Oregon’s first Big Ten road test arrives with a familiar edge and a lot of uncertainty.
The Ducks head to USC on Saturday night with conference play finally underway, and after the loss to Oklahoma State, every result from here on out carries extra weight in the race for the College Football Playoff. Oregon would have liked to walk into league play at 3-0, but instead the Ducks are stepping into a game that can tell us plenty about where this season is headed.
USC is trying to show it belongs in the contender conversation, while Oregon has had the upper hand in this rivalry lately. If the Ducks are going to keep that run going, a handful of issues have to break their way.
The first question is the status of Jeremiah McClellan. He warmed up with the team on Friday night, then ended up on the sideline in a boot and on crutches.
Dan Lanning said after the game that McClellan suffered a tweak in warmups, and the first real update figures to come when the injury report is released. Messiah Hampton has stepped into a bigger role at receiver over the last two weeks, but Oregon wants every available weapon in a game this big.
Then there’s Jamari Johnson, who has already missed the last two weeks and has become one of the biggest names to watch on the injury front. Lanning said after the Oklahoma State game that Johnson could be back for the Portland State game or the USC game, and that sitting him on Friday night looked like a precaution.
If he’s back against USC, that would give the offense a major lift. Johnson is the target Oregon leans on when it needs to move the chains, and Dante Moore has not looked the same without him.
The offensive line is another major swing factor. Oregon had yet another different look up front on Friday night, and that came with Trent Ferguson out for the season because of a knee injury.
It’s tough to draw too many conclusions from a game against Portland State, but this weekend will say a lot more. The Ducks need the added reps and continued growth to show up against a much tougher opponent, because anything short of that could make for a long night.
Pressure from the defensive line also has to show up. That unit was supposed to be one of Oregon’s biggest strengths entering the season, but it has not consistently gotten after the quarterback against the two solid teams the Ducks have faced.
USC’s offensive line presents a much stiffer challenge, which makes this the kind of game where Oregon’s front needs to answer. If it doesn’t, the Trojans’ offense can become a problem fast.
And finally, Oregon has to clean up the play tipping issue. Last week, the focus was on Dante Moore’s stance after it was revealed that Oklahoma State was picking up on a tell.
It’s hard to know whether the Vikings actually caught on to anything, since they were not talented enough to stop what Oregon was doing on Friday night. But if the Ducks are still giving away tells, USC will notice.
In a game like this, that kind of leak can’t survive.
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Dan Lanning Can Hit USC Where Lincoln Riley Still Gets Questioned
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ESPNs Rece Davis framed the game as another measuring-stick moment for Lincoln Riley, whose USC tenure has come with familiar questions about winning the biggest games. The Trojans have tried to address one of those lingering concerns by bringing in Gary Patterson as defensive coordinator, but Oregon still enters with the steadier identity and the tougher edge that has made Lanning such an intriguing foil in this matchup. [Read more 🡒]