripping off 38 straight points in a game that quickly slipped out of control. For Ryan Day, the surprise was as much about how it unfolded as the final result, with the Buckeyes left to sort through a performance that never found much footing once Oregon started piling on.
Day pointed to the need to take a hard look at everything, from a pivotal fake punt to the defenses inability to slow the Ducks surge. Freshman quarterback Luke Fahey also had a difficult night, and Day said the Buckeyes have to do a better job of supporting him going forward, a reminder that the fallout from this one goes beyond a single loss. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon Just Made A Statement Ohio State Fans Wont Forget
Oregon walked into Columbus and turned a tense early hole into a runaway, beating Ohio State 41-28 after ripping off 38 straight points. Dan Lannings team kept its foot on the gas with bold calls, including a fake punt that helped swing momentum and a late gamble before halftime that fed into the Ducks control of the game. By the end, Oregon had the kind of road win that travels well, the sort that changes how a team is viewed beyond its own locker room.
Ohio State never found a clean answer after the opening stretch, and the offense largely stalled once the first quarter passed, with Luke Fahey unable to steady things. Oregon, meanwhile, kept piling on behind backup quarterback Dylan Raiola, who helped drive the Ducks to 395 yards and five touchdowns in the latter part of the game. For a program trying to make a national statement, this was the kind of performance that leaves a mark, even if the full ripple effect is still to come. [Read more 🡒]